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President Donald Trump’s two months back in the White House have been marked by soaring friction between Washington and its European allies.Here’s a look at the key issues where the United States has shifted gears, including tariffs, support for Ukraine and urging Europe to take greater control of its own defense.- ‘Pathetic’ freeloaders -A stunning security breach that saw a journalist inadvertently added to a chat group of top Trump officials discussing plans to attack Huthi rebels in Yemen revealed highly critical comments about European allies. In the chat, a user identified as US Vice President JD Vance expressed doubts about conducting military strikes on the rebels, arguing that Europe was more impacted than the US by the group’s attacks on Red Sea shipping. “I just hate bailing Europe out again,” Vance wrote in the group.A user identified as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replies: “I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It’s PATHETIC.”Trump echoed Hegseth’s comments Tuesday. “Yeah, I think they’ve been freeloading,” he told reporters. “The European Union’s been absolutely terrible to us on trade.”- Hostile speech -Vance also shocked Europe when he used a February speech at a security forum in Munich to attack EU policies on immigration and free speech.The vice president charged that “across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” and that censorship was a bigger threat than Russian or Chinese military aggression. “No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants,” he added, defending populist right-wing parties.- ‘Screw’ the US -Trump said last month that the EU was formed to “screw” the United States, laying bare his hostility to the longtime US partner as he detailed new tariffs.”But now I’m president,” he said.Trump’s 25-percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports took effect on March 12. EU countermeasures are set to begin in April.- ‘Have to have’ Greenland -Trump has insisted he wants the United States to take over Greenland, a Danish territory, for national security purposes and has refused to rule out the use of force to achieve this.”We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,” Trump told podcaster Vince Coglianese Wednesday. “I hate to put it that way, but we’re going to have to have it.”The vast territory is located strategically in the Arctic and is rich in mineral resources.Vance has insisted the president is not afraid of ruffling feathers on the issue, citing national security.”He doesn’t care about what the Europeans scream at us,” Vance told Fox News last month.- Shifting power with Putin -Perhaps the most shocking shift has been on Russia and Ukraine — best epitomized by a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymr Zelensky at the White House on February 28 in which the US President and Vice President JD Vance berated their wartime ally in front of the world’s media.Trump has appeared to lean towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, undermining Zelensky’s legitimacy and suggesting that Ukraine was responsible for the Russian invasion, rather than Moscow.In February he blindsided Kyiv and European allies by agreeing to launch peace talks after a phone call with Putin.European powers insisted that they and Kyiv must have a seat at the table of any future negotiations — but days later, top US officials met Russian negotiators in Saudi Arabia to lay the ground for talks.Europe was not represented, nor was it in the latest round of Saudi discussions Sunday and Monday.And in a seismic shift at the United Nations, Washington sided with Moscow in two votes last month, avoiding condemnation of Putin’s war in Ukraine.When Britain and France said they would be willing to deploy ground troops in Ukraine, Vance responded by mocking the prospect of sending “20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 30 or 40 years.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday announced support for “all-in-Canada” auto manufacturing, escalating trade protection in response to US President Donald Trump’s threat to “shut down” the northern country’s auto industry.Carney detailed a CAN$2 billion ($1.4 billion) fund while campaigning ahead of Canada’s April 28 election in Windsor, with the US city of Detroit visible across the river behind him. The highly-integrated North American auto industry, and specifically the free-flow of parts between Detroit and Michigan during the manufacturing process, has been a focal point in Trump’s trade war. Gesturing to the suspension bridge that connects the cities, Carney noted that auto parts could cross the border “six times before assembly,” but warned Canada needed to prepare for a “new world.””It’s not about waiting for the Americans to become more reasonable. It is about acting now,” Carney said. “What we need to do is build more of those autos, and more of each auto, right here in Canada,” Carney said.His proposed fund will support efforts to build more car parts in Canada while limiting the number of parts that cross the border during production, a statement from Carney’s Liberal Party said. Trump has threatened, imposed and withdrawn various tariffs on Canada’s auto industry and his full plans for the sector remain unclear. New levies targeting auto parts from Canada could be part of his administration’s highly-anticipated April 2 announcement on global reciprocal tariffs. The president has charged that Canada “stole” the US auto industry and said auto-makers that want to avoid tariffs should make cars in the United States. Industry experts argue North America’s integrated manufacturing process, which includes Mexico, has developed to maximize efficiency. Carney, a former central banker, replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister on March 14 and on Sunday triggered snap elections. At the start of the year, the Liberal Party appeared headed towards a crushing electoral defeat with the Conservatives poised to retake power after a decade in opposition. But Trump’s trade war, his repeated threats to make Canada the 51st US state, and Trudeau’s departure have upended Canadian politics. Just over a month before the vote, pollsters are currently projecting a Liberal majority, a stunning reversal driven in part by a perception among some voters that Carney is the best leader to confront Trump. 

