Munk Dialogue with Andrew Coyne: Putin’s hold over Trump and Pierre Poilievre makes a stunning accusation

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Rudyard and Andrew begin with the war in Ukraine and Trump denying Zelensky’s request for Tomahawk long range missiles. Russia has suffered mass casualties – more than 400,000 dead and many more wounded – and shows no signs of weakening Ukraine’s resolve, and yet all it takes is one phone call from Putin for Trump to reverse track and breathe new life into Russia’s war effort. Trump’s fickle support begs an important question: What can we do to strengthen ties with allies and even adversaries to protect ourselves from instability south of the border? In the second half of the show Rudyard and Andrew turn to a bombshell accusation from Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre that the RCMP covered up crimes committed by Justin Trudeau. This is an irresponsible accusation that suggests Poilievre is not leadership material. And while his behaviour plays well to the party’s base, it spooks moderate Conservatives. How can any leader straddle this cultural divide?