Trump's tariff threat on Russia is 'another shift in rhetoric,' says political science professor
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CTV News
32 minutes ago
- CTV News
Is this thing on? Accidental authenticity of Trump's hot mic moment is latest in a long global list
U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden whispers "This is a big f------ deal," to U.S. President Barack Obama after introducing Obama during the health care bill ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, March 23, 2010. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) LONDON — Behold the power of the humble hot mic. The magnifier of sound, a descendant of 150-year-old technology, on Monday added to its long history of cutting through the most scripted political spectacles when it captured more than two minutes of U.S. President Donald Trump and eight European leaders chit-chatting around a White House news conference on their talks to end Russia's war in Ukraine. The standout quote came from Trump himself to French President Emmanuel Macron even before anyone sat down. The American president, reflecting his comments after meeting in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'I think he wants to make a deal for me, you understand, as crazy as it sounds,' he said. How politics and diplomacy sound when the principals think no one is listening can reveal much about the character, humour and humanity of our leaders — for better and sometimes for worse. As public figures, they've long known what the rest of us are increasingly learning in the age of CCTV, Coldplay kiss cams and social media: In public, no one can realistically expect privacy. 'Whenever I hear about a hot mic moment, my first reaction is that this is what they really think, that it's not gone through the external communications filter,' said Bill McGowan, founder and CEO of Clarity Media Group in New York. 'That's why people love it so much: There is nothing more authentic than what people say on a hot mic.' Always assume the microphone — or camera — is turned on Hot mics, often leavened with video, have bedeviled aspiring and actual leaders long before social media. During a sound check for his weekly radio address in 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously joked about attacking the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War. 'My fellow Americans,' Reagan quipped, not realizing the practice run was being recorded. 'I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.' The Soviet Union didn't find it funny and condemned it given the consequential subject at hand. Putin, too, has fallen prey to the perils of a live mic. In 2006, he was quoted in Russian media joking about Israel's president, who had been charged with and later was convicted of rape. The Kremlin said Putin was not joking about rape and his meaning had been lost in translation. Sometimes a hot mic moment involves no words at all. Presidential candidate Al Gore was widely parodied for issuing exasperated and very audible sighs during his debate with George W. Bush in 2000. In others, the words uttered for all to hear are profane. Bush was caught telling running mate Dick Cheney that a reporter for The New York Times was a 'major-league a--hole.' 'This is a big f------ deal,' then-U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden famously said, loudly enough to be picked up on a microphone, as President Barack Obama prepared to sign his signature Affordable Care Act in 2010. Obama was caught on camera in South Korea telling Dmitri Medvedev, then the Russian president, that he'll have 'more flexibility' to resolve sensitive issues — 'particularly with missile defence' — after the 2012 presidential election, his last. Republican Mitt Romney, Obama's rival that year, called the exchange 'bowing to the Kremlin.' 'Sometimes it's the unguarded moments that are the most revealing of all,' Romney said in a statement, dubbing the incident 'hot mic diplomacy.' Live mics have picked up name-calling and gossip aplenty even in the most mannerly circles. In 2022, Jacinda Ardern, then New Zealand's prime minister, known for her skill at debating and calm, measured responses, was caught on a hot mic tossing an aside in which she referred to a rival politician as 'such an arrogant pr—-' during Parliament Question Time. In 2005, Jacques Chirac, then president of France, was recorded airing his distaste for British food during a visit to Russia. Speaking to Putin and Gerhard Schroder, he was heard saying that worse food could only be found in Finland, according to widely reported accounts. King Charles III chose to deal with his hot mic moment with humor. In 2022, shortly after his coronation, Charles lost his patience with a leaky pen while signing a document on a live feed. He can be heard grousing: 'Oh, God, I hate this!' and muttering, 'I can't bear this bloody thing … every stinking time.' It wasn't the first pen that had troubled him. The British ability to poke fun at oneself, he said in a speech the next year, is well known. 