Trump, Carney to speak in coming days, Canadian official says
Dominic LeBlanc, the federal cabinet minister in charge of U.S.-Canada trade, also told CBS News' "Face the Nation" that he was "encouraged" by recent discussions and believed a deal to bring down tariffs remained an option.
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"We're encouraged by the conversations with Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer, but we're not yet where we need to go to get the deal that's in the best interest of the two economies," LeBlanc said, referring to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
The trade minister said he expected Carney and Trump to speak "over the next number of days."
"We think there is an option of striking a deal that will bring down some of these tariffs provide greater certainty to investment," LeBlanc said.
Washington linked Friday's tariff announcement in part to what it said was Canada's failure to stop fentanyl smuggling. It was the latest blow in a months-long tariff war which Trump initiated shortly after returning to power this year.
Carney says Canada accounts for just 1 per cent of U.S. fentanyl imports and has been working intensively to further reduce the volumes.
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The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Lawmakers are fighting over election maps — here's how it works and why it's bigger than Texas
A brewing war in Texas over political boundaries that could reshape control of Congress is spilling out into other states, as Democratic lawmakers vow to ' fight fire with fire ' to combat what they see as a wave of voter suppression efforts ordered by Donald Trump. The battle surrounds the redistricting process, in which state legislatures and other officials take a look at once-a-decade census results to redraw congressional districts to balance the changing population. But in Texas, Republican lawmakers — under the direction of the president and Governor Greg Abbott — are taking the rare step of drawing a new map in the middle of the decade, only a few years after the last redistricting cycle, in the hopes of picking up more Republican seats in the House of Representatives in 2026. Trump is hoping Republicans in other states do the same, as the GOP's slim majority in Congress braces for voter blowback in next year's midterm elections in response to the president's volatile second-term agenda. Democrats — who have accused Republicans of illegally diluting the voting strength of Black and Latino voters — are planning to retaliate, triggering a race to reshape the electoral map by the time Americans cast their ballots in 2026. What are Republicans proposing in Texas? Republicans proposed new boundaries so that several congressional districts held by Democrats could potentially flip, while two other competitive districts have a better chance of electing Republicans. On August 1, the Texas House redistricting committee held the only public hearing on the proposal. Republicans voted it out of committee the next morning on a party-line vote, setting up a quick vote in the full state House of Representatives, which Republicans control. Democratic members of the state House left Texas to break a quorum, derailing Republican plans to vote on the new map during the governor's 30-day special legislative session. Texas Democrats similarly fled the state in 2021 in opposition to Abbott's package of election-related legislation that critics say is undermining voting rights. Is gerrymandering illegal? GOP lawmakers were explicit that the new map was designed to improve 'political performance,' an act of political or partisan gerrymandering — in which a controlling party carves out maps to 'pack' likely opponents into a few districts, or 'cracks' them across multiple districts, thereby diluting their voting power. In other words: Gerrymandering gives politicians a chance to choose their voters, rather than the other way around. Gene Wu, the state's Democratic caucus chair, said the GOP has put forward a 'racist, gerrymandered map' that 'seeks to use racial lines to divide hard-working communities that have spent decades building up their power and strengthening their voices.' Abbott has done so 'in submission of Donald Trump, so Donald Trump can steal these communities' power and voice,' according to Wu. Federal courts have generally blocked the creation of congressional districts that 'crack' or 'pack' communities of color to dilute their voting strength. But the Supreme Court, after a series of rulings that have gradually chipped away at guardrails in the Voting Rights Act, has opened the door for states to move ahead with partisan-fuelled gerrymandering. A landmark Supreme Court decision in 2019 ruled that gerrymandering for party advantage cannot be challenged in federal court. What about racial gerrymandering? Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act adds teeth to constitutional protections against racial barriers to the right to vote, and ensures that voting districts are drawn fairly to prevent racially discriminatory boundaries that dilute, or exclude, minority communities. The law prohibits the 'denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color,' giving voters a key tool to file legal challenges against discriminatory maps and voting rules. But in 2013, the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the law by striking down federal 'preclearance' guidelines that required states with histories of racial discrimination from implementing new elections laws without first receiving federal approval. In a 2023 case from Alabama, the Supreme Court found that congressional districts drawn by the state's Republican-led legislature had likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the strength of Black residents. The high court's decision effectively ordered lawmakers to go back to the drawing board and rewrite the state's congressional district map, finding that that previous one violates the Voting Rights Act. That map 'packed' most of the state's Black residents, who make up more than a quarter of the state's population, into one single congressional district out of seven. The Supreme Court will return to the issue of racial gerrymandering this year in a case stemming from constitutional challenges to Louisiana's congressional maps. That decision — from a court that constitutional scholars and election law experts see as hostile to the future of the Voting Rights Act —could have profound, far-reaching impacts for race-based redistricting. What are other states doing? Democrats in Congress repeatedly tried, and failed, to renew the Voting Rights Act during Joe Biden's administration, which warned that Republican threats to the right to vote posed an existential threat to democracy. That legislation proposed independent redistricting commissions — made up of equal numbers of Democrats, Republicans and independents — in an effort to end partisan and racial gerrymandering. That bill was defeated by Senate Republicans, who blocked a vote on the measure. But, as California Governor Gavin Newsom said, 'things have changed, facts have changed, so we must change.' His own state's redistricting efforts are in 'response to the existential realities that we're now facing,' according to Newsom. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has called on Democratic state legislatures to 'pursue redistricting mid-cycle,' but Democrats don't hold 'enough legislative majorities to win an all-out, state-by-state battle.' Republican state legislatures oversee 55 Democratic congressional seats. Democratic state legislative majorities, meanwhile, oversee only 35 GOP districts. 'All options must be on the table — including Democratic state legislatures using their power to fight back and pursue redistricting mid-cycle in order to protect our democracy,' committee president Heather Williams said in a statement. Democratic leaders in California, Illinois and New York — states that collectively have 95 seats in the House of Representatives — are laying the groundwork to redraw their states' maps in the hopes of sending more Democrats to Congress. But several states may have to rewrite laws or amend their state constitutions to move ahead on those places, adding more hurdles in a battle in which the GOP has an upper hand. Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said Democrats are 'bringing a knife to a knife fight, and we're going to fight fire with fire.' Trump and Republicans are 'running scared' over fears they will lose a GOP majority in Congress and are hoping to gerrymander, 'lie, cheat, and steal their way to victory,' Martin said August 5. 'All's fair in love and war,' New York Governor Kathy Hochul said on August 4 as she signaled efforts to draw up new maps in her state 'as soon as possible.' 'This is a war. We are at war,' she added. 'And that's why the gloves are off, and I say, 'Bring it on.''
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump says Texas is ‘entitled to five more seats' as DNC chair readies for ‘knife fight': Live updates
President Donald Trump has defended a Republican-backed plan to redraw Texas congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Speaking to CNBC, the president said: 'We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas, and I won Texas. I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats.' Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin appeared in Illinois alongside a group of Texas House Democrats who fled the state as part of the dispute with Republicans over redistricting. Martin vowed to 'bring a knife to a knife fight' to block efforts to change maps to the benefit of the GOP. In the same CNBC interview, Trump was asked about a potential future presidential run. He initially replied, 'probably not,' before later indicating that he 'would like to run.' Under the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, presidents are limited to two four-year terms, whether consecutive or not. Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has issued subpoenas to President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, and several top former Justice Department officials for depositions regarding Jeffrey Epstein. The committee also subpoenaed the DOJ for the so-called 'Epstein Files.' Report: Trump to sign order punishing banks that discriminate against conservatives President Donald Trump is set to crack down on Wall Street banks accused of dropping customers over their conservative beliefs and shutting out cryptocurrency companies, a new report states. Trump, the self-professed first ' crypto-president,' is expected to sign an executive order as soon as this week that threatens financial penalties in response to so-called politically motivated 'debanking,' sources told the Wall Street Journal. James Liddell reports. Trump to sign order punishing banks that discriminate against conservatives: report Trump could sign the order as early as this week, reports say, in a bid to root out alleged politically motivated 'debanking' Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 18:40 Ghislaine Maxwell opposes unsealing grand jury transcripts Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice and former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has said via her legal team that she is against the unsealing of the grand jury transcripts relating to her case, as requested by President Donald Trump's Department of Justice. Maxwell argues that because she hasn't seen them and is 'actively litigating her case,' it shouldn't be made public. In her filing with the court, her team writes: 'Jeffrey Epstein is dead. Ghislaine Maxwell is not. Whatever interest the public may have in Epstein, that interest cannot justify a broad intrusion into grand jury secrecy in a case where the defendant is alive, her legal options are viable, and her due process rights remain.' Earlier, the Justice Department admitted that grand jury transcripts in the criminal cases of Epstein and Maxwell contain mostly publicly available information, as Kelly Rissman reported: No new information in Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury transcripts, Pam Bondi says 'Much of the information provided during the course of the grand jury testimony... was made publicly available at trial,' the filing states Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 18:29 DNC chair: 'Ready to fight fire with fire' Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 18:25 Trump says he hired Fed chair Powell as a 'favor' after CNBC host presses him on labor bureau firing President Donald Trump defended some of his more controversial recent decisions, such as firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, while distancing himself from past choices he's grown unhappy with, such as hiring Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, i n a lengthy interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning. Phoning in to Squawk Box, Trump spoke at length about his economic record nearly seven months into his second term – maintaining that several members of his administration, whom Trump has expressed dissatisfaction with, were 'highly political.' Ariana Baio reports. Trump defended his recent decision to fire head of BLS while distancing himself from his past decision to hire Fed chair Jerome Powell Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 18:21 Democrats mock Trump's roof walkabout Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 18:08 Democrats rallying to make Texas redistricting fight national National Democrats are closing ranks behind Texas state lawmakers who left the state to prevent Republicans from enacting a gerrymandered congressional map, fulfilling President Donald Trump's wishes for the 2026 midterms. From Illinois, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin promised the party is 'bringing a knife to a knife fight.' He warned the GOP plan is 'a test case for the rest of the country' and a 'model for other red states to lie, cheat, and steal away to victory.' California officials are considering their own efforts to further tilt their U.S. House delegation toward Democrats, in response to Texas. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said Donald Trump's push in Texas is 'not democracy — that's not America.' He mocked Texas leaders for doing Trump's bidding. 'When Donald Trump calls, they say, 'Yes, sir, right away,'' Pritzker said of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's running for the Senate in 2026. Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 17:50 Full story: Trump grabs birdseye view to survey $200M White House ballroom plans Right smack dab in the middle of Washington, Donald Trump has found a place that's trouble-proof. The 47th president on Tuesday climbed way up to the top of the stairs for an unannounced visit to the roof of the White House briefing room so he could survey the site of the massive ballroom addition, which he announced last week. Andrew Feinberg was at the White House. 'Sir, why are you on the roof?' Trump surveys $200M White House ballroom plans Trump has been overseeing numerous renovations and additions to the White House complex Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 17:43 Trump wonders if 'low IQ' foe Jasmine Crockett 'is any relationship to the late, great Davy' President Donald Trump tore down the Democratic Party during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday morning and targeted his frequent political foe, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, deriding her as an example of one of their 'low IQ ' members. In a long-winded, and occasionally rambling, interview with Squawk Box, the president lashed out at the opposing political party for being 'lost' and 'self-destructing.' Ariana Baio has the story. Trump rips 'lost' Democrats and calls foe Jasmine Crockett 'low IQ' The president blasted his near-constant sparring partner in a wide-ranging and often rambling interview on CNBC's Squawk Box Tuesday morning Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 17:24 Trump on hispanic farm workers Donald Trump has raised eyebrows with comments he made about farm laborers during a phone interview with CNBC. The President spoke on Tuesday, 5 August 2025, explaining his belief that deported immigrant farm employees are not easy to replace with native-born workers. Farmers have been left short of staff due to the Trump administration's ICE round-ups of undocumented migrants. Trump suggested people who live 'in the inner city' are 'not doing that [farm] work' but Hispanic migrants do it 'naturally'. He then launched into a story about a conversation he had once had with a farmer. Trump says he asked, "What happens if they get a bad back?" to which the farmer allegedly responded, "They don't get a bad back, sir, because if they get a bad back, they die". Oliver O'Connell5 August 2025 17:17 Democrats reach breaking point over Republican threats in political map arms race Alex Woodward writes: Democrats have spent years issuing warnings over Republican threats to redraw the political maps that could determine the balance of power for years to come. Now, they're prepared for 'war.' After protracted legal battles to unwind Donald Trump's executive actions and unsuccessful attempts to derail the president's agenda in Congress, Democrats appear to have reached a breaking point and are ready to do some map-making of their own, reluctantly preparing to fight fire with fire. Continue reading...
Reuters
21 minutes ago
- Reuters
US proposes new drone rules that could lead to Starbucks, Amazon deliveries
Aug 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Transportation Department is proposing new rules to speed deployment of drones beyond the visual line of sight of operators, a key change needed to advance commercial uses like package deliveries. "We are going to unleash American drone dominance," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a press conference on Tuesday. Under current rules, operators need to get individual waivers or exemptions to use drones without visual line of sight. The department said eliminating those requirements "will significantly expand the use-case for drone technologies in areas like: manufacturing, farming, energy production, filmmaking, and the movement of products including lifesaving medications." The proposal includes new requirements for manufacturers, operators, and drone traffic-management services to keep drones safely separated from other drones and airplanes. "It's going to change the way that people and products move throughout our airspace... so you may change the way you get your Amazon package, you may get a Starbucks cup of coffee from a drone," Duffy said. "Industry needs this rule to make sure they can use this technology that's going to allow them to do business more efficiently and effectively." Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab resumed testing drone deliveries earlier this year at two locations in Texas and Arizona. Amazon has a goal of delivering 500 million packages annually by drone by the end of 2030. Under the proposal, operations would occur at or below 400 feet above ground from pre-designated locations approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Operators would identify boundaries and approximate daily flights and takeoff, landing and loading areas and ensure procedures if communications with drones are lost. Drones would yield to all manned aircraft broadcasting their position and not interfere with operations at airports. The Transportation Security Administration would require flight coordinators and others to obtain security threat assessments and a fingerprint-based criminal history records check. Lawmakers and many state officials have raised concerns about drones being used to target high-profile U.S. events like the FIFA World Cup. Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International CEO Michael Robbins praised the risk-based proposal as "a critical step toward enabling drone operations that will enhance safety, transform commercial services, and strengthen public safety with drones as a force multiplier."