US President Donald Trump ramped up his claims to Greenland on Wednesday, saying ahead of a visit by Vice President JD Vance that the United States needed to take control of the Danish island for “international security.”Since coming to power in January, Trump has repeatedly insisted that he wants the self-governed territory to be a US possession, refusing to rule out the use of force to achieve his goal.”We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,” Trump told podcaster Vince Coglianese. “I hate to put it that way, but we’re going to have to have it.”Greenland, which is seeking independence from Denmark, holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, though oil and uranium exploration are banned.It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.The US president’s latest strident comments come as Vice President Vance is due to accompany his wife Usha on a visit to the US-run Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Friday.Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede had earlier harshly criticized plans by a US delegation to visit the Arctic island uninvited for what was initially a much broader visit.Egede had qualified the initial plans as “foreign interference,” noting that the outgoing government had not “sent out any invitations for visits, private or official.”On Wednesday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen welcomed the decision to limit the visit to the US space base.”I think it’s very positive that the Americans have canceled their visit among Greenlandic society. They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,” he told public broadcaster DR.- ‘Respect this process’ -Greenlandic officials have repeatedly said the territory does not want to be either Danish or American, but is “open for business” with everyone. According to opinion polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.Following March 11 elections, Greenland has only a transitional government, with parties still in negotiations to form a new coalition government.Egede has called for “all countries to respect this process.”Marc Jacobsen, a senior lecturer at the Royal Danish Defense College, called the decision to limit the US visit “a de-escalation,” a term also used by Foreign Minister Lokke.”The fact that the Greenlandic and Danish authorities are telling you that you’re not welcome is significant,” he told AFP. “The risk of negative coverage in the media and social networks may have weighed even more,” he added, noting that a demonstration was announced in Sisimiut, following an initial anti-US demonstration in the capital Nuuk on March 15. 

Rosalie Cote and her parents vacationed in the US state of Maine every summer for 25 years — but this year they are staying home, incensed like many Canadians by Donald Trump’s threats of annexation and tariffs.The United States was the top destination for Canadian tourists, with 20.4 million visits reported last year by the US Travel Association, pumping some US$20.5 billion into the American economy and supporting 140,000 jobs.But that number is expected to plummet this year as Canadians — the targets of relentless attacks by an America First president intent on wielding tariffs as a policy tool and who speaks frequently of turning their country into the 51st state — cancel their travel plans. “We don’t want to support the United States. It’s a matter of principle,” explains Cote.Romane Gauvreau cancelled her mountain biking trip to Vermont and a family vacation to Maine.”We don’t want to go to a place where democracy is in danger, where people suffer great injustices, and where people are being deported,” Gauvreau told AFP.They are not outliers. A recent Abacus Data survey found 56 percent of Canadians have changed or cancelled their travel plans to the United States.Bookings to American destinations in February alone fell 40 percent compared to the same month last year, while 20 percent of pre-existing reservations were cancelled, according to the travel agency Flight Centre Canada.Canadians who typically spend winters in warmer southern US states, colloquially known as “snowbirds” and whose numbers are estimated to top one million, are also rethinking their plans.Andre Laurent, a retired civil servant, spent half of each of the past 22 years in Florida to escape Canada’s frigid winters.But he says everything has changed and become “unpleasant” since the return of Trump to the Oval Office in January. And so, he decided to sell his Florida home.”I no longer felt welcomed and I even felt like I was betraying my country,” he said.Five of the six Canadians who lived in his Florida gated community also decided to leave the United States permanently.