Can the U.S. auto industry survive without Canada?
President Donald Trump says he wants every car sold in the United States to be made domestically, a move which experts say would disrupt the entire North American auto sector for years. Andrew Chang explains how interdependent the Canadian and U.S. auto industries are, and the widespread impacts of severing a 70-year partnership.
npub10z0y...ekgh
npub10z0y...ekgh
Why experts think Trump’s new auto tariff plan 'defies logic'
U.S. President Donald Trump plans to levy a new 25 per cent tariff on vehicles imported to the United States. Andrew Chang explains why this latest threat is different, and why it's concerning trade and industry experts.
Tesla released data showing the company paid zero federal income taxes on $2.3 billion of U.S. income in 2024 and avoided almost all taxes on $11 billion of U.S. income since 2022. As recently as 2018, Musk “paid no federal income taxes.”
Bezos is always listening. On March 28, Amazon is sunsetting its “Do Not Send Voice Recordings” privacy option for Echo home devices — meaning everything users say to their Echos will be recorded and sent to Amazon’s cloud platform, where the data will never expire. Why? To train artificial intelligence. This month, Amazon is rolling out a new and improved generative AI-powered Alexa+.
Nothing says late-stage empire quite like reading text screenshots containing detailed U.S. war plans over morning coffee.

$7,500
The average amount American households pay extra every year on products with patent and copyright monopolies. The monopolies raise the cost of these items by more than $1 trillion annually.
Canadian Actress Recounts Her Terrifying Experience in ICE Custody
The Canadian actress who was shackled and detained for 12 days earlier this month by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration is speaking out about her traumatizing experience.
“It felt like we had all been kidnapped, thrown into some sort of sick psychological experiment meant to strip us of every ounce of strength and dignity,” she wrote in a new Medium article called “You’re Not a Criminal, But You’re Going to Jail: My ICE Detention Story as a Canadian Citizen.”
“I don’t know your case,” said one man. “Could be days. Could be weeks. But I’m telling you right now—you need to mentally prepare yourself for months.”
“Women were picked up off the street, from outside their workplaces, from their homes—one woman’s daughter was outside the detention center protesting for her release.”
“They don’t lobby for stricter immigration policies in the name of national security—they do it to protect their bottom line," she said.
#Trump #ICE #kidnapping #immigration #rendition #authoritarian #autocracy
MSN

Medium
You’re Not a Criminal, But You’re Going to Jail: My ICE Detention Story as a Canadian Citizen
By Jasmine Mooney.
“You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos”
The Trump administration sent Venezuelans to El Salvador’s most infamous prison. Their families are looking for answers.
“Well, you’re here because of your tattoos,” the ICE agent replied, according to Hernández. “We’re finding and questioning everyone who has tattoos.”
Like other men sent to El Salvador, Wuilliam has tattoos.
Other reporting and court briefs further support the families’ suspicions that their loved ones were primarily targeted for deportation because of their tattoos.
John Dutton, a Houston-based immigration attorney, said that he started noticing ICE officers detaining Venezuelans during check-ins due to their tattoos earlier this year. “If they notice they have a tattoo, they’re just taking them into custody,” he explained. “No more questions to ask.” Dutton estimated he now has about a dozen clients who have been arrested because of tattoos.
“You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos” – Mother Jones
Venezuelan tattoo artist who agreed to go back home was sent to El Salvador prison, family says
Relatives and attorneys seek answers about the men sent to the high-security prison as the Venezuelan government calls for their return.
Were it not for bad weather, Jhon Chacin would have been aboard a flight to his native Venezuela on March 13, having volunteered to go home after giving up on an asylum request that was initially denied. Instead, his brother said, Jhon was among the nearly 300 Venezuelan men sent by U.S. immigration officials to El Salvador's notorious megaprison.
#Trump #rendition #authoritarian #autocracy

