Trump signals optimism about US-Canada trade agreement: ‘We’ve come a long way’
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 on Tuesday signaled optimism about a potential U.S.-Canada trade deal, saying the two sides had “come a long way” in negotiations.
Speaking in the Oval Office alongside Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump appeared to dial back trade tensions, striking a friendly tone toward one of the largest U.S. trading partners.
“I love Canada and the people of Canada, and Mark feels the same way,” Trump said.
Trump acknowledged that competition between U.S. and Canadian firms would make any potential accord a “complicated agreement.”
“It’s a natural business conflict,” Trump added. “There’s nothing wrong with it.”
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.
A woman wades through flood waters at a flood-hit area on the outskirts of Multan, Pakistan on Sept. 2, 2025. (Photo by Str/Xinhua via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The State Department has approved funding to address the fallout from deadly flooding in Pakistan, marking the first assistance of its kind to be authorized under the second Trump administration.
“The United States stands with the people of Pakistan, whose lives have been uprooted by widespread, catastrophic flooding. On September 5, the U.S. Department of State approved a monetary response to deliver food, shelter, and other forms of lifesaving disaster relief to impacted communities,” a press release first seen by ABC News said.
“We are poised to coordinate with the Government of Pakistan and trusted relief organizations on the ground to deliver aid to the most affected areas,” a State Department spokesperson said.
The State Department has not revealed how much money it has devoted to flood recovery efforts.
The U.S. military’s Central Command also delivered an initial shipment of “urgent, life-saving assistance to Pakistan” in the immediate aftermath of the floods, according to a previously issued release.
The Trump administration has previously come under fire for making dramatic cuts to foreign assistance, including shuttering USAID—the agency that would normally be charged with coordinating the U.S. response to a natural disaster in a foreign country.
Jeremy Lewin, a senior official performing the duties of Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom at the department, touted the assistance for Pakistan as a success story for the Trump administration’s approach.
“Our rapid support for the United States’ close ally Pakistan offers yet another example of the efficiency and effectiveness of the State Department’s new integrated America First foreign assistance capabilities,” Lewin told ABC News.
“Within 72 hours, the Department was able to deploy U.S. government disaster response personnel, program new assistance to assist more than 300,000 affected people, and coordinate military deliveries of critical aid supplies,” he added.
Pakistan has experienced a series of deadly floods through the summer monsoon season, but a fresh deluge of heavy rain in early September intensified the humanitarian crisis.
According to Pakistan officials, more than 1.3 million have been displaced by the devastating floods and hundreds have been killed.
“As Americans, we understand this devastation and will be contributing lifesaving disaster relief that will deliver food and shelter to impacted communities across Pakistan,” said Bethany Poulos Morrison, the State Department’s senior official for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
(WASHINGTON) — Most Americans oppose the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for President Donald Trump’s ballroom, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
A 56% majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration tearing down the East Wing of the White House as part of the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by $300 million in private donations, including 45% who “strongly” oppose it, the poll finds.
Just 28% of Americans support it, with 15% strongly supporting the East Wing being torn down for a ballroom, the poll found. Another 16% say they are not sure.
Support breaks down by party lines, with a 62% majority of Republicans in support and 88% of Democrats opposed. A 61% majority of independents oppose the East Wing tear town and ballroom, with nearly half opposing it strongly, according to the poll.
Opinions are much stronger among Democrats: 78% of Democrats strongly oppose the teardown and ballroom, a much smaller 35% of Republicans strongly support it.
A majority of liberals (76%) and about half of moderates (51%) strongly oppose the East Wing teardown and ballroom, while just about a third of conservatives (34%) support it strongly.
Strong support peaks among strong Trump approvers, with 58% saying they strongly support the teardown of the East Wing and ballroom. Among those who somewhat approve of Trump, just 11% strongly support the plan.
Among strong Trump disapprovers, 82% strongly oppose tearing down the East Wing and building a ballroom, while a much smaller 37% of those who somewhat disapprove of the president strongly oppose the plan.
Just about four in 10 conservative Republicans (42%) say they are strongly in favor of the plan. Conversely, 82% of liberal Democrats and 73% of moderate and conservative Democrats oppose it strongly.
Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 24-28, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,725 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. The partisan divisions are 28% Democrats, 31% Republicans and 41% independents or something else.
See more details on ABC News’ survey methodology here.
First Lady Melania Trump. Aaron Chown-WPA Pool/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — First lady Melania Trump announced Friday that she and Russian President Vladimir Putin have had an “open channel of communication” regarding children impacted by the Russian-Ukraine war.
“We have agreed to cooperate with each other for the benefit of all people involved in this war,” she said.
“In fact, eight children have been rejoined with their families during the past 24 hours,” she added.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
