The Wire - March 11, 2025

//The Wire//2300Z March 11, 2025//
//ROUTINE//
//BLUF: TRADE WAR BETWEEN USA/CAN CONTINUES TO ESCALATE. TRUMP TARGETS CONGRESSMEN OPPOSING OMNIBUS SPENDING BILL. AMERICAN AID TO UKRAINE RESUMES, PER STATE DEPARTMENT.//

 -----BEGIN TEARLINE-----

-International Events-

Canada: The trade war between the US and Canada continues to deteriorate as expected, with multiple short-lived diplomatic developments taking place throughout the day. This morning the White House announced an increase in tariffs to 50% for imported Canadian aluminum and steel. Within a few hours, the province of Ontario imposed a 25% tariff on electricity exports to several northeastern US states. This led to the White House announcing plans to declare a National Emergency on Electricity in the affected area. By this afternoon, Canada removed this 25% tariff on electricity, the "national emergency" hasn't been clarified at all, and negotiations have begun regarding cross-border electricity deals in the northeast.

Ukraine: This afternoon the State Department announced that American military aid to Ukraine has resumed. AC: What this declaration means is anyone's guess at the moment. However, if this is a resumption of all military and financial aid to Ukraine, this would be a very significant reversal of another major issue that the White House explicitly campaigned on. Either way, time will tell, both in terms of what this looks like financially, but also how Americans will perceive this development.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - Brief scandal has emerged following President Trump's pledge to primary Representative Thomas Massie for voting against the Republican omnibus spending bill to fund the government.

As of this afternoon, the omnibus spending bill passed, with Rep. Massie being the only "no" vote from within the Republican party. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to pass.

Meanwhile at the DoJ, the previous fiasco involving the release of Epstein, JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr. assassination documents has largely been forgotten. President Trump has made no comments on the issue, and more notably the White House press corps hasn't asked about it either. No new documents have been released, and the DoJ has pivoted to policing other speech-related concerns.

-----END TEARLINE-----

Analyst Comments: The spending bill as passed in the House does not include any of the efforts undertaken by DOGE to identify fraud, waste, and abuse, meaning that all of the viral posts surrounding the DOGE audits were all for nothing if those same openly fraudulent programs get funded anyway.

Rep. Massie has stated that his opposition to the bill is largely due to the bill funding exactly the same things that were funded by the past year of President Biden's reign, and that funding this bill would be identical to repeating Biden's Presidency from a budgetary perspective (until September when the Continuing Resolution expires).

More generally, the conflict in Congress largely boils down to two perspectives. Trump doesn't like anyone who challenges his authority in any way, or goes against the establishment (or as some might say, the uniparty). Massie has gained notoriety by being the only Congressman who does not receive foreign lobby money (such as most notably from AIPAC). Thus, Trump's threat to oust him from office (while not levying this threat at any Democrat) is being perceived as a mistake (at best).

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
//END REPORT//