The missing aspect in all USMCA/CUSMA trade discussions is the simple fact that President Trump and U.S. Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer would prefer bilateral trade agreements. The reason is simple and is highlighted in all the problems with the three-party USMCA.
Two countries can negotiate based on their individual interests; multiple country assemblies get complicated. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his “middle power” strategy of multiple interests assembling to create larger influence simply doesn’t work in trade discussion. That’s the bottom line.
Reuters is reporting the obvious. Mexico and the United States are racing to reach a bilateral trade deal before the U.S. midterm elections in less than eight weeks, according to six sources in both countries familiar with the talks, an effort made more urgent by the collapse of Canadian negotiations with Washington. Both USTR Jamieson Greer and President Trump have previously said the deal with Mexico would likely come first.
Mexico has played this very well. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has not participated in any antagonisms toward the U.S. position; they are simply negotiating for their best outcome. The Mexican government officials don’t try to hide their U.S. dependency under the misguided premise of patriotism. They understand the nature of the relationship.
If President Sheinbaum wants to keep a strong economy, she needs the USA. Both leaders want a trade agreement; it’s business beyond politics. Canada on the other hand is playing pure politics and trying to carve out a deal for themselves the rest of the world doesn’t have. Canada wants to be excluded from the baseline tariffs applied to everyone, that’s not going to happen.
Promethean Action’s Barbara Boyd presents her review of the election outcome in Germany, the alignment of Canada with the EU and the Ukraine negotiations headed by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“A Saxony-Anhalt provincial election saw Germany’s nationalist AfD win 43.8% to the next party’s 17.2%, prompting alarm in the British press and among EU-linked elites because the AfD campaign pledged to end open borders and halt German funding for the Ukraine war. The script argues the surge reflects a broader European revolt driven largely by economics: China’s industrial strategy and competition are squeezing Germany’s Mittelstand, with the Wall Street Journal cited on job losses and a shift toward importing more advanced machinery from China, while green policies, nuclear shutdowns, and the ban on cheap Russian energy have pushed prices 40–50% higher and cut energy-intensive production by 15%.
It links Germany’s downturn to EU war-mobilization plans, casts doubt on Mark Carney’s planned EU-Canada alignment, and contrasts that with Trump-era peace efforts, including a Trump-Putin call, corruption probes in Ukraine, and U.S. officials downplaying inflation impacts from Canada’s tariffs.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues to impress; however, his response to the Wall Street Journalist narrative engineer is absolutely brilliant.
Following visits to Colombia and Ecuador, Secretary Rubio is in Peru today to discuss the “Shield of The Americas”; a joint collaboration and intensely strategic partnership between the United States and Latin American countries to eliminate corruption, arrest narcotraffickers and remove all corrupt elements.
During a news conference with Peruvian President Keiko Fujimori, Secretary Rubio addressed the Peruvian people in both English and Spanish as he explained the specifics of the Shield and what the partnership entails. During the Q&A session of the press conference, a Wall Street Journal narrative engineer asked a question about sovereignty and the U.S. acting unilaterally if Peru didn’t agree to address the threat.
Essentially, Rubio responded by telling the journalist to stop working for the ‘Bureau of Imaginary Problems’. I have prompted the video at the point of the question and then provided the transcript from that moment to the end. The overall English audio-dub is not bad, so the entire presser is well worth watching:
[Transcript] – QUESTION: Vera Bergengruen with The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Secretary, you have stressed that the members of the Shield of the Americas are sovereign partners. But if one of these governments refuses to act against one of these groups that Washington deems a terrorist threat, does the U.S. reserve the right to act unilaterally, including here in Peru?
And President Fujimori: (Via interpreter) The question wanted more information about the partner of the Shield of the Americas. This will include to collaborate with the United States here in the country.
SECRETARY RUBIO: I’ll answer that question in English and Spanish. I don’t know if you guys heard it. Basically, the gist of the question is, if you’re a member of the Shield and refuse to act, does the United States – will the United States act unilaterally?
Well, if we were going to act unilaterally, why would we need the Shield? We’re not – if we were interested in acting unilaterally, we have the capacity to act unilaterally. The reason why we’re not doing it is because we want to do it with our partners. It’s the most effective way to do it. For us to confront transnational criminal groups, we need to do it inside the sovereign territory of countries, and we want to partner with those countries. It’s in their interest to do it. That is why we have the Shield. That is why the Shield exists.
People make up these problems that don’t exist. They’re getting ahead of themselves with these – these ridiculous sort of things that no one’s even contemplating. The bottom line is the reason why we have a Shield is because we choose to act in partnership with our partners. So it’s very simple. This is not very complicated; let me explain this to you. It’s a very, very simple equation. We have a country that says we want to defeat these criminals, these terrorists, these evil, despicable human beings; we want to defeat them. We want to work with America to defeat them. And so we say, of course we want to work – what should we say to them? No, we don’t want to work with you? No, we’d like you not to do anything about these groups?
Joseph diGenova confirmed to NBC, “it was an honor and a privilege to serve the president and the department.” He declined to elaborate on the reason he’s out. “I’m moving on,” diGenova said.
diGenova’s technical job description was “Counselor to the Attorney General.”
I would frame the matter in this context, ABC previously reported that Joseph diGenova abruptly quit the investigative taskforce following pressure from Main Justice to achieve actionable results and not endless process. In part because diGenova was aligned with the Special Government Employee John Solomon approach to investigative activity; which is to say, living a life inside the process as if the investigation itself was the ends, not the means.
From experience dealing with these folks, a Trumpian level of frustration is warranted. Remember, the generally accepted DC rule is that no investigative outcome that touches on political considerations will be released within 90-days of an election. diGenova was on a clock, the clock ran out, diGenova quit. It’s as simple as that. All very unfortunate.
[VIA ABC] – A Trump loyalist who had been tapped to oversee a sprawling and controversial DOJ conspiracy investigation targeting political foes of President Donald Trump abruptly resigned Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Joe diGenova submitted his resignation to Attorney General Todd Blanche amid what sources described as growing frustrations from Trump and senior DOJ officials regarding his work on the so-called “grand conspiracy” investigation based out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida.
Sources said diGenova had pitched himself to the president as someone who could potentially ramp up the conspiracy investigation, which thus far has resulted in no criminal prosecutions despite dozens of subpoenas issued over the past year to various officials involved in past investigations of Trump.
I’m going to stick this to the top of the page while I continue sharing today’s significant news.
Today is Day #2 at the GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. President Trump will deliver the keynote address later tonight. Livestream links are below:
Prime Minister Mark Carney really is a globalist piece of work. As Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymr Zelenskyy arrives in Alberta, Canada, to coordinate with the latest European leader Mark Carney, the remarks said in this brief greeting and introduction video are stunning in a geopolitical context.
It is obvious that Prime Minister Carney is trying to position himself as a decisionmaker in the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict by pushing Zelenskyy even deeper into intransigent positions that will only lead to greater conflict.
Carney positions Canada squarely on the side of Ukraine and in violent opposition to Russia. Not coincidentally, this is the exact opposite ¹position of the United States, and that is a feature not a flaw.
Carney really does view himself as European first and foremost. He even remarks that Canada in general, and he as the Prime Minister specifically, will ensure that Ukraine advances to become a European member state. How, exactly, does he as a North American leader expect to make this happen?
Worse still, Prime Minister Carney injects himself into the Ukraine-Russia negotiations by stating his intention to ensure that Ukraine becomes a member of NATO. Ukraine not becoming a NATO member state is a hardline for Russia, and that aspect is deeply enmeshed in the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. led discussions with Russia and Ukraine.
Carney is putting his nation and himself into direct conflict with President Trump and the goals/objectives of peace.
No one outside of Canada gives a tinkers’ damn about Canada giving more money to Ukraine; however, when Carney directly aligns his military with Ukraine and pledges to support Zelenskyy with military hardware, NORAD defense missiles, things change. Do the Canadian people really want to get pulled into this quagmire as an outcome of Mark Carney’s grand aspirations to become a protectorate of the European Union?
Carney is playing a very dangerous game, and I hope the Canadian people can see just how far over his skis he is putting them.
Watch these remarks carefully and contemplate just how much Carney is positioning Canada to be a direct enemy of the United States. This will not end well. SEE BELOW:
This is one spectacular impromptu presser by Secretary of State Marco Rubio following discussions with Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa at Carondelet Palace. All of it is direct, deliberate, targeted and without any reserved remarks held back due to regional sensibilities.
