The latest chapter in the increasingly tense U.S.-Canada relationship involves trade barriers, dairy quotas, provincial liquor bans, automobile policy, and, hovering strangely in the background, wildfire smoke. President Trump has signed three proclamations imposing additional 50 percent tariffs on a range of Canadian imports beginning August 19. The duties will affect nearly $20 billion in…
The House Debate Over the Future of U.S. Aid to Israel
The House has delivered one of those votes that fails legislatively but succeeds politically. Rep. Thomas Massie’s amendment to the fiscal 2027 State Department appropriations bill was defeated 314–104, with 10 members voting present. Yet the most revealing number was 103. That was the number of Democrats who joined Massie, the lone Republican supporter, in…
The U.S.-Spain Trade Standoff
President Trump’s suggestion that the United States should cut off trade with Spain over defense spending is one of those foreign-policy moments where a real issue gets paired with a very Trumpian solution: take a legitimate complaint, attach a flamethrower to it, and see who blinks first. The basic dispute is simple enough. Trump is…
Turkey, the F-35, and the Price of Alliance Trust
President Trump’s reported push to reopen the door for Turkey to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program has revived one of NATO’s messier family arguments. And yes, this is very much a “family argument” situation: Turkey is a NATO ally, the U.S. wants strong partners against Russia and Iran, Israel is raising alarms, Congress has…
The Venezuela Aid Dilemma
Venezuela’s earthquake crisis has created the kind of moment that tests more than buildings, roads, and emergency systems. It tests judgment. It tests compassion. And, in Washington’s case, it tests whether America can walk and chew gum at the same time: help suffering people without accidentally handing a political gift basket to a government figure…
Trump, Ukraine, and the Delayed Drone Deal
The Trump administration’s hesitation over a major drone deal with Ukraine comes down to a simple question: Is America willing to learn from the country currently fighting the most drone-intensive war on earth? Ukraine wants a broad framework deal that would combine its hard-earned battlefield drone experience with American technology, money, manufacturing capacity, and artificial…
What the Pentagon’s Europe Deployment Pause Means
The Pentagon has reportedly halted troop deployments to Poland and Germany as part of President Trump’s broader order to reduce the U.S. military presence in Europe by about 5,000 troops. According to AP, roughly 4,000 troops from the Army’s 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, were no longer heading to Poland, and a…
Ukraine Aid Returns to the House Floor
Rep. Gregory Meeks’ Ukraine Support Act has now been forced toward a House vote through a discharge petition, meaning supporters gathered enough signatures to bypass House leadership and bring the bill out of legislative limbo. That alone makes the story politically significant. Discharge petitions aren’t everyday tools. They’re congressional crowbars, used when enough members decide…
Trump, Germany, and the Cost of a Feud
When foreign policy starts to look less like long-range strategy and more like a high-stakes personality clash, it’s worth pausing and asking whether the adults are still in the room. That’s the uncomfortable backdrop to President Trump’s reported order to withdraw roughly 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, a move unfolding amid a heated dispute with…
War, Power, and the Constitution: Who Actually Gets to Pull the Trigger?
On Friday, President Trump claimed that the War Powers Resolution is “totally unconstitutional.” That’s not exactly a mild critique. That’s the political equivalent of flipping the table and saying the rulebook itself is illegitimate. The War Powers Resolution, passed in 1973 in the shadow of the Vietnam War, was Congress’s attempt to rein in a…
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