FORUM 2025: Kenney assesses First 100 Days of Trump in Fireside Chat
As a former federal minister for both National Defence and Citizenship and Immigration as well as a former Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney has a uniquely informed opinion of the first 100 days of the Trump administration.
In assessing U.S. President Donald Trump and his backers in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement at an event hosted by the School of Public Policy, Kenney dismissed the idea that the chaos of the last three months is a well-orchestrated plan.
“In the MAGA world, there is a view that the tariff chaos and subsequent economic uncertainty, and the possible triggering of a recession, all of this is part of a grand strategy,” Kenney said. “They think this is three-dimensional chess, and Trump just understands things better than anyone possibly could. The uncertainty itself is a tool unto itself to force the repatriation of manufacturing jobs that left the United States.”
“I think that is nonsense,” he added. “Most of this is, frankly, impulsive and improvisational.”
Kenney made the remarks during a fireside chat with Martha Hall Findlay, Director and James S. and Barbara A. Palmer Chair of the School, as part of the School’s Forum 2025 Speaker Series titled The First 100 Days of Trump.
For decades, the “First Hundred Days” has been a standard assessment point for a new U.S. President to establish their leadership. Since his inauguration, Trump’s actions have been characterized as “shock and awe.”
Kenney’s observations about the current dynamic draw on a decades-long career in federal and provincial politics.
He was Canada’s longest serving Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, from 2008-2013, among other portfolios he held in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and was Alberta’s 18th Premier from 2019 to 2022.
For months, Kenney has been sounding the alarm about the potential for waves of migrants coming to Canada under Trump’s agenda. He addressed how Trump’s America First policies could topple long-standing economic, military and geopolitical realities worldwide.
“This is the end of our holiday from history,” Kenney said of Canada’s new challenge.
Kenney supports united reciprocal actions against U.S. tariffs (“Trump respects strength and disrespect weakness”) but he cautioned Canada can’t win a trade war with the U.S. and, at some point, must be prepared to negotiate.
Since leaving politics, Kenney works as a Senior Advisor for law firm Bennett Jones among other endeavors. Most recently, he’s gained notoriety for his acerbic observations about the Trump Administration on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I think what triggered me to get back online was Trump’s attacks on Canada and the simultaneous betrayal of Ukraine, and all that this implied for our country and our world,” he recently told The National Post.
