Today's News: Carney lays it down, Tariffs bite Trump back, Epstein-Gate continues, a few Zing! Pow! posts, and some TrumpWatch

Carney lays it down!

View on Threads

Poilievre tries to make it into a big deal about Carney "breaking his word" but who could take that accusation seriously - we know how Trump is using his tariff threats to beat up everyone around the world, and no one can stop him. 

🔴 If the alternative to U.S. tariffs is to make Canada the 51st State, that will never ever happen. Prime Minister Carney also made that VERY CLEAR. By your submission here, Mr. Poilievre, you are confirming that you would have sold Canada to Trump without blinking an eye, in order to be able to say that you were able to get a deal...🤦🏻‍♂️ Sir, you are completely INEPT and unqualified to be PM of a great Nation such as Canada. 🇨🇦 All you have to offer are slogans and unrealistic criticisms, with ZERO solutions. 🗣️ PM Carney has stated from day one that Canada has the potential to give itself MORE than America or any other Nation can give us... And it is THAT potential that he is busy working hard to develop, instead of merely yielding Canada to the MADMAN Trump's, illogical demands. What would you be doing right now if you were the PM? Likely drawing up papers to yield Canada to the United States, right? 📜 Exactly what we would expect from someone who spent two years saying that Canada is a broken sh**hole. 😑 You are an unserviceable has-been, sir.

- Fun Tom

Read on Substack

Canada understands the problems Carney is having with Trump:

Andrew Coyne / Globe and Mail (gift link)

Hard line? Soft line? There may be no way of dealing with Trump that works
...Just now we are debating how to respond to Donald Trump’s ever-changing threats to this country, especially on the tariff front. The Prime Minister, Mark Carney, is accused of hypocrisy and worse, having promised to stand up to the President on the campaign trail only to offer a series of concessions in office.
What are we to make of these charges? Was he too hawkish during the campaign? But then surely it should be a relief that he is being more dovish now.
Or is the complaint that he is being too dovish now – shelving, for example, a new digital services tax in response to White House threats to end all trade negotiations.
But most of his critics think the DST should never have been introduced in the first place. Perhaps they think he should be taking an even tougher line. Okay: how, specifically? Raise tariffs on imports from the U.S.? Curtail exports of Canadian resources? I didn’t think so.
I know, I know. It’s about the contradiction in his two positions. Very well – how should the contradiction be resolved? In what way should he have been more consistent: hawkishly or dovishly?
The truth is that Mr. Carney has tried both approaches. He imposed retaliatory tariffs of 25 per cent on U.S. autos, on top of earlier tariffs on American steel, aluminum and other goods. He’s also taken a more cooperative line on issues ranging from border security to ballistic missile defence.
His reward? The usual series of conflicting statements from the President, culminating in last week’s threat to impose 35 per cent tariffs across the board, on top of all the other tariffs he has imposed.
As entertaining as it is to watch the famously smooth Mr. Carney flailing about, it is hard to see how any other prime minister would have done any better. Indeed, he is in good company. The whole world is dealing with similar threats.
It is, in fact, impossible to negotiate with Mr. Trump, because a) he does not have any consistent or coherent set of demands, and b) if he did, there is no reason to think he would live up to any undertaking he made in return.
...He gives every sign of valuing tariffs for their own sake – though he seems unable to decide why. Is it to raise revenues? Or is it to protect American industry? If the latter – if the tariffs succeed in blocking the flow of imports – they cannot also raise revenues.
It’s possible his attraction to tariffs has another basis: because they place him at the centre of the action. Everyone has to pay attention to him – to be “nice” to him, as he so often puts it.
If so there is not much that anyone can really do with that. There is no “win-win,” as in most negotiations. There is only a problem to be managed, a matter of stalling for time and presenting as small a target as possible, until Mr. Trump grows too old or enfeebled to menace us further.

I think now Carney is leading Canadians to realize there is no way to "negotiate" with a "tariffist" - all we can do is duck and cover, and live to fight another day. Carney announced a series of tough measures to protect and support the Canadian steel industry today, and none of them depend on America changing its tariffs.

Tariffs bite Trump back: 

Trump's ridiculous tariffs are already blowing up in America's face:

View on Threads

And this is what happens when a profoundly ignorant President starts pushing and pulling on the levers without knowing what he is doing:

View on Threads

Apparently Coke said later they hadn't really promised Trump anything. Not really. 

Zing! Pow! 

Here are some funny posts that fall into the "Zing! Pow!" category:

View on Threads

If this bugs you so much, talk to your MP.

— toni (@tonih_78) July 16, 2025

Epstein-Gate continues 

It looms over Trump like a vampire returning in the night:

This is too good… Trump thinks the Epstein-conspiracy crowd he created is stupid, weak, and not worth his support anymore 😂 He built that monster, fed it red meat for years, and now he wants to act like it’s beneath him.

[image or embed]

— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) July 16, 2025 at 12:18 PM

He has lost Elon again:

The old:

1. Admit nothing
2. Deny everything
3. Make counterclaims

But it won’t work this time

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 16, 2025

Wag the Dollar. https://t.co/Ysd3PBcUjr

— Andrew Coyne 🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇪🇲🇩 (@acoyne) July 16, 2025

And here is a Zing! Pow! Epstein-Gate Edition:

The thing about the Epstein disgustingness that strikes me hardest is that hundreds of rich old men raped underage girls and the only person currently in jail for that vile behavior is a woman.

— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 1:17 PM

Finally, some more TrumpWatch posts, about the world's most wished-for event:

View on Threads

View on Threads

View on Threads