Foreign Policy https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy Foreign Policy en-US Sun, 13 Sep 2026 15:14:48 GMT Trump Calls on Ukraine to Halt Strikes on Russian Diesel Infrastructure https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/trump-ukraine-diesel-fuel-strikes Associated Press The president said Zelenskyy can go after other targets, but hitting diesel fuel is causing shortages. Sun, 13 Sep 2026 15:14:48 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/trump-ukraine-diesel-fuel-strikes Donald Trump visit to Ireland
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the Irish Open at the Trump International Golf Links & Hotel in Ireland. (Liam McBurney/AP)
KYIV, Ukraine — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian diesel, saying the attacks are causing a fuel shortage.

Trump was asked by a reporter if he had spoken with Zelenskyy following his recent conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Trump responded by calling on Zelenskyy to halt strikes against Russia.

“Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Irish Open, which is being played at his Doonbeg golf club.

“Let him go after targets but not diesel fuel, because he’s causing a shortage of diesel fuel.”

Ukraine’s long-range strikes have been targeting Russia’s oil and gas industry for months, which Kyiv says both funds and directly fuels Moscow's more than four-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

The Ukrainian drone campaign has caused fuel rationing across Russia, despite the country being a key oil and gas exporter. Other Ukrainian strikes targeted major Russian online retailers, bringing the war ever closer to the public.

Russia has also ramped up its air campaign against Ukraine in recent weeks, using ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones to pierce Ukraine’s defenses. Moscow’s attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter in what officials say is meant to demoralize civilians.

Civilians were killed and injured overnight into Sunday as Russia and Ukraine exchanged large-scale drone strikes.

Two people were killed and 14 more injured near an oil and industrial hub in Russia’s Tatarstan, according to local officials, while Ukrainian authorities reported on reported on Russian drones pummelling the Black Sea port of Odesa and starting a fire near a border crossing with Poland.

Ukraine targets more Russian oil facilities

The two Russian civilians died after a drone slammed into a tree near their parked car in the city of Nizhnekamsk, according to the office of regional head Rustam Minnikhanov.

Nizhnekamsk houses a key cluster of oil refineries and petrochemical, rubber and polymer plants, including some of Russia's largest facilities of their kind. Mayor Radmir Belyaev said that a fire had broken out at an unspecified “enterprise.”

Ukraine also claimed on Sunday to have hit a major oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban, in Russia’s Krasnodar region, across from Crimea. The Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) agency said its drones struck a key oil processing unit and the refinery’s tank farm overnight.

Krasnodar authorities said the strike on “an enterprise” in Slavyansk-on-Kuban injured three people, damaged an oil pipeline and started a blaze. They did not directly respond to the Ukrainian claims.

Russian forces shot down 389 Ukrainian drones during the night, Russia’s defense ministry said Sunday.

Russia targets Odesa and western Ukraine

At least nine people were injured in a “massive” Russian nighttime attack on Odesa, according to Serhii Lysak, who heads the city's military administration. The city is home to Ukraine's main port hub on the Black Sea and has for months faced sustained drone and missile strikes, with Kyiv accusing Moscow of trying to choke off its exports.

A Russian drone attack on Saturday struck a residential high-rise in Odesa, killing two people and injuring 26 others, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian strikes also pounded western Ukraine throughout the night, though there were no immediate reports of casualties. One drone struck near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland, setting fire to a petrol station, according to Ukraine's top diplomat and a spokesperson for the local customs force.

“This is Putin’s terror ‘knocking’ directly on the doors of the EU and NATO. Russian barbarians are at your gate, dear partners,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote in a post on X.

Ukraine’s border crossings with Poland are a conduit for a large proportion of the military and humanitarian aid sent into the country by Western allies.

Valentyna Chernysh, a spokesperson for the Volyn Customs Office, told The Associated Press that the Yahodyn crossing was intact and no one was harmed.

Earlier this week, two people died when Russian drones hit the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday. The following day a “direct threat” to a Polish-Ukrainian crossing point was avoided due to the cooperation between Warsaw and Kyiv, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Tusk gave no further details of the incident on Wednesday, or any evidence of Russian involvement. But he warned of potential intensified provocations by Moscow at border crossings between Ukraine and Europe.

Ukraine’s air force said its air defenses shot down or suppressed 409 Russian drones of various types overnight, including a newer jet-powered version that is faster and more difficult to intercept. It said Russia had attacked Ukraine with 453 drones in total.

Kremlin says peace talks could restart in October

Also on Sunday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow is open to restarting peace talks in autumn featuring Russia, Ukraine and the U.S.

