Mexico and Canada agree to bolster US border security in return for tariff pause
Both Canada and Mexico have agreed to strengthen border security with the United States in return for a 30-day pause in tariffs.
President Trump announced on Sunday he was imposing 25% taxes on goods from his country’s northern and southern neighbours.
Mexico was first to reach a deal with the White House. Its president, Claudia Sheinbaum, said she was sending 10,000 National Guard troops to the US border immediately in return for a tariff delay.
Mr Trump said the Mexican soldiers would be “specifically designated” to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the US, as well as illegal migrants. Further negotiations will now be carried out, he added.
Ms Sheinbaum said she had a “good conversation” with him lasting at least 30 minutes just hours before the tariffs were due to begin.
She also extracted a concession from Mr Trump – after explaining the “seriousness” of high-powered weapons coming over the border from the US and getting into the hands of criminal groups.
“It gives them firepower,” she said. “We asked that the US also help our country by helping stop this arms trafficking… he agreed.”
Donald Trump hosting the 2024 Stanley Cup Champions, the Florida Panthers, at the White House. Pic: Reuters
Canada made similar moves. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said almost 10,000 frontline personnel “are and will be working on protecting the border”.
He added on X that his country was appointing a “fentanyl czar”, drugs cartels would be listed as terrorists, and there would be “24/7 eyes on the border”.
There will also be a Canada-US joint strike force to “combat organised crime, fentanyl and money laundering”, Mr Trudeau announced.
Both Trudeau and Trump will view the deal as a win – Trump for seemingly forcing the US’s northern neighbour to act, and Trudeau for heading off sanctions with measures that for the most part (with the exception of the fentanyl czar) had already been announced in December.
Donald Trump said he was “very pleased with this initial outcome” and work will begin see how a “Final Economic Deal” with Canada can be structured.
Regarding China, a 10% tariff – in addition to those already in place – is still set to go ahead, though the White House said Mr Trump is due to talk to President Xi Jinping.
The US president has, however, said 10% could be just the start.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” he said.
China has described fentanyl as America’s problem, and said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organisation, as well as taking other countermeasures.
But it also left the door open for talks.
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‘PM walking tightrope between Trump and EU’
What is the UK situation on tariffs?
President Trump hates trade deficits, and does not want to import more goods from another country than are sent there in return, says Sky’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway.
But Britain has bigger trade deficits than the US, Conway adds, and is one of the few countries in the world to import more goods from America than America imports from it.
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In addition, because the UK is no longer part of the European Union, any tariffs imposed on Brussels will not affect London.
When asked about the UK, Mr Trump said: “I think that one can be worked out.”
Sir Keir Starmer said it was “early days”.
Charges against Donald Trump and others in an election interference case in the US state of Georgia have been dismissed.
Pete Skandalakis, the prosecutor who recently took over the case, said in court papers on Wednesday that he has decided to take no further action.
It was unlikely the legal action against the US president could have progressed while he was still in office, but the 14 others – including Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, the former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, and ex-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows – had still faced charges.
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Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was among those charged. File pic: AP/Ted Shaffrey
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced the charges in 2023. Pic: AP
The case was dismissed in full by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee after Mr Skandalakis submitted his decision.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had alleged a wide-ranging conspiracy to illegally overturn Mr Trump’s narrow loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the key swing state in the 2020 presidential election.
Charges against Mr Trump centred around a phone call he made to Georgia’s top election official, secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.
Mr Trump told his fellow Republican: “I just want to find 11,780 votes”, recordings of the conversation showed.
Mr Trump and 18 co-defendants were initially accused.
Four of the accused made plea deals with prosecutors, while the others, including Mr Trump, Mr Giuliani and Mr Meadows, pleaded not guilty.
A police mugshot taken of Donald Trump after he was booked on 13 election fraud charges in Georgia. Pic: Reuters
An angry-looking Mr Trump was pictured as he was booked on the charges at the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, and copies of the mugshot generated sales of more than $7m (£5.3m) in a matter of days, his campaign said.
In a 22-page memo explaining his decision, Mr Skandalakis noted the entire case is “without precedent,” and pointed in part to the challenges of trying a case against a sitting president.
