Pete Hoekstra (3:09)

I would maybe add we've been nicer to Canada at this point than Canada has been to the US and then.

Political Commentator (3:15)

Hoekstra complains about Canada's retaliatory tariffs against the United States, and he says this is calling into question Kuzma the Canada United States Mexico Agreement, also sometimes referred to as the USMC United States Mexico Canada Agreement. And here what seems to be Happening is the U.S. ambassador to Canada is blaming Canada for the current trade issues and threatening them that the United States is going to pull out of Kuzma, the free trade agreement that Donald Trump announced during his first administration. So it seems that they're just. The Trump regime is just setting up a pretext to pull out of Kuzma. But you tell me what you think here, play this clip.

Pete Hoekstra (3:57)

Some of the retaliatory tariffs to the US Are a huge irritant. We have protected the integrity of Kuzma. Okay? Our negotiators have said we are not going to implement tariffs on any products that are covered under Kuzma. Canadians have said those guardrails are off. Canada is calling into question the future of Kuzma. It's not the United States of America, it's Canada.

Political Commentator (4:34)

And again, it's just constant whining over here from Pete Hoekstra, the ambassador to Canada. Just watch this from this interview with Jasmine Lane and tell me what you think in the comments below.

Jasmine Lane (4:45)

Below.

Political Commentator (4:45)

Again, our podcast is called Over Opinionated with Jasmine Lane. Here, play this clip.

Pete Hoekstra (4:50)

I think since April, they have been tariffing US Products that are part of the Kuzma agreement. All right, that is. That's a huge irritant. Okay? The products that are covered under Kuzma are. They're going into the US Tariff free, and the ones going north are covered under or now have this, I think, 25% tariff on them. Okay? And so what it means is, I know from American companies, they're saying, hey, we're basically going into Canada and we can't sell because we've got a 25% tariff, while our Canadian competitors are coming into the US with no tariffs at all. You put that together with the Actions of your provinces where they're saying, in certain cases, they're saying, all right, we're going to first buy Canadian product. If there's not a Canadian product available or no, we're first buying product from our province. If the product from our province is not available, we are going to buy Canadian. If there's not a Canadian product available, we're going to buy international. And if there's not an international product available, then we may finally consider buying American or maybe not buying at all. Okay. I think, you know, that they've gone, the Canadians have gone on. That's on those issues, they've gone significantly further than where the US has gone. Canada is calling into question the future of Kuzma. It's not the United States of America. It's Canada that has questioned the integrity of that program. You know, the F35s Canada had committed to buying 88. Now they're saying we're buying 16. The other 72 are up for review. Basically, from an American standpoint, it's. Well, they've canceled 70. They've canceled those orders. They're probably still going to buy 72 airplanes. But if they're going to buy F35s, we have to rewind, rebid that contract to actually win and get them to buy F35s. Bottom line is we love the Canadian military, but an air force the size of the Canadian Air Force, you can't have two different fighter jets. Okay. The cost of, of training, maintaining. They have two different places in terms of how they're stored and all. You can't afford to fighter two different fighter jet programs. And it's like Canada should just decide what they want. Do they want F35s? Do they want some other product? That's your decision to make, but you can't afford both of them.

Political Commentator (8:00)

Another portion right here where you'll see him, I guess, continue down this path. Let's play it.

Pete Hoekstra (8:05)

I think some of the rhetoric that has come out, okay, I have, and I think our American negotiators have the utmost respect for your prime minister, for your premiers, for your negotiating team. And we have done nothing but treat them with the utmost respect. That, you know, the leaders of our northern neighbor and our friend, that they deserve. They were elected and selected by the leadership of the Canadian people. American leaders, specifically. Donald Trump has not received the same kind of respect from the Canadians, from certain government officials, from the media and those types of things. So, yeah, I think there's some irritants that make it, perhaps make it more Difficult for the negotiators when they get into the room.

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Political Commentator (10:16)

And ultimately what he says is, we're waiting on Canada. Why aren't they sending us proposals? They just need to give us a great offer and maybe we'll listen, but they need to send us offers. Here, play this clip.

Pete Hoekstra (10:28)

But it was very clear. The President said, you know, give me a proposal, put a proposal in front of me. And I think that continues to be pretty much the case. And you know, for the, for the deals that he has signed, at least, you know, reading some of the background on that, the countries that get to agreements, they've put together a package, a proposal to the President and his team that gets close enough to what the President believes is a preferable outcome that he comes back and says, okay, you know, I think we're close. Bring that one home. I'm not in negotiations with the President and the Prime Minister and those teams. It's a very close held relationship. All the negotiations are, I think have been conducted in privacy. There's been very few, if any leaks. I think that is great. So I think that the President and his team continue to probably look for concrete proposals from the Canadians that would say we're close. Let's bring it home.