'Just as well, you may say, given some of the vicissitudes I have faced with frustratingly failing fountain pens this past year,' he said. Trump owns perhaps the ultimate hot mic moment The American president is famously uncontrolled in public with a penchant for 'saying it like it is,' sometimes with profanity. That makes him popular among some supporters. But even he had trouble putting a lid on comments he made before he was a candidate to 'Access Hollywood' in tapes that jeopardized his campaign in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race. Trump did not appear to know the microphone was recording. Trump bragged about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women who were not his wife on recordings obtained by The Washington Post and NBC News and aired just two days before his debate with Hillary Clinton. The celebrity businessman boasted 'when you're a star, they let you do it,' in a conversation with Billy Bush, then a host of the television show. Steve Bannon and Donald Trump U.S. President Donald Trump and Steve Bannon in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 3, 2017. (Evan Vucci / AP) With major supporters balking, Trump issued an apology 'if anyone was offended,' and his campaign dismissed the comments as 'locker room banter.' On Monday, though, the chatter on both ends of the East Room press conference gave observers a glimpse of the diplomatic game. Dismissed unceremoniously from the White House in March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now sat at the table with Trump and seven of his European peers: Macron, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finland's President Alexander Stubb, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump complimented Merz's tan. He said Stubb is a good golfer. He asked if anyone wanted to ask the press questions when the White House pool was admitted to the room — before it galloped inside. The European leaders smiled at the shouting and shuffling. Stubb asked Trump if he's 'been through this every day?' Trump replied, 'All the time.' Meloni said she doesn't want to talk to the Italian press. But Trump, she noted, is game. 'He loves it. He loves it, eh?' she said. Laurie Kellman, The Associated Press
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Trump to nominate top economic aide Stephen Miran to fill open spot on Federal Reserve board
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate a top economic adviser to the Federal Reserve's board of governors for four months, temporarily filling a vacancy while continuing his search for a longer-term appointment. Mr. Trump said he has named Stephen Miran, the chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a seat vacated by governor Adriana Kugler, a Biden appointee who is stepping down Friday. Mr. Miran, if approved by the Senate, will serve until January 31, 2026. The appointment is Mr. Trump's first opportunity to exert more control over the Fed, one of the few remaining independent federal agencies. Mr. Trump has relentlessly criticized the current chair, Jerome Powell, for keeping short-term interest rates unchanged, calling him 'a stubborn MORON' last week on social media. Mr. Miran has been a major defender of Mr. Trump's income-tax cuts and tariff hikes, arguing that the combination will generate enough economic growth to reduce budget deficits. He also has played down the risk of Mr. Trump's tariffs generating higher inflation, a major source of concern for Mr. Powell. Trump calls on Federal Reserve board to usurp Powell and take control of central bank The choice of Mr. Miran may heighten concerns about political influence over the Fed, which has traditionally been insulated from day-to-day politics. Fed independence is generally seen as key to ensuring that it can take difficult steps to combat inflation, such as raising interest rates, that politicians might be unwilling to take. Federal Reserve governors vote on all the central bank's interest-rate decisions, as well as its financial regulatory policies. Mr. Miran's nomination, if approved, would add a near-certain vote in support of lower interest rates. Ms. Kugler had echoed Mr. Powell's view that the Fed should keep rates unchanged and further evaluate the impact of tariffs on the economy before making any moves. Mr. Trump has said he will appoint a Fed chair who will cut interest rates, which he says will reduce the borrowing costs of the federal government's huge US$36-trillion debt pile. Mr. Trump also wants lower rates to boost moribund home sales, which have been held back partly by higher mortgage costs. Yet the Fed doesn't directly set longer-term interest rates for things like home and car purchases. At its most recent meeting last week Fed officials kept their key rate unchanged at 4.3 per cent, where it has stood after three rate cuts late last year. But two Fed governors – Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman – dissented from that decision. Both were appointed by Mr. Trump in his first term. Opinion: A scary chart shows why diminished Fed independence may outlast this administration Still, even