Canada struck back at U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday with tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods, in response to the latest round of tariffs on Canada. The outcome could resonate far beyond Canada, showing other governments whether a smaller U.S. ally can withstand Trump's economic pressure.
Republican candidates were summoned to Dallas for Trump's two-day convention to rally supporters for this year's elections. Republicans have never held a midterm convention before, although Democrats did in the 1970s and 1980s.
Americans' satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education in the country has hit a low point. Just 32% of American adults say they are "completely" or "somewhat" satisfied with the U.S. school system, according to a new poll. That's an 11-point drop over the past two years and the lowest since Gallup began polling on the subject 27 years ago.
Here's the latest:
Trump’s social media mapping now rattles Iceland as well as Greenland and Denmark
Trump posted a map showing the U.S. sprawling across all of North America and extending to Greenland and Iceland, in the colors of the U.S. flag.
Trump has repeatedly talked of making Canada the 51st U.S. state and taking control of Greenland, Denmark's self-governing territory. Now Iceland's foreign secretary summoned the U.S. ambassador to make it clear that Monday's Truth Social post was unacceptable, national broadcaster RÚV said.
“The U.S. president still harbors some kind of maximalist vision in his own mind. We need to rein that in,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told the national broadcaster DR on Tuesday.
Trump's post came as the European Union sought to reassure Greenland by promising a stronger partnership and major investments. Trump also mistakenly named Iceland four times while speaking about his designs on Greenland, and ambassador Billy Long joked about governing Iceland as the 52nd state.
US secretary of state says US ‘obviously’ won’t follow UK lead on West Bank trade ban
Speaking to reporters before a trip to Latin American countries, Marco Rubio said the U.S. was given a heads-up to the decision by the United Kingdom, which earlier Tuesday banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says "settler terrorists" are carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians.
Israel in response said it would close the British consulate in Jerusalem.
Rubio also reiterated that U.S. officials didn’t “want to see anything destabilizing going on right now in the West Bank” but declined further comment.
Asked about Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia that have wounded dozens, Rubio said the U.S. was watching the situation "very closely," calling Houthis "agents and proxies" of Iran. He deferred more comment to the Pentagon.
Trump headlines 9/11 event
The president is starting his truncated week in Washington by speaking at an event commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
It’s called “Steel Across America,” which showcases a steel beam from the World Trade Center that was carried across the nation.
Trump began the event by marking 25 years since the terrorist attacks and said he made the appearance to “reaffirm the sacred vow we made a quarter of a century ago: we will never forget.”
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Energy Department loaning up to $1.9 billion to reopen Iowa nuclear facility
The money is going to NextEra Energy to help restart a closed nuclear power plant in Iowa.
Google wants to purchase carbon-free electricity from the Duane Arnold Energy Center for its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure. NextEra Energy and Google said in October they are collaborating to restart Iowa’s only nuclear facility in Palo, Iowa.
The Trump administration is investing billions in expanding nuclear energy. The Energy Department has also made disbursements from a $1.5 billion loan authorized in 2024 to support the reopening of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan, and it's loaning up to $1 billion to help finance the restart of the nuclear power plant on Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island to supply power to data centers for Microsoft.
Tuesday’s announcement says restarting Duane Arnold will create roughly 2,000 jobs. The plant closed in 2020.
US Secretary of State begins a three-nation tour of Latin America
Marco Rubio is visiting U.S.-aligned conservative leaders as the Trump administration steps up military operations to combat drug trafficking and seeks further inroads in the Western Hemisphere aimed at improving America’s energy standing and combating illegal migration.
Just a week after sealing a massive oil deal with Venezuelan leaders, Rubio is traveling Tuesday to neighboring Colombia to meet President Abelardo de la Espriella. Colombia’s new leader has embraced Trump’s policies on issues ranging from drugs to immigration and energy.
De la Espriella is one of a new generation of right-wing conservatives to win election and show support for Trump’s muscular approach to a region that had tilted leftward in recent decades.
Colombian Foreign Minister Omar Bula said in a video released Tuesday that Rubio’s visit marks the beginning of “rebuilding a strategic alliance with the United States, our main partner in the region.”