“We are not ruling out that possibility. We are specifically talking about the foreseeable future. That is, October cannot be ruled out,” Peskov told reporters.

Last weekend, U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, followed by a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Despite the latest diplomatic push, the core demands of Moscow and Kyiv remain mutually exclusive, especially over territorial concessions.
]]> Trump Says He'd 'Love' to See a Unified Ireland https://www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/trump-unified-ireland Associated Press "It’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now," the president said during meetings in Dublin. Sat, 12 Sep 2026 11:59:49 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/whitehouse/trump-unified-ireland President Trump speaks during a meeting with Irish PM Micheál Martin.
Alex Brandon/AP
DUBLIN (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday that a unified Ireland would be “fantastic,” wading into a complex and politically charged subject during a weekend visit to a major tournament at his Irish golf course.

At a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, Trump said he would love to see the reunification of the Republic of Ireland with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland.

“I don’t want to cause any problems but I’d love to see it unified," Trump offered when asked for his opinion on the issue by a reporter. "It’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.

“I think it would be a fantastic thing," he said, adding that "the U.K. will have something to say about it, obviously.”

The Irish unity debate is heated

Competing visions of Northern Ireland — whether it's Irish or British — drove decades of violence in Northern Ireland that left some 3,600 people dead. Previous American presidents have avoided commenting directly on the subject, even those, like Joe Biden, with strong emotional ties to Ireland.

When Ireland, long dominated by its bigger neighbor Britain, became a self-governing Roman Catholic-majority country a century ago, a six-county region in the north with a Protestant majority remained part of the United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland was split between two main communities: nationalists — most of them Catholic — who desired union with the rest of Ireland, and largely Protestant unionists, who wanted to stay British. Tensions eventually exploded in the Troubles: three decades of violence involving paramilitary groups on both sides and British troops.

A 1998 peace accord that the U.S. was instrumental in striking largely ended the violence, but left Northern Ireland’s ultimate status unresolved.

The peace accord allows for a vote on unification if it appears likely a majority of people would vote for it. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that “I am not aware that there is majority public support for another referendum, and until that changes, there will not be one.”

Trump also talked about the Falkland Islands issue

Trump again raised the prospect of conflict between the U.K. and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. Argentina’s President Javier Milei, a Trump ally, has recently restated Argentina’s claim to the islands, a British overseas territory that Argentina calls Las Malvinas.

Trump has previously said Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty. On Saturday he expressed skepticism that Britain would be able to retake the South Atlantic islands as they did after Argentina invaded in 1982.

“I’m sure I’ll be called into that potential disaster, but if they do, I’ll probably be able to settle, settle it out,” he said.

A meeting with the Irish president who criticized Trump

Trump also held talks Saturday in Dublin with his Irish counterpart Catherine Connolly and will address U.S. and Irish business leaders at the U.S. ambassador's official residence in Dublin, before traveling to his oceanfront golf club in Doonbeg, on the other side of the country, to watch the Irish Open.

Connolly is a left-wing politician who was among those who protested when Trump visited Ireland in 2019, during his first term in office. She is now Ireland's elected, largely ceremonial head of state. A supporter of the Palestinian cause, she in the past has criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East and called Trump a “bully.”

The Irish president met Trump at the end of a red carpet at her official residence. They shook hands and chatted before going inside. He emerged alone a few minutes later and saluted as an Irish Defence Forces band played the U.S. national anthem and inspected an Irish Army honor guard.

Trump visit irks some Dubliners

Police put up a cordon around Dublin’s 1,750-acre (700-hectare) Phoenix Park, where he met Connolly at her residence, Áras an Uachtaráin. He met Martin, the taoiseach, at the government’s Farmleigh state guesthouse and stopped by Deerfield, the U.S. ambassador's residence.

Some residents expressed annoyance over the disruption.

“He’s causing mayhem in this city because he wants to go down to Doonbeg and play golf,” said taxi driver Christopher Fox, emphatically not a fan of Trump. “The world’s in turmoil and this fella’s down playing golf.”

University student Mina Petrovski said Trump’s “attitudes toward women, toward immigrants, toward minority communities in general are abhorrent.” She said it’s “shameful that the Irish government is welcoming him with open arms.”

Separately, a collection of left-leaning opposition parties, anti-military groups, pro-Palestinian organizations, environmentalists and others plan to demonstrate against Trump in Dublin on Saturday.

Eric Trump defends family's presence in Ireland

Trump's son, Eric, says the family is loved in Ireland, despite the protests planned over his father's visit.

