Trump knows when to hold ‘em and knows when to fold ‘em, knows when to walk away and knows when to run, as Kenny Rogers advised all poker players. He was holding a losing hand when it came to handling the children brought to America illegally by mothers crossing the border illegally, so he folded ‘em. But when it comes to trade policy he knows he is holding a winning hand—and intends to force the other players in this high-stakes game to pay up.

First come tariffs on steel (25 percent) and aluminum (10 percent), mostly imported from America’s allies. Canada will be hardest hit. The Toronto-based Howe Institute estimates that the steel and aluminum tariffs will cost Canada 6,000 jobs and cut its annual GDP by $8 billion. Two-thirds of Canada’s trade is with the United States, 85 percent of its auto exports go to America, and a considerable number of the industry’s 130,000 workers will be out of work if Trump goes through with his threat to raise U.S. duties on imported autos from 2.5 percent to 20 percent.