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Happy Monday and happy election day to our friends and neighbors up north,
Canadians will go to the polls today in an election that has more or less become a referendum on Trump, tariffs and the country’s relationship with America. The Liberals, led by incumbent PM Mark Carney, look poised to beat Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives—what will be, if it comes to pass, a shocking reversal from just a couple months ago. When Justin Trudeau officially resigned on January 6, after a decade in office, his party looked like it was set for an absolute drubbing. But, wittingly or not, Trudeau pulled off one of the savvier political moves I can remember by not just resigning but actually vanishing from the face of the Earth—therefore allowing the focus turn to the new American president and his threats to Canada rather than a referendum on his (pretty bad) leadership.
Carney is a smart, sober former central banker who is widely seen as best equipped to navigate the tariff negotiations and annexation talk, plus whatever else Trump lobs next. Right place, right time kinda thing. For a sense of just how much Trump has upended Canadian politics, even the annoying Québécois, who usually vote for their own party that advocates for Quebec to be an independent country, appear freaked out enough by the “51st state” threats that they look poised to vote with the Liberals. It’s always wild to me how Trump is this hugely divisive character here in the U.S., but acts as this great uniter pretty much everywhere else.
Back home, the president is on a big media tour to mark his 100th day in office tomorrow (to those who wrote in to correct me that it’s technically Wednesday, the White House is counting it as tomorrow. Please don’t make me do math on a Monday morning). A slew of new polls over the weekend show flashing warning signs for the White House. We’ve talked about how Liberation Day appears to have been the pivot point at which Trump’s numbers started to collapse, but what’s perhaps even more notable is that he’s now underwater even on immigration, what has always been his strongest issue. ABC News has him at 39% overall—a three-handle on overall approval this early in a presidency is remarkable. It may not matter to him because he’s a lame duck, but if that number keeps going lower you may actually start to see Congressional Republicans break.
Luckily for Trump, after 100 days of his imperial presidency there’s still no real political opposition. The Democrats are still Democrating, unable to get out of their own way. I saw Chuck Schumer on CNN yesterday, asked for a response to Trump’s Mafioso-style shakedown of Harvard. His reply was so amazing I stopped to jot it down in my phone: “We sent him a very strong letter just the other day asking eight very strong questions.” A strong letter! With strong questions! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe it’s time for the Democrats to ask the Canadians for some pointers on how best to form a useful resistance movement.
White House Lines Lawn With Mugshots of Illegal Immigrants
The White House lawn was lined with around 100 mugshots of arrested illegal immigrants and the crimes they allegedly committed, as President Donald Trump tries to draw attention to his actions during the first 100 days of his second term. “White House lawn looks a little different this AM,” Kaelan Dorr, deputy assistant to the president and White House deputy communications director, posted on X. “And they say yard signs don’t win elections…” Read more.
Also happening:
Ukraine war talks: The Kremlin emphasized its “readiness” for direct peace talks with Ukraine but said it is waiting for a signal from Kyiv. President Donald Trump had urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to stop attacking Ukraine, adding that he was “very disappointed” by Russia’s actions. Here’s the latest.Deportations hit U.S. farms: President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans are pushing American farms to a “breaking point,” experts warned. Martin Casanova, founder of THX, a program that connects consumers with farmworkers, told Newsweek: “We are dangerously close to a breaking point. In 2022, an estimated 15 million tons of produce were left unharvested in the U.S.—enough for 30 billion daily servings.” Read the full story.
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