Political Commentator (11:46)

Now. The full interview over there, it's about 41 minutes in length, is over on Jasmine Lane's site. Those were just some of the portions that I found to be just seeing this guy. I mean, look, Donald Trump went in, started calling Canada the 51st state. Donald Trump went in and started saying that he wants to take over Canada. Donald Trump declared the trade war against Canada and not the other way around. And people in Canada said, we need to defend ourselves. I think at first the people in Canada were like, all right, is he joking? What's going on? They're like, no, no, no. Holy crap, he's coming for us. He's coming for us. Thus, you know, elbows up and that movement, you know, took place. And I just, again, I just don't think people in Canada, we know from the Maple Midas, they see the way even Pete Hoekstra is talking about Canada and the level of gaslighting. It's incredibly offensive, in my opinion. I want to talk about Europe standing up as well to Donald Trump's fatal error of trying to cut Europe out from trade negotiations and discussions up first. Let me give you some stats right here as well. As Canadians steer clear of the United States as travel from the north falls for the seventh month, the number of return road and air trips continues to fall. After trade policy row and threats to annex country statistics Canada said on Monday that the number of Canadian residents who made a return trip to the US by car dropped 36.9% in July 2025 compared with the same month month. In 2024, there were declines in air travel as well, where Canadian residents returning from the US by commercial airlines dropped 25.8% in July compared with the previous year. We also told you about how the equivalent of the Canadian Girl Scouts, they've canceled all of their trips to the United States. I've done lots of reporting about how places like Las Vegas, which depend heavily on Canada for revenue, they're suffering basically recessions in those states right now. And Canada's inspired a boycott from the rest of the world as well. Let's talk about Europe. So obviously, Donald Trump tried to cut Europe and Zelensky out of Trump's one on one with Putin in Alaska, which is set to take place on Friday. That's going to take place at an American military base there. Um, but the European allies stood up to Donald Trump. They said, you ain't make. Let's be very clear, Donald, you ain't making a deal without Europe agreeing to it and Ukraine agreeing to it, especially Ukraine makes the decision. So the European countries, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa and others, I mean, came together and they said, look, we're drawing a line in the sand, Donald, Here are our terms. So here's what McCrone said about a virtual meeting that took place yesterday. And Trump joined a portion of this where Zelinsky in Europe just laid out the demands. And McCrone said, Look, excellent meeting today with our European partners and President Trump ahead of his upcoming meeting with Putin on August 15th in Alaska. Unity and strong alignment with our allies on these priorities. Nothing about Ukraine should be decided without the Ukrainians. A ceasefire is the essential prerequisite for any negotiations. These negotiations must lead to a solid and lasting peace with security guarantees ensuring Ukraine's sovereignty and the stability of our continent. We all agree that until a ceasefire and the lasting peace are achieved, our support for Ukraine will remain unwavering. Meaning until these terms are met, we ain't going nowhere and Ukraine is not going to submit. I thank all my partners and Trump for their commitment and determination. In the coming days, we will continue our close coordination with Trump and Zelinsky and with all partners of the coalition of the willing, willing, fully mobilized for peace and security in Europe. You see right there Macron, you see right there Acosta, the head of the European Council. You see Zelinsky on screen. You see Fred Frederick Mares on TV as well. Antonio Costa, who leads the European Council President, he says very useful calls today on Ukraine with Trump and Zelinsky and European leaders ahead of the important bilateral meeting in Alaska. The European Union is determined to work closely and in unity with the US to end Russia's war of aggression and secure a just and lasting peace. We stand ready to do our part. Achieving a cease fire remains the priority as a necessary step toward meaningful negotiations with Ukraine. In other words, step one, an actual cease fire across the board. Not Ukraine giving up territory. Everybody puts down their weapons. Ukraine is in agreement with that. Russia, let's call your bluff. You want to end the war, which they don't agree to a ceasefire. Russia will never agree to it because Zelinsky's always been agreeable to a ceasefire and Putin hasn't. The tomorrow is yesterday. Whatever Zelinsky says, I'm good. We can stop. It's Putin who goes now. We're pressing forward and we need all of Ukraine, we need all of Ukrainian territory. You know, then you had Donald Trump at that bizarre press conference. Yesterday that he had at the Kennedy center where he was announcing, like, award nominees for this award ceremony taking place in December. And, like, he's like, I picked all of the award nominees, like Sylvester Stallone. It was weird. He had, like, two women there wearing, like, evening gowns. But then he also talked about Russia and Zelensky. The whole thing was very strange. Um, so Donald Trump is asked about the reporting that Russia has been hacking the United States computer systems and federal court dockets. And Trump is asked, you know, are you concerned that Russia has hacked? Have you heard that? And Donald Trump's like, of course they hack. They're Russia. That's just what they do. Seriously, that's what he says here, playing this clip.

Pete Hoekstra (18:02)

Hi, sir.

Donald Trump (18:03)

There's a new reporting that the Russians have hacked into some computer systems that manage US Federal court documents. I wonder if you've seen this reporting and if you plan to bring it up with Putin when you see him later in the week.

Jasmine Lane (18:15)

I guess I could. You surprised, you know, if you surprised they hack in. That's what they do. They're good at it. We're good at it. We're actually better at it. But no, I have heard about it. I've heard about it.

Political Commentator (18:27)

Could you just imagine if former President Biden or Obama was asked about a foreign country hacking and the responses, that's just what they do. It's all good. We hack them, they hack us. Everyone's hackers these days, really. Maybe stand up for the sovereignty of the United States and push back. And then Donald Trump was asked, will Russia face any consequences if they don't agree to stop the war on Friday? And then Donald Trump says, yes. Okay, well, what are those consequences? And then Trump says, I'm not going to tell you. Well, you said sanctions would happen very soon, back in, what, March or April, then in two weeks, then in 60 days, then in a few days, then in a few weeks. Now it's. I'm not going to tell you anyway. Play the clip. Russia face any consequences if Vladimir Putin does not agree to stop the war after your meeting on Friday?

Jasmine Lane (19:19)

Yes, they will. Yeah, there will be consequences.

Political Commentator (19:23)

Tariffs.

Jasmine Lane (19:23)

There will be. I don't have to say there will be very severe consequences. Yes.

Political Commentator (19:27)

There you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million subscribers together and thank you for watching. Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas plus substack for ad Free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free now@midasplus.com.

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