NBC News
Venezuelan tattoo artist who agreed to go back home was sent to El Salvador prison, family says
Relatives and attorneys seek answers about the men sent to the high-security prison as the Venezuelan government calls for their return.
The Associated Press, banned from White House press pool, renews request to court for reinstatemen
WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for The Associated Press asked a federal judge Thursday to reinstate the agency’s access to the White House press pool and other official events, saying the Trump administration’s ban is a fundamental attack on freedom of speech and should be overturned. The government insisted there was no evidence that AP had been harmed irreparably.
“AP has now spent 44 days in the penalty box,” said Charles Tobin, speaking on behalf of the news agency.
#freedom #freepress #autocracy #Trump
AP News
The Associated Press, banned from White House press pool, renews request to court for reinstatement
A lawyer for The Associated Press has asked a federal judge once again to reinstate the agency’s access to the White House press pool and some ot...
Bernie Sanders Issues Epic Takedown Of Trump, Musk, And 'The Greed Of The Oligarchy'
Lawsuit over Trump administration's Signal group chat assigned to judge in deportation case
Five Cabinet members are facing a federal lawsuit over the use of Signal to coordinate military strikes in Yemen, with the case presided over by the same judge handling the case against the Trump administration over its deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act.
Transparency nonprofit American Oversight filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., alleging that the use of Signal violates the federal law that governs the preservation of government records, asking a federal judge to order the cabinet members to preserve the messages.
The lawsuit – which names Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the National Archives as defendants – asked a federal judge to declare the use of Signal unlawful and order the cabinet members to preserve the records immediately.

ABC News
Lawsuit over Trump administration's Signal group chat assigned to judge in deportation case
Five Cabinet members are facing a federal lawsuit over the use of Signal to coordinate military strikes in Yemen.
Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal
The administration has downplayed the importance of the text messages inadvertently sent to The Atlantic’s editor in chief.
So, about that Signal chat.
On Monday, shortly after we published a story about a massive Trump-administration security breach, a reporter asked the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, why he had shared plans about a forthcoming attack on Yemen on the Signal messaging app. He answered, “Nobody was texting war plans. And that’s all I have to say about that.”
At a Senate hearing yesterday, the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Ratcliffe, were both asked about the Signal chat, to which Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor in chief of The Atlantic, was inadvertently invited by National Security Adviser Michael Waltz. “There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal group,” Gabbard told members of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Ratcliffe said much the same: “My communications, to be clear, in the Signal message group were entirely permissible and lawful and did not include classified information.”
President Donald Trump, asked yesterday afternoon about the same matter, said, “It wasn’t classified information.”
The Atlantic
Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal
The administration has downplayed the importance of the text messages inadvertently sent to The Atlantic’s editor in chief.
Trump fires independent inspectors general in Friday night purge
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/25/donald-trump-inspectors-general-firing-00200611
The watchdogs say the removals may be invalid for failing to comply with a 2022 law requiring a 30-day notification to Congress before removals.
President Donald Trump fired multiple independent federal watchdogs, known as inspectors general, in a Friday night purge, removing a significant layer of accountability as he asserts his control over the federal government in his second term, according to two people with knowledge of the dismissals, granted anonymity to share details they were not authorized to speak about publicly.
Trump has the least qualified people on National Security in American history.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.
I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.
The Atlantic
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bo...
Trump targets prominent Democratic-linked law firm
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/06/trump-security-clearance-steele-dossier-025203
One of the firm’s then-attorneys was central to the creation of the Steele dossier.
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order targeting Perkins Coie, a prominent Seattle-based law firm that regularly represents Democratic and liberal groups.
The executive order suspends security clearances for employees of the law firm, which has long provided legal work for the Democratic National Committee, other Democratic entities and Democratic campaigns, including Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s latest executive orders reveal lingering anger over Russia investigation
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/25/donald-trump-eo-jenner-crossfire-hurricane-russia-fbi-027712
By targeting another law firm and declassifying files about Crossfire Hurricane, Trump is continuing to exact revenge for the Russia investigation in his first term.
President Donald Trump revived an old grudge against the FBI on Tuesday, declassifying materials related to the bureau’s previous investigation of alleged collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia and sanctioning a law firm tied to one of the key figures from that investigation.
Trump also signed an executive order sanctioning the law firm Jenner & Block, the fourth time the president has directly targeted a major law firm in recent weeks. Similar to previous orders, Tuesday’s action strips security clearances from lawyers at the firm, cuts the firm off from government contracts and restricts firm employees from entering government buildings.
Trump family crypto venture to launch a stablecoin
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/25/trump-family-crypto-venture-to-launch-a-stablecoin-00247455
The move comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are working to enact regulatory changes that could benefit the crypto industry.
The cryptocurrency venture run by President Donald Trump’s sons announced Tuesday it will launch a digital token known as a stablecoin that is pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar, expanding the first family’s ties to the crypto industry.
The crypto company, World Liberty Financial, was launched by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump last fall during the home stretch of their father’s presidential campaign, the first of several moves by the Trump family to get into the digital assets business.