I’ve said it before, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra is the most underpaid U.S. emissary sent to a hostile nation and constantly surrounded by threats, bitterness, anger and hatred.

It would be easier to be U.S. ambassador to North Korea.

There is so much nuance inside this interview, it is remarkable.

Ambassador Hoekstra tries in his best diplomatic form to tell the two Canadians Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois about the underlying nature of the U.S-Canada trade conflicts.  However, in typical Canadian fashion both indoctrinated interviewers are curiously stumped by the points Hoekstra presents.  I am prompting this one because you also need to see the body/facial language. WATCH:

[SIDENOTE: The Canadians needed to turn off the comments on YouTube because Canadians are angry, bitter, abusive, vulgar and nasty in every comment section on the subject of U.S-Canada relations.]

Canada’s greatest strategic weakness is what Canadians call their greatest strength, pride.

There is a big difference between being proud and being prideful. The Canadian worldview is based on the latter.

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has made it official.  Delivering an official statement today following a discussion between the United States, Mexico and Canada, USTR Jamieson Greer informed the group the USA will not be renewing the USMCA trilateral trade agreement. [SOURCE]

[SOURCE]

Unfortunately, yet predictably given how much false information has been pushed on this issue, the Canadian team will now believe they have a period of ten consecutive years of negotiation before the trade deal is over.  This is structurally and completely false.  The Canadian media will likely continue selling this false hope.

In reality, with the non-renewal announcement now made, President Trump and USTR Greer can now complete the bilateral trade discussions with Mexico (noted in the announcement) and then move to stage two.

Stage two will be the United States announcing a complete withdrawal from the USMCA, which triggers a six-month countdown clock.   The formal notification of withdrawal will likely happen once the U.S. and Mexico complete the bilateral free trade agreement.

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Multiple countries have proposed ‘digital service taxes’ which are taxes on the domestic use of American tech platforms like META, Twitter, Amazon etc.  EU countries are planning to tax U.S. based tech platforms for the revenues generated by operations within EU countries.

President Trump announces retaliatory action via reciprocity taxes, in essence leveraging the entirety of the U.S. consumer market, if the EU proceed with this new tax revenue scheme against U.S. companies.   Canada was on the cusp of a digital services tax last year when Trump made a similar announcement forcing Canada to abandon the plan.

[SOURCE]

WASHINGTON DC – […] Trump’s promise to raise tariffs threatens to complicate trade talks with the European Union. Trump’s threat comes one day after EU member states approved an agreement that would slash tariffs on U.S. industrial goods and some agricultural products. In return, the U.S. would cap most tariffs on the European Union at 15 percent.

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At The Economic Club of New York’s gala marking America’s 250th anniversary, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveils a five-pillar framework for “economic statecraft” — tying trade, supply chains, and financial leadership directly to national security. WATCH:

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a major, coordinated federal and state crackdown on massive fraud schemes across Ohio. AAG Blanche detailed a 32-count indictment involving state employees, a scheme to defraud Medicare, Medicaid, the COVID-19 relief program PPP, and emphasized the administration’s relentless pursuit of law and order to protect American taxpayers.

Acting AG Blanche outlined a partnership with officials in the state of Ohio that has now identified thousands of individuals and groups that are under investigation and/or facing indictment as a result of the findings so far. [DOJ Press Release Here] Press Conference Below:

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DOJ – The Justice Department today announced unprecedented federal and state cooperation in Ohio in the fight against fraud, including partnerships and a data sharing agreement to enhance the detection and prosecution of fraud; federal and state charges against 9 defendants for their alleged participation in over $42 million in fraud; orders of detention this week for three defendants, with two additional defendants pending extradition in connection with an additional $15 million in fraud; and the creation of the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list.  The charges announced today involve numerous types of fraud, including health care fraud, government program fraud, and consumer fraud schemes.  

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Mike Steger takes less than 20-minutes to walk through a year of President Trump’s multifaceted U.S. manufacturing policy initiatives that have positioned the U.S. economy for a massive surge in growth. Steger recaps several consequential moves by President Trump and his cabinet to fundamentally change economics in the Western Hemisphere. Each point is well delivered and well presented.

