Trump and Netanyahu may take a victory lap on Iran, but the Gaza war looms over their meeting
But as they meet for the third time this year, the outwardly triumphant visit will be dogged by Israel's 21-month war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
FIRST READING: The remarkably few elbows Carney has thrown at Trump
Article content First Reading is a Canadian politics newsletter curated by the National Post's own Tristin Hopper. To get an early version sent directly to your inbox, sign up here. Article content TOP STORY Article content Prime Minister Mark Carney won the election in April thanks in part due to his promise to take a hard line with the United States. Carney declared during the campaign that Canada's highly integrated 'old relationship' with the U.S. was over. Polls showed at the time that among Liberal voters, their top motivation in voting for Carney was their idea that he would be an effective counterweight against U.S. President Donald Trump. One Ipsos poll from April 13 found that voters saw Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as likely to 'roll over and accept whatever Trump wants,' while trusting Carney to be 'a tough negotiator who would get the best deal for Canada.' Article content Article content So it's a little weird that Carney's premiership has largely been marked by deference to Washington. Two months in, the Carney government has not materially opposed the U.S. agenda in any meaningful sense. Article content But Carney has overseen the first time in history that a Canadian government has seemingly promised to rescind House of Commons legislation just because the U.S. president complained about it in a social media post. Article content That would be the Digital Services Tax Act, which was made law in Canada last June following a 'yea' House of Commons vote of 175 to 144. But it only took a press release for the Carney government to reverse all of that as a sop to Washington. Article content Article content The spur was a Truth Social post by Trump, in which he said he was immediately suspending all Canadian trade negotiations because of the tax, which he called an 'attack on our Country.' Article content Article content Within two days, the Carney government unilaterally pledged to do what Trump wanted: Collection of the tax would stop immediately, and the Digital Services Tax Act would be repealed as soon as possible. Article content Here's how White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt summed up the move in a recent press conference: 'It's very simple. Prime Minister Carney and Canada caved to President Trump and the United States of America.' Article content Until recently, the most conspicuous example of a prime minister kissing up to the American leader was usually cited as the time in 1985 when Brian Mulroney publicly sang When Irish Eyes Are Smiling to then U.S. president Ronald Reagan. Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama were also known to praise one another, with Trudeau calling his U.S. counterpart 'a man of both tremendous heart and tremendous intellect.' Article content But Carney takes the tactic to a whole new level. In the two times he's personally met with Trump, he's made a point of delivering an extended paean to the U.S. leader in front of news cameras. The most recent example came at the G7 summit in Alberta, where Carney wished Trump a happy birthday before declaring that the Canadian-hosted summit was 'nothing without U.S. leadership, and your personal leadership.' In a May meeting at the White House, Carney called Trump a 'transformational president' who was 'securing the world.' Article content The first major piece of legislation tabled by the re-elected Liberal government was Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act. The bill codified a package of border security measures pledged to Trump in February as part of an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to stave off a trade war. Article content This includes a promised crackdown on fentanyl trafficking, as well as tighter controls on immigration, particularly in the realm of fraudulent asylum claims. Article content There are good reasons for Canada to pass a border security bill, but the Liberals have been quite open about the fact that their newfound interest in border security has been a direct reaction to Trump. Article content In a House of Commons defence of Bill C-2, Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux said, 'members will recall that the criticism being levelled by the President of the United States toward Canada was about the issue of fentanyl, of our borders not being secure.' Article content Probably the most conspicuous anti-American policy turn taken by the Carney government has been its attempts to substitute Canada's close relationship with the U.S. in favour of a close relationship with the European Union. This has been most notable in the realm of defence, with Carney pledging vast increases to Canadian military spending while striking a new European military alliance that will include Canadian participation in the ReArm Europe program. Article content Federal literature has made clear that they're doing this to 'diversify Canada's defence partnerships beyond the United States,' but the tack is pretty much in line with what the United States has been begging Canada to do. Article content U.S. politicians of both major parties have long bemoaned Canada's lacklustre contributions to the likes of both NATO and NORAD, with senior members of the Trump White House often citing low defence spending as one of their main grievances against Canada. Article content In fact, NATO's recent decision to raise their military spending benchmark to five per cent of GDP (a move that Canada swiftly agreed to), was hailed by Trump as a major victory for U.S. foreign policy. Article content During the federal election, Carney was quite forceful in outlining the need for 'countermeasures' against U.S. tariffs. After Trump hit the Canadian auto sector with a round of tariffs in early April, Carney immediately retaliated with what he described as 'purpose and force.'
National Observer
an hour ago
- National Observer
Politicians overstate the benefits of scrapping internal trade barriers: think tank
A new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is dismissing moves by the federal government and Canada's premiers to break down internal trade barriers as little more than "political theatre." It lands just ahead of the country's internal trade ministers meeting in Quebec City this week, where they are expected to talk about their next steps as they rush to remove rules hampering cross-provincial trade. Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed throughout the spring election to forge "one Canadian economy" with the premiers by eliminating internal barriers to trade and labour mobility in response to US President Donald Trump 's tariffs. Internal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland has pointed to studies that say internal trade barriers amount to a seven per cent tariff that Canada imposes on itself, and that removing them could boost the economy by up to $200 billion. But the left-leaning think tank's report released this morning reviews the steps taken by Ottawa and the provinces to remove red tape and argues they will do little to mitigate the tariff threat or significantly boost the economy. The study authors say federal and provincial politicians have only been able to point to a handful of examples where getting rid of overlapping regulations could have an impact.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Tesla slides as Musk's ‘America Party' heightens investor worries
Tesla TSLA.O shares fell nearly 7% in premarket trading on Monday after CEO Elon Musk's plans to launch a new U.S. political party reignited concerns about his commitment to the company's future as it struggles with declining sales. Musk unveiled the 'America Party' on Saturday after openly sparring with Donald Trump over the U.S. president's tax-cut and spending bill. Their feud erupted into an all-out social media brawl in early June, with Trump threatening to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Musk's companies receive from the federal government. Musk's political move comes days after Tesla posted a second straight drop in quarterly deliveries, piling pressure on its stock as the company grapples with fierce competition and an aging vehicle line-up. 'Investors are worried about two things – one is more Trump ire affecting subsidies and the other, more importantly, is a distracted Musk,' said Neil Wilson, U.K. investor strategist at Saxo Markets. Tesla's stock, which hit a record high in December after Trump's November re-election, has lost 35% since then, making it the worst-performing stock among 'the Magnificent Seven' group of high-growth U.S. companies this year. Investors had in May cheered Musk's decision to scale back his political involvement and remain Tesla CEO for another five years. He had spent nearly $300 million around Trump's re-election campaign last year. 'But now (they) are worried he's going to (get) sucked back in and take his eye off Tesla,' Wilson said. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, a Tesla bull, said many investors are feeling a 'sense of exhaustion' over Musk's insistence on immersing himself in politics. The first signs of investor unease surfaced soon after Musk's announcement, with investment firm Azoria Partners delaying the listing of a Tesla exchange-traded fund. Trump on Sunday called Musk's plans to form the 'America Party' 'ridiculous‚' saying the Musk ally he once named to lead NASA would have presented a conflict of interest given Musk's business interests in space. Tesla board moves Azoria Partners CEO James Fishback posted several critical comments on X about Musk's new party, and called for the Tesla board to clarify Musk's political ambitions and evaluate if his political involvement is compatible with his obligations to Tesla as CEO. The new party undermines the confidence shareholders had that Musk would be focusing more on the company, Fishback said. Musk's latest political move raises questions around Tesla board's course of action. Its chair, Robyn Denholm, in May denied a Wall Street Journal report that said board members were looking to replace the CEO. Tesla's board, which has been criticized for failing to provide oversight of its combative, headline-making CEO, faces a dilemma managing him as he oversees five other companies and his personal political ambitions. 'This is exactly the kind of thing a board of directors would curtail - removing the CEO if he refused to curtail these kinds of activities,' said Ann Lipton, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School and an expert in business law. 'The Tesla board has been fairly supine; they have not, at least not in any demonstrable way, taken any action to force Musk to limit his outside ventures, and it's difficult to imagine they would begin now.' By Joel Jose (Reporting by Joel Jose in Bengaluru and Amanda Cooper in London; additional reporting by Medha Singh; Editing by Alun John and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