US sanctions rest of Iran’s aviation sector in latest move to isolate Tehran
The sanctions announced Tuesday target additional aspects of Iran’s aviation industry — three dozen commercial and private airlines and foreign cargo service providers — in the Trump administration’s new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners.
The administration accused the 36 entities targeted this week of supporting the Islamic Republic’s efforts to use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo.
The “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign is aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government. The new penalties are focused on the remaining facets of Tehran’s already beleaguered aviation ecosystem, which has been under countless sanctions from Washington for years.
Top Pentagon official warns Ukraine supporters to plan for a very long war
Russia’s war on the country could drag on for years, and Europe must be ready to sustain its military support long term, U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby said Tuesday.
“We cannot predict when this tragic war will end,” Colby said as Ukraine’s supporters held an online meeting seeking more air defense systems, arms and ammunition.
“Russia is reconstituting its forces and its defense industrial capacity,” Colby said. “We must be prepared for a protracted conflict and for Ukraine’s requirements to persist in the months and years ahead.”
Colby also said that Ukraine’s backers “must also be prepared for other plausible contingencies as well,” without elaborating.
U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said Ukraine needs 300 Patriot missiles from its partners’ stocks, 500 air-to-air interceptors, and $2 billion for more drones.
Zelenskyy says US envoys have ‘very good’ ideas to end Russia’s war on Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that U.S. envoys who visited Kyiv presented some "very good, worthwhile ideas" for ending Russia's 4 1/2-year-old war, adding that he hopes to meet with Trump within two weeks.
But Russia remains determined to accomplish its military goals and it believes it is close to winning, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Ukrainian and Western observers believe that Moscow has been unable to make any significant progress on the front line.
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and Kyiv for separate talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy over the weekend. The meetings appeared to produce no substantial breakthrough on ending the fighting, and both countries resumed their deadly air war after a weekend truce in their capitals for the American visitors.
The Kremlin says Putin assured Trump that Moscow doesn't intend aggression toward Europe
Vladimir Putin made the assurance during a phone call with Trump on Tuesday, a senior Kremlin official said.
Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, told reporters that “in view of the speculation about Russia’s alleged hostile intentions toward European countries, it was underlined that we don’t have any aggressive plans regarding Europe.”
Ushakov also said Putin told Trump about the combat situation in Ukraine and Russia’s plans to make battlefield gains and achieve its military goals. He said that Moscow has a positive view of the results of the weekend visit to Moscow by U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Trump’s threats against Canadian jetmaker Bombardier put thousands of American jobs at risk
Canadian jetmaker Bombardier is responding with a reality check to Trump's threats to ban U.S. purchases unless it makes the planes in the United States.
The manufacturer of private jets is noting that its wings and many other components are made in America, with a supply chain that supports tens of thousands of jobs with about 2,800 companies across 47 U.S. states. The statement from Bombardier says the American aerospace industry is already a “clear winner on trade and exports.”
More than 1,000 of those jobs are in Kansas. A statement from Republican Sen. Jerry Moran says he’s reached out to make sure the Trump administration understands how important the jetmaker is to the Kansas economy.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz urges Republicans to unite behind Ken Paxton
Cruz warned Tuesday on “Fox & Friends” that Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico is a “talented” candidate with plenty of campaign cash and an energized opposition to Trump.
He said it’s time for Texas Republicans who backed Sen. John Cornyn in the GOP primary to set aside their reservations about the scandal-plagued Paxton.
“Listen, primaries — they’re good, they’re healthy, they’re part of politics. But when they’re over, they’re over,” Cruz said.
“Often moderates in our party, if they win a primary, will tell conservatives, ‘Now shut up and support the moderate. The primary is over.’ Well, this time the shoe is on the other foot,” Cruz continued, “and it’s time to come together. You may think Ken Paxton’s fantastic. He may not be your cup of tea. That’s not the question.”
Texas has not elected a new Democratic U.S. senator since Lloyd Bentsen in 1970.
Shroud and some scaffolding come down at White House front entrance
Restoration work on the White House North Portico appears to be nearing completion ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the U.S. in late September.
Scaffolding was being taken down Monday after workers removed a shroud over the weekend. The executive mansion's front columns had been covered since July. Work began in June.
Administration officials said previously that stonework and plaster on the structure was being refurbished.
The portico was first completed in 1830 during Andrew Jackson’s presidency.
