Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to meet Trump as tensions over trade war continue
U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney at The White House on May 6, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are scheduled to meet at the White House on Tuesday amid the trade war between the neighboring nations.
In July, Trump issued a 35% tariff on most goods and raw materials from Canada.
Canada originally issued retaliatory tariffs. However, in August, Carney announced exemptions for goods covered under the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact.
During their last meeting in May, Carney pushed back against Trump’s controversial proposal to make Canada the 51st state.
“As you know from real estate, there are some places that are not for sale. And Canada is not for sale, it will never be for sale,” Carney told Trump.
Tracy A. Woodward/The Washington Post via Getty Images
(NEW YORK)– Sarah Manasrah has received aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — commonly known as WIC — since her first child was born six years ago.
The 37-year-old mother who lives with her husband and two girls, who are 6 and 3 years old, in Brooklyn, New York, told ABC News in an interview on Wednesday that she didn’t even know that the federal government shutdown could possibly affect WIC benefits — which supplements nutritious foods for low-income families — for her and her children.
“They do not care about families. They say they do to push through their political agenda,” Manasrah said of Republican and Democratic members of Congress, who failed to reach an agreement to fund the government, effectively shutting it down on Wednesday.
Manasrah said she uses WIC benefits to provide about $27 for fresh fruits and vegetables, and allowances for a certain amount of specified nutritious foods like eggs, whole-wheat bread, milk and baby formula free of charge using a government-provided expense card that replenishes once a month.
The mother of two also used WIC’s breast-feeding support program through a peer counselor who assisted her with her first child.
How will the shutdown impact WIC? Experts told ABC News that they were unsure of the exact impacts a shutdown will have on WIC beneficiaries, since individual states will each have to decide if they can supplement the funds, and the amounts can vary depending on the state.
Ali Hard, director of public policy for the National WIC Association, told ABC News on Tuesday that WIC recipients may start to see their benefits impacted after the first or second week of the shutdown.
She said that WIC has $150 million in contingency funding in the event of a shutdown and $135 million in monthly baby formula rebate checks that would help the program run smoothly for about a week or two.
After that, both new and current WIC beneficiaries will start to see their benefits impacted, especially those in areas without state funds to supplement the loss of federal dollars, Hard said.
“The timing of this shutdown at the start of the new fiscal year puts WIC at risk of rapidly running out of funds,” Hard’s group said in a statement released on Tuesday. “This failure needlessly jeopardizes the health and nutrition of millions of pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and young children who rely on WIC. … Every day of inaction brings us closer to a crisis. Failure to rapidly reopen the government could result in State WIC directors being put in the horrible position of trying to manage their programs with insufficient funds.”
With the federal government shuttered, some states will have to dip into their own coffers to pay for WIC benefits.
Democratic Reps. Bobby Scott and Suzanne Bonamici sent a letter on Wednesday to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose department oversees the WIC program, urging the secretary to lay out a plan on how the department plans to replenish state funds used to supplement WIC benefits once the shutdown is over.
“The WIC program serves as a lifeline for families; the program’s caseload increased by 5 percent in Fiscal Year 2023 from 6.4 million participants to 6.7 million, underscoring the need to fully fund the program each year without delay or uncertainty,” the representatives stated in their letter.
In 2013, during a 16-day government shutdown, “states relied on their general funds to continue WIC services and were then reimbursed with federal funds once the shutdown was over; however, there is uncertainty over whether the federal government would take the same action this time,” the letter stated.
A spokesperson with the USDA sent ABC News a letter from the department, was dated Oct, 1, 2025, and addressed to directors of the Supplemental Nutrition Division in all regions saying that state agencies could pull funding from rebates, state-appropriated or general funds, and contingency funds. But they were not permitted to use any extra FY 2025 funds for FY 2026 costs, according to the letter.
“Nutrition programs will operate based on State choice and the length of a shutdown,” the USDA spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News Wednesday. “If Democrats do not fund the government, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) will run out of funding and States will have to make a choice.”
A spokesperson with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget also lay the blame on Democrats.
“By instigating a government shutdown, Democrats are turning their back on WIC recipients,” an OMB spokesperson said in a statement. “The program will run out of money in October and women and children could no longer receive benefits. The White House and Republicans in the House-passed CR added $600 million so there will be no loss of benefits–clearly Democrats are ok with women and children losing WIC benefits.”
Democrats have blamed Republicans for the shutdown, citing what they say is an unwillingness to negotiate over health care provisions.
