Trump’s tariff retreat should lull nobody into dropping their guard. The EU must join forces with Canada, Japan and other like-minded countries

EU leaders would do well to meditate on the seminal lesson that the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, delivered at this year’s World Economic Forum.

In an incisive analysis of the new age of predatory great powers, where might is increasingly asserted as right, Carney not only accurately defined the coarsening of international relations as “a rupture, not a transition”. He also outlined how liberal democratic “middle powers” such as Canada – but also European countries – must build coalitions to counter coercion and defend as much as possible of the principles of territorial integrity, the rule of law, free trade, climate action and human rights. He spelled out a hedging strategy that Canada is already pursuing, diversifying its trade and supply chains and even opening its market to Chinese electric vehicles to counter Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian-made automobiles.

Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

© Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

© Photograph: Sean Kilpatrick/AP

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a speech heavily aimed at a domestic audience and focused on America's economy, but which also made crucial reference to the many geopolitical storms that involve America today, from Greenland and Gaza to Venezuela and Ukraine. He said America is owed legal title to Greenland, though said he would not take it by force. He referred to the Russian president as "Vladimir," the French president as "Emmanuel," the former president of the Swiss Confederation as "a woman," and the NATO secretary-general as "Mark," and fondly remembered the time Mark Rutte called him "Daddy." He called Greenland "Iceland" a few times. It all stood in contrast to the speech on Tuesday by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney — whom Trump also called "Mark," but in a less conciliatory manner — which quoted both the Ancient Greek historian Thucydides ("the strong do what they can, and the weak suffer what they must") and the modern corporate aphorism that "if you are not at the table, you are on the menu," and was over in about 15 minutes with a standing ovation. Trump's was well over an hour. The National Post annotates some of the key portions of Trump's speech. Read More

TikTok will be able to continue operating its subsidiary in Canada for now, after a judge shelved a previous order for it to wind down — with the government’s apparent blessing. Read More

After seeing phone messages and videos that kibbutzim were being ravaged on October 7, Eli Sharabi thought surrendering himself to Hamas terrorists would save his British-born wife and two daughters. Instead, he spent 491 days as a hostage in Gaza and, upon his release in February 2025, learned they had been murdered minutes after he was dragged from their Kibbutz Be’eri home. Read More