Trump’s first major midterm money move: A $10M Texas Senate ad blitz
The political group associated with Trump is spending $10 million on television and digital advertisements in the Texas Senate race, according to a Saturday filing with the Federal Election Commission.
This is the first significant spending in a premier general election contest by MAGA, Inc., and reflects how a once-safe Republican seat in Texas may be viable for Democrats with the candidacy of James Talarico, a 37-year-old state representative.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is the Republican nominee in the race. Trump's endorsement helped Paxton to defeat the incumbent, Sen. John Cornyn, in a May primary runoff election.
The ads seek to highlight taxes as a dominant issue at a time when many voters have expressed concerns about continued inflation. Talarico has favored higher taxes on wealthier households and the two ads seek to portray him as seeking tax hikes more broadly while claiming that Paxton would give tax breaks to first-time homebuyers and families with children.
US tourism groups want to win Canadian visitors back. A testy trade war isn’t helping
Appeals from American tourism organizations seemed to be everywhere Josh Loewen looked over the last year. Billboards and banners proclaimed a state or city's love for Canada. Online and social media ads offered special deals for travelers from north of the border.
As a Vancouver resident and marketing executive himself, Loewen said he understands the conciliatory overtures. The number of Canadians traveling to the United States plunged after Trump returned to office with remarks about making Canada the 51st state. The acrimonious trade war between the two countries now threatens to reinforce this informal boycott.
But the bilateral rift has not stopped state and local tourism officials and popular destinations like Graceland from trying to persuade Canadian visitors to return.
The outreach is happening at the national level, too. Brand USA, the U.S. tourism industry’s marketing organization, is bringing its Travel Week trade-event series to Canada for the first time in October, expanding and rebranding an earlier program known as Canada Connect.
Americans’ satisfaction with schools is at a low point, new Gallup poll shows
Americans' satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education in the country has hit a low point, driven by a growing political divide and concerns that schools are not preparing children for college and future jobs.
Just 32% of American adults say they are “completely” or “somewhat” satisfied with the U.S. school system, according to an August poll published Tuesday by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation and shared exclusively with The Associated Press. That’s an 11-point drop over the past two years and the lowest since Gallup began polling on the subject 27 years ago.
At the same time, dissatisfaction has increased to a high of 67%.
Experts on education and school policy say the findings are deeply concerning but not surprising.
The Trump administration has played a role in eroding public confidence by depicting schools as political battlegrounds, raising concerns about what teachers should be allowed to say in the classroom and moving to abolish diversity programs and dismantle the Education Department, said Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Republicans will gather in Dallas for Trump’s unusual midterm convention
Republicans will descend on Dallas this week for a two-day convention dreamed up by Trump to rally his supporters for this year's midterm elections.
Trump has said he wanted to channel the kind of political extravaganza that each party holds every four years to formally nominate a presidential candidate and showcase their vision for the country. There’s even going to be a huge drop of balloons at the end.
Trump had long floated the idea of holding such a convention and Republicans worked to make his wish a reality.
Midterms are often difficult for the party in power in Washington, and Trump believes the event can juice enthusiasm for the party and boost turnout among his voters.
“Pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” Trump said recently in South Carolina. “Just come and vote.”
Republicans said the event will help catapult GOP candidates into November, but it will also showcase the first two years of Trump’s term. Although the president’s poll numbers are sagging, he insists that running on his record will give Republicans their best shot.
What to know about Canada’s escalating trade war with the US as Carney retaliates with tariffs
Canada struck back at Trump on Tuesday with tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods, in response to the latest round of tariffs on Canada.
The outcome could resonate far beyond Canada, showing other governments whether a smaller U.S. ally can withstand Trump’s economic pressure.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. demands could hollow out key Canadian industries and limit the country's independence, and Trump's threats to Canadian sovereignty have rallied the public behind him.
“Carney and Canada have become symbolic of resistance to him,” Canadian historian Robert Bothwell said. “And what he’ll want to do is make an example of Carney and Canada and theoretically terrify everybody else while in fact showing them that they need to remove themselves even further from the United States.”
The tariffs hit hundreds of American products, including steel, aluminum, cheese, appliances, clothing, cosmetics and farm equipment, at rates of 15%, 25% or 50%.