> I don't believe Trump has much of any idea of the larger stakes. But, he's surrounded by people who do,

Interesting, and what are the larger stakes? What good do you see in the 4th dimension? Can we be a tad more specific, just as much as necessary to avoid sounding like stargazers detached from reality.

>>> However, turning away from the US (~85% of Canadian trade) to China (~8%) weakens Canada and gives political cover for the US to take further hostile action.

Maybe it's news to you, but Canada didn't "turn away from the US", the current US admin turned away from Canada, despite prior agreements like USMCA.

Further, is forcing Canada to implement unfavorable trade with the US and unfavorable restrictions to China worth the risk of the US becoming a self-isolated island of no freedoms and low standard of living?

Whatever Canada does, they aren't going to make the US rich or solve our problems - they aren't the source of those problems. However, China can replace the US as Canada's top trade partner fairly quickly and without straining their economy.

Ditto, for the rest of the world replacing the dollar with other instruments, the process has already started thanks to the erratic and shortsighted policies of Trump's admin.

>>> There's a game being played that, once you see it,

I see it fairly clearly and there's nothing good for the US in it, nether now nor in 2035.

>>> it becomes clear that some world leaders are thinking about 2035, and other world leaders are still in 2015.

So, we're supposed to wait for the bright future (tm) and accept whatever lunatic actions are undertaken before that? Suspend reason, common sense... and the Constitution because the bright future demands it?

> Trump has a pattern of being a voicebox for whatever was said by the last person who talked to him.

Well, following the note-written plan of person R one day, of person V the next and of person M the day after, isn't going to generate anything other than an incoherent mess of a policies, the empirical evidence is in full agreement here.

Then, what if the last person who talked to him is being a voicebox for the last person who talked to the last person who talked to him? Where would that get us?