President Donald Trump’s administration has made notable attempts to promote families and reiterated that more babies need to be born in the United States.
According to the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again Report, WIC provides exclusively nutritious foods for pregnant and breastfeeding women, women who recently had a baby, and infants and children up to 5 years old. WIC supplies nutrition education and support for approximately 6.7 million women and children nationwide, according to the MAHA Report.
“WIC has a proven track record of improving children’s health,” according to the MAHA Report. “Research has shown that recipients experience improved pregnancy outcomes, better birth weights, higher immunization rates, improved diet quality, and cognitive gains. … A study showed the 2009 WIC food package change may have helped reverse increasing childhood obesity rates.”
Manasrah, the Brooklyn mother of two, is a doula who supports pregnant women before birth and provides them post-partum assistance. She also works for the non-profit Bridge Project that gives money and assistance to low-income mothers during pregnancy, birth, and the earliest days of their babies’ lives.
She says a vast majority of the women she works with receive WIC benefits.
“Most families I know, rely on WIC for their formula, if they’re using formula, and that’s literally keeping babies alive,” Manasrah said. “So, it’s not an exaggeration to say that WIC is a lifesaving program for families.”
(WASHINGTON) — Just weeks before the planned meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea, China dramatically expanded its restrictions on rare earth minerals, a move the Trump administration sees as a sharp escalation in China’s efforts to tighten its grip on global manufacturing.
China’s new rules, which apply to all countries, are set to take effect in phases on Nov. 8, then Dec. 1.
“It is an exercise in economic coercion on every country in the world,” Ambassador Jameison Greer said Wednesday during a press conference alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “This will give China control over basically the entire global economy and the technology supply chain.”
The move prompted Trump to threaten 100% tariffs on all products from China starting Nov 1st. So far, Beijing hasn’t shown any public indication that it’s pulling back on its controls, but Bessent remains sanguine.
“I am optimistic that this can be de-escalated. Ultimately, we are confident in the strong relationship between President Trump and President Xi,” Secretary Bessent said. ” We’ve had substantial communication with the Chinese over the past few days, and we believe that there will be more forthcoming this week.”
Some experts say Beijing is playing hardball to increase its leverage in these upcoming talks, while undercutting U.S. efforts to boost its industrial base.
Bessent said Wednesday that Trump is still expected to meet with Xi in South Korea despite the tariff threats.
The Chinese government stated on Sunday that it does not want a trade war, but it will also not shy away from it.
“On the tariff issue, China’s position remains consistent: we do not want a trade war, but we are not afraid of one,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement Sunday. “If the U.S. persists in its course, China will resolutely take appropriate countermeasures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.”
China’s move to restrict rare Earth minerals could have global implications.
The restrictions affect a wide swath of the U.S. and global economy. Rare earths are key to producing computer chips, which are needed for many things like smartphones and AI systems. They’re also critical to making magnets to power drones, robots and cars. Rare earths are also crucial for defense technology, including F-35 fighter jets, Tomahawk missiles, and radar systems.
The restrictions mean that foreign firms must obtain Chinese government approval to export products that have even trace amounts of certain rare earths that originate from China.
Given that China is overwhelmingly dominant in this sector, this could have major national security implications.
Ambassador Greer gave an example on Wednesday, saying that “if a car is built in America and sold in Mexico, you would need to seek approval from China before making a sale because of the chips in the car.”
The broad scope of this rule from China is similar to how the U.S. has implemented export restrictions to control chip production around the world that uses American technology.
The sweeping new restrictions are a sign, some analysts say, that China wants the U.S. to roll back its own export controls, and that this fight is about more than just tariffs.
(WASHINGTON) — After a week of fast-moving shakeups at the nation’s health agency, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will come before the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which has oversight over his department, on Thursday for hours of questioning that is sure to center on his vaccine policy.
It comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) significantly narrowed access to the COVID-19 vaccine, a move that precipitated a public fallout and ousting of the newly installed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Susan Monarez. Four top CDC officials also resigned in protest.
The new FDA approval for COVID shots allows for people who are aged 65 and older to get the vaccine, or younger Americans who have an underlying condition that puts them at a higher risk of severe illness from the virus.
Public health officials and pharmacist groups have said the change will make it harder for young and healthy people to get the vaccine — should they still choose to — and raises questions about where they can get it or whether insurance will cover it.
Thursday will be the first time Kennedy has faced questions from senators since May, when he testified before a Senate committee and a House committee, defending the massive cuts to the department’s workforce carried out in April.
