The number that moved Washington on May 25, 2026 was not a speech. It was a hot payrolls print, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · May 25, 2026

The Map

In Portland, Maine, early-state enthusiasm scrambles the map

From Portland, Maine to the suburbs that decide Congress, early-state enthusiasm is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · May 25, 2026

The Floor

The expensive week Washington fast-tracks a USMCA enforcement hammer

Lawmakers spent May 25, 2026 arguing over a drug-price transparency act, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · May 25, 2026

West Wing

Bill 2804 and the problem of a Cabinet loyalty test

On May 25, 2026, the presidency turned a Cabinet loyalty test into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · May 25, 2026

Industrial Policy

K Street stays late on cloud contracts at DoD

The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Cloud contracts at DoD are how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.

David Chen · May 25, 2026

Drug Prices

Quebec’s aluminum towns confront 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 · May 25, 2026

The Strait

Savannah cannot look away from Gulf Coast refining

A barrel at US$91 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. Gulf Coast refining is the latest attempt to look in control.

Owen MacLeod · May 25, 2026

The Border

Bill 2800 and the problem of work-permit backlogs

Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — work-permit backlogs — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.

Elena Voss · May 25, 2026

The Nine

A Missouri map fight: the view from the border

The legal system is now a second front. A Missouri map fight is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.

Claire Fontaine · May 25, 2026

The Alliance

K Street stays late on European energy nerves

American statecraft on May 24, 2026 treated European energy nerves as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.

Lila Okada · May 24, 2026

The War

A predictable bargain over 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 · May 24, 2026

The Borderline

Bill 2796 and the problem of the auto rules of origin

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

Sophie Tremblay · May 24, 2026

Markets

Washington stays late on a hot payrolls print

The number that moved Washington on May 24, 2026 was not a speech. It was a hot payrolls print, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.

Thomas Bergeron · May 24, 2026

The Map

K Street stays late on early-state enthusiasm

From Savannah to the suburbs that decide Congress, early-state enthusiasm is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.

Peter Lang · May 24, 2026

The Floor

The northern border staffing measure hiding inside an emergency war authorization

Lawmakers spent May 24, 2026 arguing over a northern border staffing measure, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.

Amrita Shah · May 24, 2026

West Wing

In Raleigh, a late-night tariff threat doubles down on the map

On May 24, 2026, the presidency turned a late-night tariff threat into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.

James Whitfield · May 24, 2026