The Atlantic’s Nichols: Plot of a 1965 Book in Which a President ‘Loses His Mind’ Trying to Absorb Canada Has Become Real

EXCERPT:

NICHOLS: “And he clearly has said it to the Canadian prime minister. You know, I wrote a piece for The Atlantic a few weeks ago where I pointed out that the plot of a 1965 book in which the president loses his mind, called 'Night of Camp David,' revolved around a president who was trying to absorb Canada and Scandinavia. 50 years ago, 60 years ago, this was in the realm of, like, political thrillers and science fiction. And now, you know, we’re all sort of sitting around saying, well, I guess the president of the United States really does sit around having serious thoughts about making this gigantic country of — you know, this hemispheric country with 35 million people into the 51st state. Again, I don’t think anybody’s worried that he’s going to do it. I think they worry that — because he can’t. But I think they worry about what kind of president sits around having these kinds of thoughts, especially when there are so many other problems here at home and around the world."