Kennedy is expected to tout the overhauls at HHS so far, which he has said are aimed at eliminating bloated bureaucracy and conflicts of interest at public health agencies that get in the way of “gold-standard science.”
In a statement, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said Kennedy will use the hearing to “reaffirm his commitment to Make America Healthy Again: restoring gold-standard science at HHS, empowering patients with more transparency, choices and access to care, and reestablishing trust in public health.”
While Republicans like Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo will attempt to keep the focus on chronic disease and Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, Democrats and even some Republicans are expected to push Kennedy for answers on the FDA’s latest change as well as an upcoming CDC meeting on vaccines, which could lead to more changes to the nation’s vaccine policy.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which discusses vaccine data and makes recommendations for which vaccines Americans should get and when, is going to weigh in on the FDA’s latest change, further informing insurance companies and pharmacies of how to carry out the policy.
But ACIP is also going to discuss a slate of different vaccines, including the COVID vaccine; hepatitis B vaccines; the measles, mumps, rubella, varicella (MMRV) vaccine; and the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine.
In June, Kennedy replaced all 17 sitting members of the committee with his own hand-selected members, including some who have expressed vaccine-skeptic views fervently sought to discredit the safety and efficacy of mRNA COVID vaccines.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee, said he had spoken to other members of his caucus who agreed that they needed to investigate what potential changes Kennedy and the CDC committee were weighing to the childhood vaccine recommendations.
“The issue is about children’s health, and there are rumors, allegations, that children’s health, which is at issue here, might be endangered by some of the decisions that are purported to be made. I don’t know what’s true,” Cassidy said. “I know that we need to get there. And I’ve talked to members of my Republican Caucus, several of them. They’ve agreed with me that we need to get at it.”
Cassidy, who pushed Kennedy during his confirmation hearings to issue support for vaccines and publicly struggled over his vote for him, has tasked the committee he chairs, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), to do “oversight” of Monarez’ ousting, he wrote on X last week.
Cassidy maintained that he isn’t “presupposing someone is right or wrong.” “I just know we’ve got to figure it out,” Cassidy said.
Cassidy has also called for the CDC meeting to be postponed until “significant oversight has been conducted,” citing “serious allegations” about the “meeting agenda, membership and lack of scientific process.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who is on the HELP committee with Cassidy, told reporters on Wednesday that she is “concerned” and “alarmed” by Monarez’s firing.
“I know that the president has the right to fire whomever he wishes when it comes to that kind of appointment, but I don’t see any justification for it,” Collins said.
Monarez, who was in the job for only a month, was pushed out after she declined to fire top officials and support Kennedy’s vaccine policy changes in a meeting with the secretary early last week, a source familiar with her conversations with the secretary told ABC News.
“When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted,” Monarez’s attorneys Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell said in a statement late last week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters President Donald Trump had fired Monarez because she “was not aligned with the president’s mission to make America healthy again.”
“It was President Trump who was overwhelmingly reelected on November 5,” Leavitt said. “This woman has never received a vote in her life, and the president has the authority to fire those who are not aligned with his mission.”
Other CDC officials who followed Monarez out the door included:
Deb Houry, Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science Dr. Dan Jernigan, Director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases Dr. Jennifer Layden, Director for the Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology. The officials cited the political climate and a refusal to accept science that didn’t align with Kennedy’s beliefs.
Daskalakis, in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week”, said he thought the changes Kennedy has so far made are “the tip of the iceberg.”
In addition to the recent FDA changes for the COVID vaccine, Kennedy has also canceled up to $500 million in research and development for mRNA vaccines and changed the COVID vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women.
“I mean, from my vantage point as a doctor who’s taken the Hippocratic oath, I only see harm coming. I may be wrong. But based on what I’m seeing, based on what I’ve heard with the new members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, or ACIP, they’re really moving in an ideological direction where they want to see the undoing of vaccination,” Daskalakis said.
Kennedy, when he testified in his confirmation hearings to be health secretary in January, denied that he was anti-vaccine and said he supports “the childhood schedule” for vaccinations.
“I am pro-vaccine. I am going to support the vaccine program. I want kids to be healthy, and I’m coming in here to get rid of the conflicts of interest within the agency, make sure that we have gold standard, evidence-based science,” Kennedy said.
When pressed by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Kennedy committed to supporting the measles and polio vaccines.
“Senator, I support the measles vaccine, I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking either of those vaccines,” Kennedy said.