Speaking to Irish national broadcaster RTE on Friday in Doonbeg, home to the Trump International golf resort, Eric Trump said the course is the largest employer in the area.

“Go down to Morrissey’s tavern in Doonbeg and hear from a real Irish person as to whether or not they like President Trump and the Trump family, go have them attest to what we’ve done for the country and what we’ve invested in the country and the love and respect that our family has always shown them,” he said.

Trump’s visit is the latest example of blending his official duties and personal interests.

Trump plays golf just about every weekend at clubs he owns in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia. His attendance at the Irish Open continues his trend of appearing at high-profile sporting events — and having a hand in organizing some of them in ways that benefit his family business. His clubs in Doral, Florida, and Bedminster, New Jersey, have each hosted professional golf tournaments this year.

The Irish Open is the second European Tour event to be held at a Trump property this year. The Nexo Championship was held last month at Trump's golf course in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Last year, Trump went to Scotland for five days to play golf at his club in Turnberry and later inaugurated a new Trump golf course in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. During that visit, he held talks with the British prime minister and the president of the European Commission.]]> Houthis Seize Territory in Another Key Strait, Complicating the Iran War https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/iran-war-yemen-houthis-seize-key-strait Associated Press The Houthis’ biggest territorial gains in years, along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States. Fri, 11 Sep 2026 16:32:37 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/iran-war-yemen-houthis-seize-key-strait Houthi rebels
The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping on the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, as well as oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. STR/AP
By Fatma Khaled, Samy Magdy and Cara Anna

CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels captured a strategic island at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, two officials said Friday, opening a new front in the Iran war and further threatening Saudi oil exports through one of the world’s key shipping lanes.

The Houthis’ biggest territorial gains in years, along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, could boost Iran’s strategy of driving up world oil and gas prices to pressure the United States.

Saudi Arabia struck the airport in the nearby port city of Mokha that the Houthis seized Thursday, a Houthi broadcaster said. There were no reports of damage or deaths.

The capture of Mayun, a tiny, barren volcanic island inside the strait also known as Perim, was confirmed by a senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and by a Houthi official. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has increasingly relied on the Red Sea to get its crude to market as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been striking ships. Houthi moves to close the 28-kilometer-wide (17-mile) Bab el-Mandeb channel have made that route more complicated. Saudi officials declined a request by The Associated Press for comment on the developments.

In a statement Friday, the Houthi armed forces boasted of gains along the coast without mentioning the island, Mokha or the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They vowed “escalation for escalation” in the confrontation with Saudi Arabia, while declaring that “maritime navigation is safe for all companies except for Saudi vessels.”

Still, markets are nervous, and experts have described the Houthis as highly unpredictable. Crude prices this week soared once again above $100 a barrel, giving Tehran more leverage in any talks.

Yemen's government shocked by slow Saudi response

The Houthis have been attacking Saudi shipping on the Red Sea since declaring a blockade in July, as well as oil infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The rebels said they acted in response to the kingdom’s yearslong blockade of Houthi-held parts of Yemen.

A senior military official with Yemen’s internationally recognized government told the AP they were stunned that the Saudi air force did not try to prevent the capture of Mokha, which is within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the strait, by striking the Houthis as they advanced. He assessed that Saudi Arabia didn’t get a green light from the U.S. to embark on a large-scale air campaign.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t allowed to speak to the media, also blamed “lack of coordination” between Yemen’s army and multiple allied militias, saying it gave the Houthis “a priceless opportunity.”

Shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait had fallen by about 60% since the Houthis began attacking some ships there in late 2023 and expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Shipping increased this year as Saudi Arabia sought alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, but renewed Houthi threats have “curtailed” that activity, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence.

That has forced Saudi Arabia to find yet another alternative, sending its oil north out of the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, either via the Suez Canal or a pipeline through Egypt, a far longer route for its clients in Asia. The Houthis have threatened that route as well, striking a Saudi vessel in the north of the Red Sea in late August.

Iran calls for a return to Saudi-Houthi talks

Earlier Friday, Iran’s government called for an end to Saudi Arabia’s blockade of Houthi-held areas in a show of support for its ally. The Iranian Foreign Ministry also called for a return to negotiations between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

In a sign of how important the Houthis have become for Tehran, the spokesperson for Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard on Wednesday called for any negotiated settlement with the U.S. to include Yemen, the first explicit reference to that front. The call mirrored Iran’s past stance that a truce in Lebanon between its ally Hezbollah and Israel must be a part of any deal with the U.S.