Secretary Rubio emphatically outlined how the United States is going to work with Latin-America officials to remove narco-terrorism in all its forms from the region like “cutting out a cancer.” Rubio walks through the issues and the importance of direct confrontation, including the use of the U.S. military, the U.S. intelligence agencies and every element of power at our disposal to help leaders like President Daniel Noboa fight the corrupt gangs and domestic terrorist networks within the region. Rubio’s strength of statements is exceptional.
These remarks come on the heels of the State Dept today designating corrupt Ecuadorian officials as facilitators of Foreign Terrorist Organizations [SEE HERE]. He also praised the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa as being “the most involved and aggressive partner” the US has had in its work dismantling criminal networks and “bringing people to justice that have never been brought to justice before”. Rubio outlined all of it, soup to nuts. This is a must watch presser:
STATE DEPT – […] Pablo Ramírez Erazo, former director of Ecuador’s Prison Authority; Wilman Terán Carillo, former judge on Ecuador’s National Court of Justice; and Ronaldo Xavier Guerrero Cruz, former criminal judge on Ecuador’s Judicial Council, each significantly abused their former government positions by accepting bribes from gangs linked to narco-terrorist organizations. In exchange for bribes, these officials interfered with judicial, electoral, or public processes on behalf of Ecuadorian gangs linked to designated FTOs Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), Los Choneros, and Los Lobos.
Pablo Bolívar Muentes Alarcón, former member of the Ecuadorian National Assembly; María Fabiola Gallardo Ramia, former President of the Guayas Provincial Court; Johann Marfetán Medina, former criminal judge of the Guayas Provincial Court; and Mayra Carolina Salazar Merchán, former public relations officer of the Guayas Provincial Court, each abused their former public positions by accepting bribes in exchange for interfering with judicial processes to benefit narco-terrorist organizations like Los Choneros and the Sinaloa Cartel, and their criminal facilitators. (SOURCE)
A historic Republican midterm convention is being held in Dallas, Texas, to be headlined by a President Trump address later today. The livestream links to the event are below. President Trump is anticipated to take the stage during the final hour of the convention, specifically from 8 to 9 p.m. Central Time. The event’s schedule indicates that the programming will run from 3 to 9 p.m. CT each evening.
Vice President JD Vance will deliver his speech at the conclusion of today’s events. Links Below:
Within media reporting there is usually a ring of truth, albeit spun into a fake news narrative. President Trump famously said, “the reports are real, the news is fake.” I suspect this report today about CIA Director John Ratcliffe being more involved in the Ukraine-Russia conflict negotiations is a prime example.
We’ll start here: “CIA director John Ratcliffe is preparing to take a bigger role in U.S. negotiations with Russia and Ukraine, U.S. officials have told their European counterparts, in a bid to jump-start moribund diplomatic efforts to end the four-and-a-half-year-long war,” the Financial Times reports.
“The move comes as the White House is considering paring back the involvement of U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been leading the talks with Moscow and Kyiv.” {Source)
I suspect the first paragraph is accurate, and I suspect the second paragraph is entirely fake news. That opinion seems verified by the White House refuting the Financial Times report. Pay attention to what they actually refute:
“This entire story is totally fake news attributed to low-level, anonymous ‘sources’ who have no idea what they are talking about. None of these supposed conversations are happening. Special Envoy Witkoff and Jared Kushner continue to work incredibly hard towards a peace agreement, and the President trusts them fully to lead negotiations on behalf of the United States. It’s a shame that Financial Times has devolved into a left-wing gossip rag that has zero interest in reporting accurate information.” ~White House, Anna Kelly
I have a theory on this, and generally I don’t get out in advance of things – preferring to wait, assemble data, and then citing the backstory in the full context outline. However, this story is different. There’s a geopolitical clock ticking and I suspect events will unfold rather quickly, so it’s worth peeking around the corner in advance of the picture emerging.
Two countries can negotiate based on their individual interests; multiple country assemblies get complicated. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his “middle power” strategy of multiple interests assembling to create larger influence simply doesn’t work in trade discussion. That’s the bottom line.