with Mr. Miran on the board, 12 Fed officials vote on interest-rate policy and many remain concerned that Mr. Trump's sweeping tariffs could push inflation higher in the coming months. Mr. Miran could be renominated to a longer term on the Fed once his initial appointment is concluded, or replaced by another nominee. Mr. Powell's term as chair ends in May 2026. Yet, Mr. Powell could remain on the board of governors until January 2028, even after he steps down as chair. That would deny, or at least delay, an opportunity for Mr. Trump to appoint an additional policymaker to the Fed's board. As a result, one option for Mr. Trump is to appoint Mr. Powell's eventual replacement as chair to replace Ms. Kugler once the remaining four months of her term are completed. Leading candidates for that position include Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor from 2006 to 2011 and frequent critic of Mr. Powell's chairmanship, and Kevin Hassett, another top Trump economic adviser. Another option for the White House would be to select Mr. Waller, who is already on the board, to replace Mr. Powell, and who has been widely mentioned as a candidate. Marco Casiraghi, senior economist at investment bank Evercore ISI, noted that the choice of Mr. Miran could be a positive sign for Mr. Waller, because Mr. Trump did not take the opportunity to nominate someone likely to become chair once Mr. Powell steps down. After the July jobs report was released last Friday, Mr. Miran criticized the Fed chair for not cutting benchmark interest rates, saying that Mr. Trump had been proven correct on inflation during his first term and would be again. The President has pressured Mr. Powell to cut short-term interest rates under the belief that his tariffs will not fuel higher inflationary pressures. 'What we're seeing now in real time is a repetition once again of this pattern where the president will end up having been proven right,' Mr. Miran said on MSNBC. 'And the Fed will, with a lag and probably quite too late, eventually catch up to the President's view.' Last year, Mr. Miran expressed support for some unconventional economic views in commentaries on the Fed and international economics. Last November, he proposed measures that would reduce the value of the dollar in order to boost exports, reduce imports and cut the U.S. trade deficit, a top priority for Mr. Trump. He also suggested tariffs could push U.S. trading partners, such as the European Union and Japan, to accept a cheaper dollar as part of a 'Mar-a-Lago Accord,' an echo of the Plaza Accord reached in the 1980s that lowered the dollar's value. As a fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, Mr. Miran in March, 2024 also proposed overhauling the Fed's governance, including by making it easier for a president to fire members of its board of governors. 'The Fed's current governance has facilitated groupthink that has led to significant monetary-policy errors,' Mr. Miran wrote in a paper with Dan Katz, now a top official at the Treasury Department.
Globe and Mail
2 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Letters to the editor, Aug. 20: ‘Complaints about the inconvenience caused by the Air Canada strike … inconvenience was the point'
Re 'Trump's Ukraine talks show how the global order is changing' (Aug. 19): Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump's art of the deal has been nowhere to be seen. To add insult to Ukraine's injury, a wanted war criminal was welcomed on U.S. soil akin to a normal head of state deserving of respect. Meanwhile, Russia continues its indiscriminate attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure and civilians. By bending to Mr. Trump's ill-considered manner of 'negotiating,' the West, including Canada, is debasing further its values and ceding international leadership to thugs. All this to say that power rules, not fairness and justice. That the United States is no longer a force for good in the world is depressing. As a middle power, Canada, sadly, cannot do much but watch with disgust. Stéphane Lefebvre PhD; former federal strategic and intelligence analyst; Ottawa In 1994, the Budapest Memorandum was signed. In exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons, Russia, the United States and Britain provided security assurances, including promises not to use force against its sovereignty and borders. But Russia walked into Crimea in 2014 and neither the U.S. nor Britain did much. There were ongoing skirmishes in the Donbas region from 2014 to 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine again. The U.S. and Britain provided some weapons, but only ever just enough to keep the fight going. It is now two decades that tiny Ukraine has been trying to force mighty Russia to leave its territory. I feel ill when hearing about the need for Ukraine to give up territory. Why? I was not surprised Russia broke its Budapest promise, but now the U.S. has as well. Is there any paper signed by an American president that is worth anything? Marilyn Dolenko Ottawa Ukraine should reduce its dependence on Western aid and move