Mr Skandalakis wrote: “In my professional opinion, the citizens of Georgia are not served by pursuing this case in full for another five to ten years”.
He said he was ending the case “to serve the interests of justice and promote judicial finality” and his decision is “not guided by a desire to advance an agenda but is based on my beliefs and understanding of the law”.
Mr Trump’s lawyer in the case, Steve Sadow, welcomed the end of what he called a “political persecution” of the US president.
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“This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare,” he said.
Ms Willis, who brought the case in August 2023, was disqualified from prosecuting it last December.
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Trump pardons turkeys ahead of Thanksgiving
An appeals court in the state capital, Atlanta, ruled that a romantic relationship she had with Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she chose to lead the case, created “a significant appearance of impropriety.”
Defence lawyers claimed the district attorney profited from the case when Wade used his earnings to pay for holidays the pair took.
She appealed the verdict, but lost her case in September, despite Mr Wade having quit his role.
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Donald Trump has claimed Russia is “making concessions” in talks to end the Ukraine war – and that Kyiv is “happy” with how talks are progressing.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he flew out to his Florida estate for Thanksgiving, Mr Trump said “we’re making progress” on a deal and said he would be willing to meet with both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy once they are close to an agreement.
He also said his previously announced deadline of Thursday, which is Thanksgiving, was no longer in place – and that the White House’s initial 28-point peace plan, which sparked such concern in Kyiv, “was just a map”.
Asked if Ukraine had been asked to hand over too much territory, Mr Trump suggested that “over the next couple of months [that] might be gotten by Russia anyway”.
Moscow’s concessions are a promise to stop fighting, “and they don’t take any more land”, he said.
“The deadline for me is when it’s over,” he added. “And I think everybody’s tired of fighting at this moment.”
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‘Ukraine still needs defence support,’ says Zelenskyy
Before boarding the plane, Mr Trump had claimed only a few “points of disagreement” remain between the two sides.
Mr Trump’s negotiator Steve Witkoff will be meeting with Mr Putin in Moscow next week, the president said, while American army secretary Daniel Driscoll is due to travel to Kyiv for talks this week.
The chief of Ukraine’s presidential staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote: “Ukraine has never been and will never be an obstacle to peace. We are grateful to the US for all its support.
“The meeting between the presidents will be thoroughly and promptly prepared on our part.”
Zelenskyy warns against ‘behind our back’ deal
Yesterday, a virtual “coalition of the willing” meeting that featured Ukraine’s allies took place, which was attended by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
In a speech, Mr Zelenskyy told attendees: “We firmly believe security decisions about Ukraine must include Ukraine, security decisions about Europe must include Europe.
“Because when something is decided behind the back of a country or its people, there is always a high risk it simply won’t work.”
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What is Russia saying about the latest peace talks?
A joint statement from coalition leaders Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz said they had agreed with Mr Rubio “to accelerate joint work” with the US on the planning of security guarantees for Ukraine.
But a Ukrainian diplomat has warned major sticking points remain in the peace deal being thrashed out – primarily the prospect of territorial concessions.
A warning from the Kremlin
Meanwhile, Moscow has stressed that it will not allow any agreement to stray too far from its own objectives.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov warned any amended peace plan must reflect the understanding reached between Mr Trump and Mr Putin over the summer.
“If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation,” he said, referring to the two leaders’ meeting in Alaska.
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Standing ovation for Zelenskyy
As negotiations continue, so have Russian attacks, with Kyiv hit by a barrage of missiles and hundreds of drones early yesterday morning.
Seven people were killed with power and heating systems disrupted, as residents sheltered underground.
Meanwhile, three people died and homes were damaged after Ukraine launched an attack on southern Russia.
‘A critical juncture’
French President Emmanuel Macron has said peace efforts are gathering momentum, but “are clearly at a critical juncture”.
And during the annual White House turkey pardon ahead of Thanksgiving, Mr Trump told reporters: “I think we’re getting close to a deal. We’ll find out.
“I thought that would have been an easier one, but I think we’re making progress.”
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