Canadians to Polls Monday – Conservative Pierre Poilievre (above, right) had a lead of as much as 27 points for Monday’s election until President Trump returned to the White House and began calling then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau “governor” and rattling his saber about taking over the sovereign nation as the US’ 51st state. Now Prime Minister Mark Carney, who replaced Trudeau in March (above, left), has a slight lead over Poilievre going into Monday's elections, and other candidates from Carney’s Liberal Party are likely beneficiaries, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.
As we await results from Canada’s elections, our left and right columns feature criticisms, including a call for action ahead of President Trump’s 100th day in office.
<<<On the left, Contributing Pundit Jerry Lanson argues that it is well past time for congressional Democrats to do everything they can to stop Trump in his tracks.
>>>On the right, Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay calls out Trump’s false statements and evasions regarding tariff talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Bessent’s Take – “I don’t know if President Trump has spoken to President Xi,” Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent told Martha Raddatz on ABC News This Week Sunday.
Xi himself last week disputed that any tariff negotiations had taken place between China and the US.
Raddatz asked Bessent about Trump’s claim in his Time magazine interview that he has made deals with some 200 other countries.
“I believe that he is referring to subdeals within the negotiations we’re doing.”
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Peace, Russian-Style – Vladimir Putin has declared an eight-day “humanitarian” truce with Ukraine to commemorate the 80thanniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, The Kyiv Independent reports. The truce is to run from midnight May 8 to midnight May 11, according to a Kremlin statement.
But Kyiv has seen this before, and even President Trump has called on Putin to stop shelling residential neighborhoods in the capital city.
Meanwhile … Russian news agency TASS on Monday published a video showing North Korean troops who fought alongside Russian forces in Kursk Oblast. This is the Kremlin’s first acknowledgement that North Korea has provided soldiers for Russia’s campaign against Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces had held Russia’s Kursk Oblast for several months since last year, but Russia has since largely retaken the region.
Here’s ‘The Deal’ … It’s pretty clear after a brief meeting between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday that any successful ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine will require Ukraine to permanently give up Crimea and stay out of NATO. Russia’s concession, as it hikes bombarding Ukraine, is that it won’t get the entire country the Kremlin had set out to conquer from its February 2022 invasion.
But wait, there’s more … for the Kremlin: In an analysis Sunday in The New York Times, Peter Baker notes that Putin will get more from the Trump administration than Ukrainian territory he already holds, an end to US sanctions against Russia and “absolution” from his invasion of Ukraine. Other benefits for Putin include the US walking away from its traditional allies, along with the shutdowns of Voice of America and the National Endowment for Democracy.
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Wis Circuit Judge Charged – Once again it’s a dispute between a president bent on absolute executive power and an “activist” judge. The Justice Department has charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan with two felonies over allegations she tried to assist undocumented Mexican immigrant Eduardo Flores-Ruiz to avoid arrest by local officers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Removal Operations Task Force (per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
The officers’ plan to arrest Flores-Ruiz in a public area outside Dugan’s courtroom allegedly was foiled when the judge ushered the undocumented immigrant out through a private hallway used by deputies, juries, court staff and in-custody defendants being escorted by deputies. Flores-Ruiz also has since also been arrested.
The US attorney for Wisconsin’s Eastern District will present evidence to a grand jury whether there is “probable cause” that a crime has been committed. The Wisconsin legislature can remove Dugan, who also faces a maximum penalty of six years in prison and a $35,000 fine, via an impeachment process beginning in the state assembly.
Dugan’s defenders say arrests by ICE have prompted undocumented aliens to avoid appearing in court cases.
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Whither Due Process? – Meanwhile, three children, ages 2, 4 and 7 who are US citizens were deported with their apparently undocumented mothers to Honduras Friday morning (per The Washington Post). Attorneys for both families say the two mothers and three children were taken into custody during routine check-ins for the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, in New Orleans last week.
They were prevented from communicating with other family members or legal representatives when they were taken to Alexandria, Louisiana, three hours away, then were put on an airplane to Honduras. The 4-year-old has Stage 4 cancer and was deported without medication or contact with doctors, according to the report.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa