As the story goes, Trump was all set to unilaterally withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), our signature trade agreement with Mexico and Canada, until his staff convinced him not to by showing him a map of areas that voted for him that would be hardest hit, but the Canadian press tells a different story.
The National Post reports that Trump's staff called Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's staff to enlist his help.
White House staff called the Prime Minister’s Office last month to urge Justin Trudeau to persuade President Donald Trump not to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement, according to multiple Canadian government sources.
The unconventional diplomatic maneuver — approaching the head of a foreign government to influence your own boss — proved decisive, as Trump thereafter abandoned his threat to pull out of NAFTA unilaterally, citing the arguments made by Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto as pivotal.
Our Canadian neighbors may not be aware of this, but this isn't just an "unconventional diplomatic maneuver." Under certain circumstances, it may be considered illegal under the Logan Act.
In any case, I suppose it's good that they reached out and spared us from Trump's whims. The resulting increase in price of common household goods could have paralyzed the economy.