President Donald Trump is set to welcome newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to the White House on Tuesday.
Just days after winning an election campaign with an aggressive focus on Trump, Carney is expected to make a bid for a comprehensive deal on trade and national security, while hoping to reset frayed U.S.-Canada relations. The high-stakes head-to-head between the two leaders is set against the backdrop of Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada and the imposition of sweeping 25 percent tariffs in violation of a free trade agreement.
While Carney said last week he is going to Washington to “get the best deal for Canada,” Trump told reporters Monday that, “I’m not sure what he wants to see me about,” before conceding: “I guess he wants to make a deal. Everybody does.”
The meeting comes a day after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that he is skeptical of striking a U.S.-Canada trade deal, telling Fox Business that the Canadian government a “socialist regime.”
Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence rebuked the sweeping tariffs on allies and trade partners in an interview with CNN Monday, stating they will “ultimately harm the American economy.”
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Alcatraz, Sith lords and movie tariffs: Trump’s ravings get louder as his approval rating goes lower
Key points
- Canada's Mark Carney and Trump set for high-stakes White House meeting
- Mike Pence scorches Trump's sweeping tariffs
- Trump administration 'only emboldened Russia,' Pence warns
- Trump doubles down on Alcatraz reopening
Lutnick brands Canada 'socialist regime' ahead of Trump-Carney meet
10:51
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James Liddell
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that he is skeptical of striking a U.S.-Canada trade deal, calling the Canadian government a “socialist regime.”
“I mean, this is really complex, because they have been basically feeding off of us for decades upon decades upon decades, right?,” he told Fox Business Monday, a day before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney was due at the White House for his highly anticipated first meeting with Donald Trump.
“They have their socialist regime, and it’s basically feeding off of America, I mean, the president calls it out all the time. Why do we make cars in Canada? Why do we do our films in Canada? Come on,” Lutnick continued.
“So, I think … it’s going to be a fascinating meeting, I’m glad I’m going to be there listening, but it’s going to be a fascinating meeting tomorrow. I just don’t see how it works out so perfect.”
Analysis: Trump’s disturbing vision for Gaza has inspired Netanyahu’s plan to seize the Strip
10:41
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James Liddell
The conditions that families in Gaza are being forced to endure are beyond what any of us could imagine in our worst nightmares, and the world has greeted that unprecedented suffering with a shrug, writes Chief International Correspondent Bel Trew.
Famine is stalking the population after Israel decided two months ago not to allow any aid into the besieged, blasted Strip, which is just 26 miles long and home to 2.3 million people.
Now, that bloody reality is only going to become more apocalyptic if Israel goes ahead with plans to dramatically expand its operations, as Israeli officials have said.
The plans echo Mr Trump’s own outlandish plans in the past that the Palestinians be forced out of Gaza to allow the US to turn the enclave into a “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Read more:
RFK Jr has ‘lifetime career of undermining public confidence in vaccines,’ Pence says
10:07
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James Liddell
As the number of measles cases approaches four figures across 29 states, Mike Pence shared his “concerns” over Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a known vaccine skeptic, and his handling of the outbreak.
“Measles is a very serious disease, particularly for small children. And we should send no message across America other than to encourage parents at the time that young children are able to be vaccinated to get that measles vaccine,” Pence told CNN’s Kailin Collins Monday.
“It’s a completely preventable disease, and I do have concerns that we have a secretary at HHS who has had a lifetime career of undermining public confidence in vaccines. We should have the opposite.”
Trump and Canada's Carney ready for high-stakes White House meeting
09:53
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James Liddell
Newly-elected Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is headed to the White House on Tuesday for his highly anticipated first meeting with Donald Trump, with the pair expected to discuss tariffs, economic issues and national security.
The high-stakes head-to-head comes against a backdrop of Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada – in doing so, pledging to turn its leader into the “governor” of what he hopes to make the 51st U.S. state – and the imposition of sweeping 25 percent tariffs in violation of a free trade agreement.
Carney said he is going to Washington to “get the best deal for Canada” and to address the “immediate trade pressures.”
Trump, however, attempted to play down the meeting. “I’m not sure what he wants to see me about,” he told reporters Monday. “I guess he wants to make a deal. Everybody does.”
‘Full of Sith’: Mark Hamill piles on Trump for bungled Star Wars post
09:38
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James Liddell
One of the latest – but hardly the least – critics to jump into the recent Star Wars fan pushback over Donald Trump is none other than Mark Hamill, who was the original Luke Skywalker in the movie franchise.
Hamill weighed in on a White House social media post on “Star Wars Day,” May 4, featuring a super-muscled version of the president wielding a lightsaber from Star Wars.
“Happy May the 4th to all, including the Radical Left Lunatics who are fighting so hard to bring Sith Lords, Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners ... back into our Galaxy,” said the post. “You’re not the Rebellion — you’re the Empire. May the 4th be with you.”
Mary Papenfuss has more:
Kamala Harris and Doug Emhoff attend Met Gala
09:35
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James Liddell
Former Vice President Kamala Harris and husband Doug Emhoff were among the luminaries at Monday’s Met Gala.
The California Democrat and her husband did not appear to walk the event’s red carpet.
Harris wore a custom gown from Off-White, featuring a flowing, floor-length white sleeve and black main dress with a train, designed in cady silks by the company’s creative director, IB Kamara, according to Vogue.
Kamara told the magazine that Harris represented the values embedded in this year’s Met Gala theme – “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” – and its emphasis on “dandyism.”
Josh Marcus has the full details:
Trump declares two new 'national holidays' – but Americans won't be getting the day off
09:25
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James Liddell
Last week, Donald Trump said that he wants to declare May 8 – which marks Victory in Europe (VE) Day – as “Victory Day for World War I” and rename Veterans Day, which takes place annually on November 11 to remember fallen soldiers, to “Victory Day for World War I.”
Now, the president said that those days will become national holidays – but Americans won’t be getting the day off.
Watch: Trump meets with US ballerina previously imprisoned in Russia
09:19
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James Liddell
Putin 'doesn't want peace,' Pence warns
09:16
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James Liddell
Mike Pence also expressed disappointment in Donald Trump’s support of Kyiv, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t want peace. He wants Ukraine” and that his administration “has only emboldened Russia.”
“And the fact that we are now nearly two months following a ceasefire agreement that Ukraine has agreed to, and Russia continues to delay and give excuses, it confirms that point,” the former vice president said. “The wavering support the administration has shown [for Ukraine] over the last few months, I believe, has only emboldened Russia.”
He added: “This is not just about Ukraine for me. I really do believe that if Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine, it’s just a matter of time before he crosses a border where our men and women in uniform are going to have to go fight him.”
Trump's former VP Mike Pence scorches president's sweeping tariffs
09:14
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James Liddell
Donald Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence has the commander-in-chief’s sweeping tariffs in a blistering CNN interview.
Pence sat down with Kaitlin Collins on Monday to deliver one of his most wide-ranging critiques of the president’s second administration.
While the former vice president said he supports using tariffs to pressure China into trade talks, he argued Trump’s broader levies on allies and trade partners will “ultimately harm the American economy.”
“The administration is advancing policies that are not targeted at countries that have been abusing our trade relationship, but rather are essentially new industrial policy that will result in inflation, that will harm consumers and ultimately harm the American economy,” he said.
“My view always is free trade with free nations – that we ought to be engaging our trading partners across the free world to lower trade barriers, lower nontariff barriers and subsidies.”
Pence added that the U.S. “ought to get tough” with authoritarian regimes
Trump announces Alcatraz reopening hours after 'Escape from Alcatraz' airing
09:10
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James Liddell
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live blog.
During a Sunday evening blitz of social media posts, Donald Trump demanded that one of the most notorious prisons in American history be reopened.
Incidentally, the president’s sudden push for the tourist destination of Alcatraz to once again become a maximum-security prison complex came just hours after a South Florida PBS station aired the 1979 classic film Escape from Alcatraz. The president spent the past weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort, which is located in Palm Beach.
During an Oval Office press conference Monday, the president was asked why he decided that he needed to resurrect Alcatraz as a prison after it had been shuttered for decades, prompting Trump to deliver a rambling response that included him touting his own cinematic vision.
“Well, I guess I was supposed to be a moviemaker,” Trump — who recently announced his intention to implement 100 percent tariffs on foreign films — declared
Justin Baragona has more: