That was Donald Trump’s wholesale responsibilities. But Republicans are shrugging at the results of Canada’s elections. This was a race that supported conservatives until it became a presidential referendum, and as a warning sign for the party.
The liberal party’s take power on Monday served as an expression of Canadians’ deep rage over the president’s tariffs and annexation provocation. It was proof that voters were heading towards conservatives in neighboring countries. One Trump suggests that it should be the 51st state – When Trump was involved. But on this side of the border, GOP strategists, voters and party leaders said they were not plagued by the outcome and dismissed any possible trouble ahead for mid-term Republicans.
“I’m not worried. Changes will take time,” said Alex Stroman, former executive director of the Republican Republican South Carolina.
Or, as Sen. Jim Justice (RW.Va.), on Tuesday, “I don’t see it enough to rebel.”
GOP’s Trump allies have a long history of discounting reasons for concern about Trump’s political status. Sometimes accurately, as in the defeat of his defeat in 2020, during legal proceedings that many observers could sometimes inaccurately derail him in the 2024 presidential primary.
Even as Republicans are publicly confident, Trump today has real signs of vulnerability. Recent polls showed that the approval rate was low 100 days after the president took office for the second time. And while Trump’s tariffs wreaked havoc on both financial markets and the ability of businesses to plan for the future, it angered other longtime allies in pursuit of isolated trade agendas like the European Union.
But in the Republican circles in Washington, the collective response was similar to “Huh?”
The GOP consultant granted anonymity to speak freely, saying the outcome was “a fairly specific result based on tariffs and 51st State trolling.” But in the mid-term, “other factors are at work domestically” like the possible empty grocery shelves and recession as a result of retaliatory tariffs imposed by US trading partners.
Regarding Canadian elections, Republicans dismissed it as a foreign outcome. Or they minimized Trump’s involvement. Or they took comfort in the fact that the medium term is still on a year off.
“I don’t think that in order for Republicans to win a majority, they can draw broad conclusions in the rest of the midterm in 2026. They need to fulfill their promise,” said Adam Kincaid, who heads the trust in the National Republican district.
He either called him “Governor Trudeau,” or repeatedly denounced the driving forces of imposing heavy tariffs across the Canadian border, dispelling concerns about Trump’s unforced error by minimizing the impact on domestic elections next year.
“My only concern about the medium term is that there is no motivation for Republicans to come out,” Kincaid said. “Passing President Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ is the best thing Republicans can do to motivate them to fulfill their promises and vote in 2026. ”
Some Republicans too It was speculated Carney and Trump’s relationship may not be more hostile than expected, despite Canada’s declaration on election night that they “fight back against everything we have” when negotiating economic and security deals with Trump.
For Republican strategist Alex Conant, there was only one takeaway from the election. “It’s a pretty good memory of how bad it would be for the Republicans if Canada were a nation.”
Holly Otterbein contributed to this report.
