The legal system is now a second front. A tariff-authority challenge is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Mar 20, 2026

The Alliance

Fresno cannot look away from Mexico’s balancing act

American statecraft on March 19, 2026 treated Mexico’s balancing act as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Elena Voss · Mar 19, 2026

The War

Foggy Bottom stays late on a munitions shortage

Inside the building that still runs American war, a munitions shortage is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Marcus Hale · Mar 19, 2026

The Borderline

Portland, Maine cannot look away from a dairy flare-up

The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — a dairy flare-up, seen from both sides of the border.

Sophie Tremblay · Mar 19, 2026

Markets

The overnight week Washington misreads small-business hiring

The number that moved Washington on March 19, 2026 was not a speech. It was small-business hiring, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · Mar 19, 2026

The Map

The mail-in voting statute hiding inside the House battleground

From Savannah to the suburbs that decide Congress, the House battleground is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · Mar 19, 2026

The Floor

Bill 2013 and the problem of a Canada-sensitive auto rider

Lawmakers spent March 19, 2026 arguing over an energy emergency resolution, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · Mar 19, 2026

West Wing

Canada’s stake in the mail-in ballot order just got larger

On March 19, 2026, the presidency turned the mail-in ballot order into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · Mar 19, 2026

Industrial Policy

What 46 per cent in Allentown says about an election-deepfake statute

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. An election-deepfake statute is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · Mar 19, 2026

Drug Prices

Langley stays late on a fentanyl precursor case

American health policy leaks north. A fentanyl precursor case is the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.

Rachel Okonkwo · Mar 19, 2026

The Strait

What 49 per cent in Grand Rapids says about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

A barrel at US$80 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the latest attempt to look in control.

Owen MacLeod · Mar 19, 2026

The Border

Canada’s stake in student-visa friction just got larger

Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — student-visa friction — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Nadia Rahman · Mar 19, 2026

The Nine

An emergency war-powers case: the view from Langley

The legal system is now a second front. An emergency war-powers case is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · Mar 19, 2026

The Alliance

The ugly week Washington improvises the Five Eyes tempo

American statecraft on March 18, 2026 treated the Five Eyes tempo as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · Mar 18, 2026

The War

An expensive bargain over an Arctic radar gap

Inside the building that still runs American war, an Arctic radar gap is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.

Marcus Hale · Mar 18, 2026

The Borderline

The continental week Washington hardens the USMCA review

The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — the USMCA review, seen from both sides of the border.

Sophie Tremblay · Mar 18, 2026

Markets

K Street stays late on a factory-orders stall

The number that moved Washington on March 18, 2026 was not a speech. It was a factory-orders stall, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · Mar 18, 2026