Original Publish Date » April 16 , 2025
Last Updated » 5 days

California governor begging Canadians to ignore Trump, come back for sand, sun, and wine

  • Canadians have sharply curtailed vacation plans south of the border in recent weeks amid an ongoing tariff war with the US, a comparatively weak dollar, reports of travellers being detained by US officials, and Trump openly musing about annexing Canada. (CBC / National Observer)
  • Canadian Association of University Teachers advises academics against non-essential travel to the US (Canada Letter)
  • 900,000 fewer people went to the US in March as cross-border travel plummets (Canada Letter)
  • Canada’s travel boycott to the US helped lower inflation in March (Canada Letter)
  • A US citizen, returning to the US from Canada, was detained by border US officials (NBC Boston)

Are you convinced by California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plea for Canadians to visit his state again?

Trump still wants Canada to be the 51st US state

Sean Boynton Global News » Asked Tuesday if there was a reason for the apparent softening of tone, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt denied there was any change in Trump’s posture behind the scenes.“I would reject the president’s position on Canada has shifted,” she told reporters. “The president still maintains his position on Canada: the United States has been subsidizing Canada’s national defence, and he believes that Canadians would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st state of the United States of America.” #Never51

Trumps Worldwide Tariff and Trade War

Automobile companies that continue to manufacture vehicles in Canada will get an exemption from Ottawa’s retaliatory tariffs as Trump attempts to upend the North American industry with steep import duties. (Kelly Geraldine Malone / National Observer)

The European Union braces for more US tariffs despite talks (CNBC)

The Trump administration plans to use ongoing tariff negotiations to pressure US trading partners to limit their dealings with China

  • The idea is to extract commitments from US trading partners to isolate China’s economy in exchange for reductions in trade and tariff barriers imposed by the White House.
  • US officials plan to use negotiations with more than 70 nations to ask them to disallow China to ship goods through their countries, prevent Chinese firms from locating in their territories to avoid U.S. tariffs, and not absorb China’s cheap industrial goods into their economies.
  • Problem is, such agreements with the US would make trading partners more dependent on the US, which, since January, has already proven to be unreliable and unstable, and eager to rip up their own trade agreements they themselves negotiated a few years prior, without any justification. (WSJ)

US Blocks NVIDIA Chip Sales to China – Company Projects $5.5B Hit (TechRepublic / Financial Times)

US vehicle supplies are dwindling as Americans race to buy everything but Teslas. Tariffs have customers worried about the future price of cars. (Gizmodo)

The Ugly

Judge finds Trump administration in criminal contempt

Judge James Boasberg has found probable cause that the Trump administration acted in contempt of court when officials last month defied his order to turn two planes around carrying alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador. As this Opinion will detail, the Court ultimately determines that the Government’s actions on that day demonstrate a willful disregard for its Order, sufficient for the Court to conclude that probable cause exists to find the Government in criminal contempt. (ABC / BBC / Business Insider)

A survey released on Wednesday by the Lowy Institute, a research foundation, found only 36% of Australians expressed any level of trust in the U.S. to act responsibly, down 20 points since the last survey in June, 2024, and the lowest since the annual poll was launched two decades ago. (Globe and Mail)

Two immigration lawyers in Massachusetts who are U.S. citizens have said they received notices from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security telling them that it’s time to leave the United States.

  • Boston immigration lawyer Nicole Micheroni, who was born and raised in Massachusetts, received a notice Friday telling her that she was paroled into the United States for a limited period, and that the government was exercising its discretion to revoke parole.
    “Do not attempt to remain in the United States. The federal government will find you,” the letter said. “Please depart the United States immediately.” (American Bar Association Journal)

US immigration agents arrested a Columbia student when he arrived for his citizenship interview in Vermont, despite his legal residency and lack of any criminal charge. (AP / Axios)

Trump is limiting media

  • The White House announced it was eliminating the traditional press pool access for wire services, even after a federal court ordered the administration to end viewpoint discrimination against the Associated Press.
  • The move will significantly reduce the traditional level of access for journalists from the AP, Reuters, and Bloomberg News to the press pool, which cover the president in areas like the Oval Office and aboard Air Force One where space is limited. (Bloomberg)
  • Journalists at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who have been imprisoned for their work are dismayed by Trump’s effort to close the outlet. (NYT)

Trump’s D.C. U.S. attorney nominee Ed Martin appeared on Russian state media over 150 times (Washington Post)

Republicans are discussing a tax hike on the wealthy (NBC)

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing Trump over tariffs (Politico / AP)

Travellers are staying away from the US