Well, things got real again today, as Justin Trudeau told the audience at his Canada-US Economic Summit that Trump isn’t joking around with his talk of annexation, and that part of the reason why is access to our critical minerals. Trudeau apparently also talked about the need to mend fences with Mexico as well, which was apparently an oblique shot at Doug Ford, who has been trying to throw them under the bus rather than working with them to counter Trump. (Ford, meanwhile, disparaged the whole summit while on the campaign trail, because apparently, it’s stealing his thunder). There was also talk at the summit about pipelines, nuclear energy (and conservative shills who claim Trudeau is anti-nuclear are straight-up lying), and removing some of the federal-situated trade barriers around financial services regulations and procurement.
Again, a border czar is the dumbest idea, and General Hillier has disqualified himself a dozen times over.
This is so stupid. https://t.co/pySFyVaIfn— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 7, 2025
Some sort of national program for energy seems fitting, no? Whatever could we call it? Seriously, though, it's really something what Trump has awakened (and I still think EE is a bad idea). https://t.co/qadkSJUvzH
— Andrew Leach (@andrew_leach) February 7, 2025
As the day went on, more details came out about those two calls that Trudeau had with Trump on Monday about the tariffs and the “reprieve” that was granted. Comments included that Trump was musing about breaking a 1908 boundary treaty, was dismissive of our contributions to NORAD, and listed off a litany of complaints. (Because “it’s all about fentanyl,” right?) It was also on this call that Trudeau apparently deduced that Trump hadn’t been briefed on the $1.3 billion border plan, but maybe that’s what you get when Trump refuses your calls for weeks while he plays gangster. (And he was also refusing the Mexican president’s calls as well, so this was not a Trudeau-specific snub).
So this is where things are at—the stakes are higher than we may want to admit (and certainly the head of the Canadian American Business Council doesn’t want to admit it and still believes this is just an offensive joke), but maybe this existential threat will help shake off the normalcy bias that has perpetuated a certain status quo. Nevertheless, the political landscape is shifting drastically right now, and it’s going to make for a very different election campaign than what everyone was counting on.
And I'm the one who has to write about it. https://t.co/5RTSQriPMf
— Dale Smith (@journo_dale) February 7, 2025
Ukraine Dispatch
A Russian guided bomb attack on Sumy region in the northeast killed three. Russians claim to have taken the settlement of Toretsk, but the Ukrainian brigade in the outskirts says they haven’t moved. International nuclear monitors are concerned that the number of attacks on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant have increased.
Strong security always has many elements, and each one matters. Ukraine possesses some of the largest strategic resource reserves in Europe, and protecting Ukraine also means protecting these resources. Resources that can either strengthen our state and our partners—or Russia and… pic.twitter.com/EcRCYRiGkm
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 7, 2025
North Korean soldiers "brought in again" to fight in Kursk Oblast, Zelensky says; Ukraine downs Russian guided bomb near Zaporizhzhia, Air Force says; and more. https://t.co/0bLvMxrsht
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 7, 2025