swiftly toward self-sufficiency. Bill Browder, former major investor in Russia and longtime Kremlin critic, has urged the West to empower Ukraine by seizing frozen Russian state assets. Yet the G7, controlling about US$300-billion, has agreed only to use the interest as collateral for a US$50-billion loan. I find legal and financial objections to seizing the full assets overstated. Russia's invasion is indisputably illegal, the resulting devastation undeniable. And the financial system has already absorbed the freeze with minimal disruption. If the United States retreats, European countries should seize their $200-billion-plus share and transfer it to Ukraine with full discretion to pursue a just and lasting peace. Patrick Bendin Ottawa Re 'Path to peace?' (Letters, Aug. 19): A letter-writer concludes that reparations were not imposed on Germany after the Second World War 'to create a client state for U.S. industry and to prop up an ally in the face of the Soviet Union.' George Kennan, the U.S. diplomat and architect of postwar Soviet containment policy, recognized that the war-devastated Soviet Union posed no immediate military threat, but rather would try to take advantage of devastated Western European economies to insinuate itself into that sphere. France and Italy, for example, had large communist parties ripe for Soviet influence. Hence the Marshall Plan, perhaps the most successful U.S. foreign aid program ever implemented. In this sense, Western security considerations trumped narrow U.S. economic self-interest. Kathryn Vogel Toronto Re 'Air Canada set to resume operations after flight attendants' strike ends' (Online, Aug. 19): In response to complaints about the inconvenience caused by the Air Canada strike and at the risk of dealing in the obvious: Inconvenience was the point. Craig Sims Kingston I'm from New Waterford, a coal-mining town on Cape Breton famous for unionization and its fight for workers' rights. My grandfather was a coal miner. I was lucky: I got an education and a good job with Air Canada. Many think I live a life of luxury because I travel for a living. The reality is I've missed weddings, anniversaries and most holidays. There is higher risk of some cancers because of my work environment and a lack of sleep throwing off my circadian rhythm. I'm not asking for pity. I'm grateful to Air Canada, but it's not about me. It's about the working conditions for our entire group. We cannot sacrifice our futures for expediency. As it turns out, being miles underground or up in the air are not dissimilar. The one constant is that I'm from Cape Breton, and I vow to fight the good fight. In solidarity. Blair Boudreau Toronto Once again, Canada's unwillingness to become more globally competitive within an industry punished the Canadian consumer. If some foreign airlines were able to transport travellers within the country on at least select routes to begin with, we would have seen how quickly collective agreements could be reached in the first place. Stephen Flamer Vancouver Re 'To recognize aboriginal title is not to abolish property rights, but to uphold them' (Opinion, Aug. 16): The trial judge refused to let British Columbia argue 'bona fide purchasers for value' on behalf of third-party private landholders, whose interests were thus unfairly unrepresented at trial. The Section 35-based legal concepts of 'the honour of the Crown,' 'consult and accommodate' and the sui generis Crown fiduciary duty were only developed after Section 35 was enacted in 1982. Yet the trial judge applied them retroactively to all Crown conduct going back to 1853, a long period of Canada's development as a modern nation when these legal concepts were unheard of. The city of Richmond, B.C, puts the value of its private and public municipal infrastructure at $100-billion. There are only about 8,000 citizens of the Cowichan Nation, thus raising the prospect of each one claiming windfall compensation of more than $12-million each. The above and many other reasons compel Canada, the province and Richmond to appeal this judgment. Peter Best Sudbury Re 'A land-claims ruling shakes the foundation of property rights in B.C.' (Aug. 15): 'Indigenous groups have laid claim to vast swaths of the province, including land occupied by millions of homeowners.' No doubt similar thoughts have occurred to First Nations, which might be phrased thus: 'Settler groups have laid claim to vast swaths of the province, including land occupied by millions of people.' The sanctity of title is based on the seizing of unceded traditional territory by the Crown and Hudson's Bay Company. The foundation for property rights in British Columbia, as interpreted by settler law for less than 200 years, is indeed tenuous. I find the judge correct in her ruling. I do not support the appeal by the provincial government. Charlotte Masemann Victoria Letters to the Editor should be exclusive to The Globe and Mail. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. Keep letters to 150 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. To submit a letter by e-mail, click here: letters@
