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There is the theory that President Trump is still bitter about his Canadian hotel ventures that went bust.

Some, on social media, have speculated that a 2019 photograph in which Justin Trudeau appeared poised to kiss Melania Trump, the first lady, at a Group of 7 gathering in France, left Mr. Trump with a grudge against the dashing Canadian prime minister.

And then there is the transactional view, that Mr. Trump sees the acquisition of Canada as the 51st state as the ultimate real estate deal that would seal his presidential legacy.

As Mr. Trump prepares to push ahead with a new round of tariffs on the United States’ neighbors to the north and south, he has expressed a special brand of loathing for Canada. The bullying of a country whose most prominent stereotype is that its people are “nice” has led to political upheaval in Canada and created both consternation and speculation about why Mr. Trump wants to engage in a trade war with America’s biggest trading partners. There is “no love lost” between the president and Mr. Trudeau, “With Trump, politics is personal.”

Mr. Trump has threatened to hit Mexico and Canada with 25 percent tariffs on all imports on Tuesday unless the countries do more to prevent migrants and drugs from flowing into the United States.

Intrigue abounds in Canada about why Mr. Trump has repeatedly belittled a neighbor and threatened to destabilize its economy with tariffs, a process that has brought relations between the two countries to a low point out.

As a businessman, Mr. Trump had two dealings with Canada that, while relatively limited, were both very public failures. The Toronto hotel and condominium project went into receivership in 2016. The following year, a hotel bearing the Trump name, again under license and with a similar management contract, opened in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Promotional material exaggerated the building’s height.) It failed, as well.

Of course private companies can do whatever to attract customers but what of reduced transit fares, museum tickets, library programs, college classes and most important state level TAX FREE social security income.

A History Lesson on the Senior Discount:

Senior discounts originated as both a social and economic strategy. During the Great Depression, seniors were disproportionately poor, prompting the 1935 Social Security Act to provide federal assistance. This established a precedent for viewing seniors as a group needing financial support.

In the 1960s and 1970s, public agencies and businesses began offering discounts to seniors, partly as a social responsibility during the "Great Society" era and partly as a marketing tool to attract older consumers. New York City launched one of the first organized discount programs in 1971. By the 1980s, with a growing senior population, businesses recognized seniors as an affluent and active demographic, using discounts to foster brand loyalty and attract this expanding market.

Today, senior discounts persist due to their effectiveness in appealing to older consumers and their fixed incomes, though debates continue about their relevance given changing economic conditions.

Senior discounts, particularly in the form of tax exemptions or subsidies, can lead to significant lost government revenue. For example, state income tax subsidies for seniors in the U. S. reduce state tax collections by approximately 9%, amounting to $48 billion annually. These subsidies often include exemptions for Social Security income and retirement benefits, even for wealthy seniors, further straining state budgets.

Such revenue losses limit governments' ability to fund essential services like infrastructure, education, and poverty reduction programs. Additionally, these subsidies often shift the tax burden onto younger taxpayers, raising concerns about fairness and generational equity.