Steger then overlays the economic moves with the geopolitical moves in Venezuela (oil), Cuba (communism ended), Mexico (cartels, traffickers and corruption), Canada (globalism confronted) and finally Greenland (a new consulate is created). Put together, Steger notes how all of these move’s work together with a massive surge in energy, technology and productivity to create a hemispheric powerhouse within the United States. WATCH:

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Intro
01:10 Volcker and the Origins of Globalization
02:30 NAFTA and the Collapse of Industrial America
04:05 Liberation Day and the Tariff Battle
05:30 China’s Rare Earth Weapon
06:45 Rebuilding American Industry

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Speaking to an audience at the Ronald Reagan National Economic Forum in California, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent outlines how flawed trade, financial and economic policies of the past have brought us to a critical moment where President Donald Trump needs to reset the entire system in order to protect American interests.

This is a powerful and well delivered speech certain to gain attention from those who understand the challenge.  Secretary Bessent pulled no punches as he outlined how members of the audience themselves have contributed to a system that has eroded the national security of our nation state by advancing short-term interests disconnected from the American workforce and American industrial base.

The message was simple, “economic security is national security” and a failure to recognize how corporations chasing profits only contributed to the diminishment of internal American wealth.  The patriotic priority must be to return economic strength to the U.S., and all Americans must benefit from renewed economic nationalism.  The American system must be restored.  WATCH:

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Norm Eisen and his two dozen allies within the various Lawfare NGO’s have again interceded and temporarily blocked the financial settlement between the IRS/DOJ and Donald Trump, the $1.776 billion anti-Weaponization Fund settlement.

The weaponization fund was established as part of a settlement agreement between Mr. Trump and the Internal Revenue Service to end a civil lawsuit he and his sons filed in January over the illegal leaking of his tax returns by the IRS. While President Trump will receive no benefit from the settlement, under the agreement the fund aims to “provide a systematic process to hear and redress claims of all others who suffered weaponization and lawfare.”

There is zero legal precedent for a non-participant in the settlement to interfere in the terms and conditions of the settlement itself.  All outside parties have zero standing to interfere in the settlement and all reasonable legal minds will tell you exactly the same.  A Lawfare challenge is futile because taxpayers do not have legal standing to stop the govt from settling lawsuits (see Pigford et al).

In 1923 the Supreme Court said that a taxpayer’s interest in money from the Treasury “is shared with millions of others” and is “comparatively minute and indeterminable.” “If we have an intersection collision with a postal truck and a settlement is negotiated to give $5 million to a family, does anybody have standing to come in and say, ‘the government paid too much in that settlement?'”  The answer is no.

However, the law is really not what stands behind the Lawfare approach. Lawfare is a political strategy designed for public consumption that relies upon the media and stupidity of the American populace.  Smart, intelligent and reasonable people can see through Lawfare when applied.

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…”A cascading series of events could cause a sharp loss of investor confidence and lead to a spike in demand for liquidity or rapid asset sales”…

That’s a diplomatic way for the Bank of Canada to say the current financial situation in Canada is tenuously at risk, if the economic relationship with the United States severs as a result USMCA points of conflict becoming irreconcilable.  An interesting statement against the backdrop of Prime Minister Mark Carney having just visited New York making a pitch to American investors {citation}.

The Bank of Canada released their 2026 Financial Stability Report {see pdf here}, and Senior Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers and Deputy Governor Toni Gravelle delivered remarks today about the analysis.  I’ve prompted the video below to the point of interest, as well as the transcript for the portion being highlighted [7:12 to 9:15].  WATCH:

[Transcript]  – […] “However, vulnerabilities have increased in some parts of the system. Stock and corporate debt valuations have risen and are high relative to historical norms. This makes markets more vulnerable to a sharp correction.

The issuance of global sovereign debt is also rising, and hedge funds are playing a bigger role in buying that debt, often using borrowed money. In normal times, hedge fund activity helps keep markets running smoothly. But if conditions become strained, this activity could amplify stress and disrupt core funding markets.

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This should be interesting.  As White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt remains on maternity leave, the Trump White House has done something remarkable and very unique.  Cabinet members are taking turns delivering the White House press briefing.

Today, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent steps up to the podium and will be delivering the White House briefing at 2:00pm ET.  Secretary Bessent has been one of the standout leaders throughout the first seventeen months. Livestream links below:

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