TAKE A BREATH — Canada spent most of Monday caught in a spin cycle of anxious uncertainty — an 11th-hour mess of confusion about what DONALD TRUMP actually wants from Canada. This morning is, by comparison, the very essence of calm. — Strap in: Monday delivered newsroom rewrites and re-records. Keeping up was a trick. Compare and contrast your Playbook host's whirlwind contributions to the Playbook “Daily Briefing” pod, NPR's "1A", CPAC and the POLITICO Nightly newsletter. The question of the day: As Canada and the U.S. barreled toward Tariff Tuesday, did Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU have a hope of dissuading the man in the Oval Office? — In the end: Kinda. After a morning call between the leaders and an afternoon follow-up, Trudeau and Trump announced a 30-day reprieve. That pause — not a long-term fix, but at least an opportunity to regroup — followed Mexican President CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM's midday declaration of her own half-victory. — Washington whisperer: Playbook has learned that Finance Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC spent much of the day on the phone with U.S. Commerce secretary nominee HOWARD LUTNICK. The mission: Make a deal. The pair spoke over the phone in the late morning, and continued texting throughout the day to ensure a deal would be made, a source familiar with the talks said. Playbook granted them anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about the negotiations. — Speaking the language: Trudeau's statement might've lacked a pile of new commitments, but it oozed Trump verbiage. Ottawa will tap a "Fentanyl Czar" — a title uncommon in Canada's political lexicon, but perhaps music to American ears — along with more frontline resources on the border and a pledge to designate cartels powering the drug trade as terrorists That's in addition to the C$1.3 billion border package that Trudeau’s team had shopped around Washington for weeks — and finally presented directly to the president. — What's new? Canada's man at the United Nations, BOB RAE, argued in a Fox News hit that Canadians didn't bend to Trump's will. → Host BRET BAIER: "Clearly, the [Trump] administration sees it as a movement today, with Mexico and Canada promising a lot that they weren't promising before." → Rae: "Not true in our case. … We've had candid conversations with the administration for a long time on what we felt we could do and what we felt needed to be done — not just for you, but also for us. And many of those expenditures were already announced by the prime minister many weeks ago." — Somebody blinked: "President Trump never admits a mistake, but he often changes his mind. That’s the best way to read his decision Monday to pause his 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada after minor concessions from each country," The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. "Mr. Trump claimed victory, as he always does." CNN's headline: Trump blinked. Fox News: "TRADE WAR WIN: Canada blinks." — Last-ditch pitch: Conservative Leader PIERRE POILIEVRE proposed his own six-point plan meant to mollify Trump's border demands. → Send Canadian troops to the border, alongside helicopters and surveillance. Add 2,000 border agents to the current complement. Give CBSA enforcement power everywhere on the border, "not just crossings." Build surveillance towers and deploy "truck-mounted drone systems." Install scanners at "all major land crossings and shipping ports." Track departures so federal officials "know which deportees are in Canada illegally." — House chatter: A month-long tariff-free zone ratchets down the urgency of a parliamentary recall. But as the prime minister insists the government has all the tools it needs to keep a trade war at bay, don't expect Conservative demands to abate. — The what's next of it all: If the tariffs were definitively about border security, everybody north of the border could breathe a sigh of relief. But recent days have brought word of a wide variety of irritants, ranging from a trade imbalance to lackluster defense spending, and the banking sector to ag exports. We aren't betting on Trump simply forgetting about all of that. — In today's news: China announces retaliatory tariffs moments after Trump’s levies take effect. SOVEREIGNTY WATCH — And then there's that presidential penchant for manifest destiny, the other undercurrent Monday as Trump again preached the benefits of U.S. citizenship. Trump could be trolling for the lawls. As he beefed with Canada from the Oval Office on Monday afternoon, dangling citizenship and dissing Canada's contribution to the relationship, Trump was either not joking or pulling off the world's greatest deadpan. — Awkward: In this clip, watch Lutnick's real-time response to the bit — first smiling, then nodding, then a face of stone. — New patriotism: Will Canadians still boo the American anthem at the arenas of the nation? Will they think twice about canceling their stateside winter getaways in Florida and Arizona? Will they buy American produce if it's cheaper than the alternative? We're watching our family group chats, same as you. | 