Saudi Arabia, which earlier this week said it had always offered “opportunities for negotiation,” also has said it has the right to defend itself in response to the Houthis’ blockade. The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia spoke Thursday about diplomatic efforts to “restore stability” to the region, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on social media.

The fighting risks a return to Yemen's civil warAs the Houthis swept along the Red Sea coast toward the Bab el-Mandeb channel, Yemen’s Saudi-backed government called for international support.

In a statement Friday from a meeting the previous day, its National Defense Council said it was on the front line of defending freedom of navigation and condemned the Houthis’ renewed attacks on Saudi Arabia.

The escalating fighting threatens to end a fragile truce that had largely halted Yemen’s civil war since 2022. At stake are the 40 million people in the Arab world’s poorest country who fear a return to the conflict that killed 150,000 and brought many others to the brink of famine.

The surge in fighting in the past week has sent over 46,000 people fleeing, the U.N. migration agency said Friday.

People seeking safety from the fighting are carrying few belongings, “whatever they can grab,” Abdusattor Esoev, chief of mission in Yemen for the International Organization for Migration, said in an interview Friday. He said the number of people displaced more than doubled this week and could still rise sharply.

“You see the fears in their eyes, and people are scared,” Esoev said.

The Houthis have been at war with Yemen’s government since 2014, when the rebels swept from their mountainous heartland and seized much of northern and central Yemen, and the capital of Sanaa. Saudi Arabia entered the war the following year on behalf of the government.

Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press Writer Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed.]]> Vance Urges Hesitant Voters to Shelve Concerns Over Iran War https://www.washingtonsun.com/2026-election/jd-vance-republican-urge-midterm-voting Gavin J. Quinton The vice president asked Republicans not to “throw out the baby with the bath water” if they disagree with the administration’s foreign policy. Fri, 11 Sep 2026 04:28:00 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/2026-election/jd-vance-republican-urge-midterm-voting Vice President JD Vance
Vice President JD Vance spoke on day two of the Republican midterm convention. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)
Vice President JD Vance urged voters uneasy with the Iran war to stick with Republicans for the midterms, acknowledging the conflict’s unpopularity among Americans as it stretches past six months.

The vice president’s appeal to Republicans on day two of the party’s midterm convention in Dallas marked a crucial point in the administration’s recognition of how unpopular some of their policies are among members of their base ahead of November.

Vance said he was speaking directly to voters on the fence and people “who love some of our policies but maybe don’t agree with others.” Referencing the late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who died a year ago on Sept. 10, the vice president asked voters to coalesce around Republicans, even if they disagree with the White House’s actions.

“Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there,” Vance said on Thursday.

“I’m not asking anybody to agree with me on every single policy of the administration,” the vice president added. “What I am asking you to do is to recognize the contrast with the radicals and recognize the achievements of the last 18 months.”

In his 40-minute speech, Vance didn’t express opposition to the war, which is widely unpopular: Roughly two-thirds of Americans — and an even greater percentage of young voters — oppose the conflict, according to a July poll from The Associated Press.

Vance briefly mentioned young men throughout his speech, also while referencing Kirk. Some young men have said they are disillusioned by the president’s second term, with Trump’s approval rating among the group sinking by about 10 percentage points earlier this year.

Trump downplayed those concerns when Fox News’ Laura Ingraham asked about “demoralized” young male supporters during an interview that aired earlier Thursday evening.

“I don’t think they’re demoralized — I think they’re very proud of the fact that I’m not letting Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “I disagree with you.”

In between hammering Democrats on affordability and promising additional economic boosts should Republicans maintain congressional control, Vance also spoke at length Thursday about Americans’ “birthright” ownership over the country. He cited an inaccurate figure of 25 million immigrants allowed through the border under the Biden administration and cast undocumented immigrants as responsible for employment and housing shortages. The vice president said Americans had grown tired of factory closures, overdoses and rising costs.

“We were tired of being called racist for noticing that our country was becoming dirtier and poorer and less safe and less prosperous,” he said.

When a protester interrupted waving a flag, Vance derided the person’s prop as anti-American for several minutes, prompting long cheers from the audience.

“Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” he said, firing up the arena’s crowd, which chanted “48! 48!” in a reference to a potential future Vance presidency.

The vice president also spent a portion of his remarks mocking Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed — who recently quipped that second lady Usha Vance would not have met her grandfather-in-law because of her race — and Texas Senate nominee James Talarico.

He jabbed at Talarico’s past comments about gender, including God being “non-binary” — remarks the candidate has since walked back.

“I don’t know about you,” Vance said, ”but I never want to see that guy’s web browser history.”]]> China Says a Trade Deal With U.S. Could Come Soon As Xi's Trip Nears https://www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/china-us-trade-deal-xi-trip Associated Press Weeks before the Chinese president comes to Washington, a Chinese government spokesperson said the countries aim to ax $30 billion of tariffs from each side. Thu, 10 Sep 2026 16:35:22 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/china-us-trade-deal-xi-trip President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands
President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands before their meeting in South Korea. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)
BEIJING — China and the United States hope to reach an agreement on lowering import taxes soon, a Chinese government spokesperson said Thursday, fueling expectations that an announcement could come when the leaders of the two countries meet in two weeks.

Negotiators are striving to implement reciprocal tariff reductions on $30 billion worth of goods “at an early date,” Commerce Ministry spokesperson Huang Ling said at a weekly briefing.

The $30 billion will be from each side, China's official Xinhua News Agency said.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are expected to meet in Washington on Sept. 24 for what will be their third face-to-face talks in the past year. Both governments characterize the meetings as a way to stabilize relations in an era of competing interests between the world's two largest economies.

“Leaders’ diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China-U. S. relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Thursday.

Trump and Xi agreed at their previous meeting in May in Beijing to launch a U.S.-China Board of Trade that would manage trade between the two countries, along with a parallel Board of Investment. The agreements came after a truce was reached in a blistering tariff war in which Trump hiked tariffs on Chinese imports to extremely high levels and China responded in kind.

The talks on reciprocal tariff reductions are a central part of the negotiations on creating the Board of Trade. The goal is to identify and reduce tariffs on equivalent amounts of “nonsensitive” goods on each side, the U.S. said.

“Trade will be front and center at the summit,” Barclays Bank said in a research note this week on the upcoming Trump-Xi meeting, noting that the truce the two countries reached on tariffs expires on Nov. 10. But it cautioned that the scope for a broad trade deal is limited, and that targeted tariff reductions are more likely.

But as the U.S. and China have already reduced mutual trade reliance, the “overall trade significance will be more limited than before, given the smaller bilateral volume,” said Gary Ng, a senior economist at French bank Natixis.

Chinese exports to the U.S., for example, fell sharply last year, after the U.S. rolled out elevated tariffs.

An agreement on reciprocal tariff reductions could likely benefit the U.S. more, as $30 billion is roughly 28% of its exports to China, while it is only around 10% the other way around, Ng said.]]> Duffy Scolds Ford Over Deals With China in Urging More American Manufacturing https://www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/transportation-duffy-ford-china-warning Gavin J. Quinton Ford called the transportation secretary’s letter a “wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines” and said it contains numerous factual errors. Wed, 09 Sep 2026 00:32:47 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/transportation-duffy-ford-china-warning Earns Ford
Ford said it supports the Trump administration’s vision for advancing American innovation and manufacturing. (Charles Krupa/AP File)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned Ford Motor Company about maintaining “questionable foreign alliances” with Chinese companies amid calls from the Trump administration to reshore its manufacturing operations.

In a recent letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley, Duffy derided the company’s recent deals with China-backed auto manufacturers, and said Ford “fails to act as [a] reliable partner” to the American public.

“The company’s recent strategic decisions paint a troubling picture of a foundational American brand actively intertwining its future with Chinese state-backed enterprises,” Duffy wrote in the letter sent Sept. 3 and released publicly Tuesday.

Ford pushed back sharply in a statement to NOTUS on Tuesday, calling Duffy’s letter an error-filled and “wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines.”

The company said it produces more vehicles in the United States and employs more American workers than any other automaker.

Ford has been under continued pressure from the White House to return to domestic supply chains and manufacturing, and recently announced it would relocate manufacturing operations of its Lincoln models from China to the United States by 2030.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently celebrated the announcement as a tariff success, but Duffy asserted the four-year timeline “leaves an unacceptable, multi-year window of reliance on Chinese manufacturing while depriving skilled American workers of vital manufacturing jobs.”

Duffy went on to highlight Ford’s dependence on licensed technology from Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited — a company that appears on the Defense Department’s list of banned companies. He also criticized Ford over a new deal with Chinese automotive company Geely Auto to build zero-emission vehicles at a Ford factory in Spain.

Ford defended its arrangement with Chinese battery makers, saying its Michigan battery hub is owned and operated by Ford and can’t be classified as a foreign-owned manufacturing operation. The company said Duffy’s assessment of its operations in Spain are also fraught.

“Ford supports the Trump administration’s vision for advancing American innovation and manufacturing,” Ford’s response states. “Had Secretary Duffy reached out before issuing his letter to the press, we would have been happy to share more details about Ford’s U.S. commitment.”]]> Iceland Summons U.S. Ambassador for a Rebuke Over Trump’s Truth Social Post https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/iceland-summons-u-s-ambassador-billy-long-trump-truth-social Jenna Monnin Billy Long had been forced to apologize for an earlier joke he made calling Iceland the “52nd state.” Tue, 08 Sep 2026 18:04:09 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/iceland-summons-u-s-ambassador-billy-long-trump-truth-social President Donald Trump
Trump’s post of an American flag-covered map has renewed fears in the region of a potential U.S. annexation of Iceland's close neighbor, Greenland. (Alex Brandon/AP)
The U.S. ambassador to Iceland, Billy Long, was summoned by the country’s officials for a meeting on Monday just hours after President Donald Trump posted an image to Truth Social of the Arctic nation blanketed in the American flag.

Trump posted a stylized map of North and Central American nations — including Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Greenland and Iceland — covered in the stars and stripes during a posting spree to Truth Social on Sunday, an apparent indication of his interest in taking control of those countries. Trump also shared a bizarre series of AI-generated images of “Iran's Navy” on the ocean floor, the moon and the Strait of Hormuz as American territories and New Mexico renamed “New America.”

The posts caught the attention of Icelandic officials, who have tangled with the Trump administration since the president returned to office last year.

"It was made clear to him in the meeting that the post was entirely unacceptable," Iceland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir told broadcaster RÚV of her meeting with Long.

“If this is supposed to be a joke, then it is a bad joke,” she added at a press conference Tuesday, according to Arctic Today.

This isn’t the first time that Long has faced scrutiny over U.S. annexation threats. Long apologized before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in February over a joke he made, first reported by Politico, to former House colleagues calling Iceland the “52nd state” and saying he’d serve as its governor.

“It was totally inappropriate,” Long told senators at the time. “I just hope that the people in Iceland will give me a second chance to make a first impression.”

Icelanders launched a petition earlier this year calling for Gunnarsdóttir to oust Long, with the effort garnering nearly 5,500 signatures.

Long joins a group of other Trump-tapped ambassadors who have faced removal campaigns and diplomatic rebukes.

Pete Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, currently faces a removal petition that has accumulated nearly 270,000 signatures — an outgrowth of the escalating U.S.-Canada trade war.

Bill White, the U.S. ambassador to Belgium, has been summoned by the country’s officials twice this year — most recently to answer for an incendiary social media post in which he mocked the country’s health minister.

Trump’s post of an American flag-covered map has renewed fears in the region of a potential U.S. annexation of Iceland's close neighbor, Greenland.

Shortly after the start of his second term, Trump pushed for the U.S. to take control of Greenland. Last January, the president even said that conversations with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, had generated “the framework of a future deal” on Greenland.

Trump maintains that Greenland, which is a Danish territory, is vital for U.S. national security, but the push has landed with a thud in Europe — particularly in Denmark, which launched massive protests in response to the president’s push for control in the Arctic.

Iceland also joined Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in a joint statement in January defending Greenland from Trump's annexation threats.

“We collectively reiterate that matters concerning Denmark and Greenland are for Denmark and Greenland to decide alone,” the foreign ministers of each country wrote.
]]> U.S. Hits Iran's Aviation Industry With Crippling Sanctions https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/us-iran-war-airline-industry-sanctions-treasury Associated Press The Trump administration accused the 36 entities targeted this week of supporting the Islamic Republic's efforts to use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 15:22:05 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/foreign-policy/us-iran-war-airline-industry-sanctions-treasury Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release. Gerald Herbert/AP
By Farnoush Amiri

The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed sanctions on additional elements of Iran's aviation industry, targeting more than two dozen commercial and private airlines as well as foreign cargo service providers in its new push to isolate Tehran from its remaining trading partners.

The latest actions are part of the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Outcast campaign that is aimed at severing “critical financial lifelines” for the already heavily sanctioned Iranian government. The new penalties target the remaining facets of Tehran’s already beleaguered aviation ecosystem, which Washington has sanctioned for years.

“Let this be a warning to anyone doing business with Iran’s remaining airlines, all of which we sanctioned today: You are at risk of being cut off from the global financial system,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a press release.

The Trump administration accused the 36 entities targeted this week of supporting the Islamic Republic's efforts to use its aviation sector to move weapons, personnel, and illicit cargo. The moves will subject foreign firms and governments that do business with the targeted entities to sanctions themselves, including a freeze on any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions.

In a post on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called out the longstanding U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran, saying that the fallout “has been disastrous for America, including its standing worldwide.”

“After failing to achieve its aims through sanctions or war, Washington’s “novel” solution is…more sanctions. Seriously?” Araghchi wrote Tuesday afternoon.

The administration also claimed that private entities based in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan and Malaysia have provided parts and logistics services to Iran’s Mahan Air. The major airline, which flies from Tehran to a few dozen destinations in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, has been subject to U.S. counterterrorism sanctions since 2019 for its support for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which the State Department has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

The airline was first targeted by the U.S. under the Obama administration in 2011, when it accused Mahan Air of being used to send weapons to Iranian proxies in Lebanon and Yemen.

The latest sanctions campaign is part of a two-pronged economic and military approach by President Donald Trump as he struggles to bring an end to a more than six-month-old war with Tehran.

Last week, the U.S. announced penalties against Golden Global Yatirim Bankasi Anonim Sirketi, a Turkish bank, which it accused of being established to enable Iran’s efforts to transfer oil revenues from China to Turkey, where they could then be converted to cash and gold.

The U.S. also said the institution “knowingly offered” banking services to Iranian financial entities, including those already sanctioned by the U.S. government in 2022 for funneling Tehran’s oil sales.

An Egyptian bank’s operations in the United Arab Emirates were also limited last month as part of the campaign, but the administration stopped short of imposing sanctions as it grapples with how to sever Iran's economic footprint without upending the global financial system.
]]> Canada Seeks Closer Ties to Europe as It Hits the U.S. With Billions in Tariffs https://www.washingtonsun.com/economy/canada-tariffs-billions-us-goods Associated Press Canada is exploring ties with the European Union that could stop just short of membership, a Canadian official familiar with the discussions said. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 14:33:53 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/economy/canada-tariffs-billions-us-goods Canada US Trade
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has criticized U.S. tariff policy. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press via AP)
By Rob Gillies

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that Canada would move faster to reduce its economic reliance on the United States and deepen ties with Europe as retaliatory tariffs took effect on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods and the country braced for U.S. President Donald Trump’s response.

“In too many areas, they wanted dependency, not a true economic partnership,” Carney said in a prerecorded video outlining his government’s plan to withstand the trade war. The prime minister said four decades of deeper economic integration had left Canada too reliant on the U.S.

Canada is exploring ties with the European Union that could stop just short of membership, a Canadian official familiar with the discussions said.

Options could include expanding existing agreements, negotiating a new treaty or creating other forms of cooperation. The official said Canada is already consulting provinces, territories and labor groups about what a deeper relationship with the EU could look like, but no model has been chosen.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the talks publicly.

Carney is due in Strasbourg, France, next week, where he will attend European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the European Union address Sept. 16 and address the European Parliament the following day.

The trade war began after Trump returned to office and imposed a series of tariffs on Canadian goods despite having negotiated and repeatedly praised the North American trade agreement during his first term. Many of those tariffs violate the pact.

The rupture is especially striking because the countries have long shared one of the world’s closest relationships, with deeply integrated economies, close defense and security cooperation, vast cultural ties and, before relations deteriorated, about 400,000 people crossing the border each day.

Canada looks beyond the US

The latest U.S. trade actions will cause short-term pain, Carney acknowledged, but he said they would push Canada to move faster on investment, infrastructure and trade diversification. He acknowledged the shift would be costly but said standing still would cost more.

Carney contrasted Canada’s deteriorating relationship with Washington with its push to deepen ties elsewhere. “For the past year and a half, we have been steering our economy toward trusted partners,” he said.

“It was easy business, but it meant we relied too much on one economic partner,” he said. “That time is over.”

Canada retaliates as Trump response looms

Carney defended the retaliation, saying Canada was matching the latest U.S. measures dollar for dollar while supporting affected workers and industries and accelerating efforts to expand trade with other countries.

“We can’t let American goods into Canada tariff-free while they charge our companies to export to them,” he said.

Canada was not seeking to escalate the confrontation, he said, but the tariffs were necessary to protect Canadian workers.

The prime minister also defended Canada’s decision to walk away from the talks, saying Washington sought limits on French-language and cultural protections, influence over future trade deals, and terms that would weaken the auto, steel and forestry sectors.

How the trade war ends could carry consequences far beyond Canada, testing whether a smaller U.S. ally can resist Trump’s economic pressure without being forced to yield.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has suggested Washington could retaliate by blocking some Canadian products from the U.S. market.

The Canadian official said Ottawa does not intend to change course regardless of whether Trump responds with nothing or what the official called a “nuclear response.” The government’s strategy will remain focused on building more at home and diversifying trade abroad, the official said.

The tariffs hit hundreds of American products, including steel, aluminum, cheese, appliances, clothing, cosmetics and farm equipment, at rates of 15%, 25% or 50%. They cover about $20 billion in American goods, roughly 6% of the $333.6 billion the United States exported to Canada last year.

Since Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed Aug. 21, Trump and his administration have imposed additional tariffs and issued a series of threats and attacks portraying Canada as weak and dependent.

Trump’s trade war and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have fueled anger and rallied support for Carney. Canadians have sharply cut travel to the United States and boycotted U.S. goods.

Carney praised those efforts, saying “every time we choose to buy Canadian and travel in Canada, we are sending a message that nobody is in the stands, 40 million of us are on the ice.”

Neither side is rushing back to the table

Gabriel Brunet, a spokesman for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc, said officials from both countries remain in contact even though formal negotiations have not resumed.

“Canadian and American officials have maintained ongoing discussions on a range of issues, although formal trade negotiations are not taking place at this stage,” Brunet said.

Former U.S. trade official Wendy Cutler said neither side appeared eager to make the first move.

“With a growing public approval rating now topping 70%, Prime Minister Carney is not in any hurry to reach out to Washington. But importantly, he has not closed the door to talks,” she said. “Clearly, at this point each side does not want to look too anxious to reengage in fear of looking weak.”

Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.]]> Trump Threatens Canadian Jetmaker With Extensive U.S. Footprint https://www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/trump-canada-bombardier-kansas-plane-jet-manufacturing-tariffs Associated Press Bombardier has a significant presence is Kansas, which Trump won by about 16 percentage points in 2024. Tue, 08 Sep 2026 13:00:58 GMT https://www.washingtonsun.com/trump-white-house/trump-canada-bombardier-kansas-plane-jet-manufacturing-tariffs A Bombardier Global Express business jet approaches for landing in Lisbon.
Armando Franca/AP Photo/Armando Franca
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to ban the sale of aircraft from Canada’s Bombardier unless it manufactures planes in the United States.

In response, the maker of private jets noted that many components for its planes, including the wings, are produced in the U.S. and its supply chain relies heavily on U.S. companies.

Since Canada-U.S. trade talks collapsed on Aug. 21, Trump and his administration have unleashed a barrage of tariffs, threats and personal attacks portraying Canada as weak and dependent. Canada retaliated Tuesday with tariffs on about $20 billion worth of U.S. goods.

“NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES! Their products aren’t good enough!” Trump said in a Monday social media post. “If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank.’”

Bombardier said in a statement that the American aerospace industry is a “clear winner on trade and exports.” It said it creates tens of thousands of jobs both directly and through its supply chain.

Bombardier's supply chain includes about 2,800 U.S. companies in 47 states, it said. Among other things, wings for its business jets are made in Texas and flight control components are produced near Los Angeles.

“Bombardier values its great partnership with American companies and its U.S. employees. Our plan is to continue to invest in our people, our customers, and the communities in which we operate across the country,” it said.

One state where Bombardier has a significant presence is Kansas, which Trump won by about 16 percentage points in 2024.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas said in a social media post Monday that Bombardier supports a local workforce of more than 1,000 Kansans.

“I reached out to the Trump administration to make certain the President is aware of the significant contributions of Bombardier to Kansas and the importance of its presence in Wichita to many Kansas workers at Bombardier and in the Bombardier supply chain,” Moran wrote in his post.

Moran promised to continued working to ensure that the planemaker's manufacturing operations remain in Kansas.

Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that his government will buy six early warning radar planes from Sweden’s Saab and Bombardier, rather than from U.S. aircraft makers. The Saab planes use Bombardier’s Global 6500 aircraft platform, supporting Canadian manufacturing. They have 20% U.S. content. The alternatives would have been U.S.-made E-7A Wedgetail surveillance aircraft made by Boeing or the Aeris X, made by L3Harris.

The Canadian government is reviewing plans to buy U.S. F-35 fighter jets. Saab has proposed making its Gripen fighter jet in Canada.

Bombardier is one of Canada's oldest and most well-known manufacturers. The company was founded by Joseph-Armand Bombardier, an inventor and entrepreneur in Canada’s rural Quebec who started out making snowmobiles and other snow-going equipment in the 1930s.

Over its long history, it entered and left the train-making business and expanded for a time into making regional and commercial aircraft. But it sold off those parts of its business as it restructured to focus on making private business jets.

The company also has spun off parts of its business making snowmobiles and other recreational equipment.]]>