- ‘Choose Canada’ -Former prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose final days in office were marked by Trump slapping tariffs or threats of tariffs on many Canadian goods, urged his countrymen to consider vacationing closer to home to show their patriotism.”Choose Canada” videos quickly spread on social media, touting Canadian destinations such as the majestic Rocky Mountains in the west or Prince Edward Island, which inspired Lucy Maud Montgomery’s best-selling novel “Anne of Green Gables,” in the east.Travel agencies were quick to leap on the trend.At Nuance du monde, they no longer promote trips to the United States. “We’re boycotting them in light of the current situation,” said company director Samy Hammadache, adding that the loss of tourism will have “quite a significant” impact on the US tourism sector.Agencies are already noticing a shift in Canadian bookings to destinations such as Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, and Canada instead of the United States.Canadian airline Flair Airlines responded to a decline in demand for flights to popular US destinations by increasing flights to Mexico, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic.”These decisions are based on market needs and demand,” said Kim Bowie, director of communications for the airline said.Tourism professor Michel Archambault predicted that the trend will see Canadian “domestic tourism reach record levels this year.”He pointed to a Leger survey that found six out of 10 Canadians plan to vacation in Canada, adding that this is quite unusual.A recent drop in the value of the Canadian dollar also made US travel less affordable.For Cote, however, it’s about standing up for Canada: “We must spend money at home rather than with our neighbors who play dirty tricks on us.”

The US Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld Biden-era federal regulation of untraceable “ghost guns” — firearms sold in easy-to-assemble kits — in a defeat for the powerful gun lobby.Gun manufacturers and gun rights groups had challenged a 2022 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that requires ghost guns, like other firearms, to have serial numbers and for their purchasers to undergo background checks.The ATF rule also requires commercial sellers of what are known as “buy-build-shoot” kits, which sometimes include parts made by 3D printers, to be licensed and maintain records.The Supreme Court upheld the ATF regulations in a 7-2 ruling with four conservative justices — including all three first-term appointees of Republican President Donald Trump — siding with the three liberals on the court.Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the two most conservative justices, dissented.Justice Neil Gorsuch said ghost guns fit the definition of what constitutes a firearm under the 1968 Gun Control Act, which was passed by Congress after the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.”Perhaps a half hour of work is required before anyone can fire a shot,” Gorsuch said in the majority opinion. “But even as sold, the kit comes with all necessary components, and its intended function as instrument of combat is obvious.”Really, the kit’s name says it all: “Buy Build Shoot,” he said.Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old Maryland man charged with murdering the CEO of UnitedHealth care in New York in December, was allegedly in possession of a ghost gun at the time of his arrest.- ‘Untraceable’ -During arguments in October, then-solicitor general Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the administration of president Joe Biden, told the court that regulation of ghost guns was “crucial to solving gun crimes and keeping guns out of the hands of minors, felons and domestic abusers.”Prelogar said ghost guns were marketed as “ridiculously easy to assemble” with manufacturers boasting that buyers can go “from opening the mail to having a fully functional gun in as little as 15 minutes.””Those untraceable guns are attractive to people who can’t lawfully purchase them or who plan to use them in crimes,” she said.”As a result, our nation has seen an explosion in crimes committed with ghost guns.”Peter Patterson, representing the gun manufacturers and gun rights groups objecting to the ATF rule, argued that the federal agency had “exceeded its authority” and “expanded the definition of firearm to include collections of parts that are not weapons.”The conservative-dominated Supreme Court has expanded gun rights in previous cases, striking down a ban, for example, on bump stocks — devices which allow semi-automatic rifles to fire like a machine gun.According to ATF figures, nearly 20,000 ghost guns were recovered at crime scenes in the United States in 2021 — a tenfold increase from 2016. Solicitor General Prelogar said the number has dropped dramatically since the 2022 rule went into force.The Biden administration appealed to the Supreme Court after a district court struck down the ATF rule and its ruling was upheld by a conservative-dominated appeals court panel.

In an echo of the Cold War, ice hockey has become central to international diplomacy, after it was mentioned by Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump during talks on Ukraine, and during tensions between the United States and Canada over trade.The US and Russian presidents’ phone call on March 18 focused on Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, US military aid to Kyiv, and peace negotiations.But according to the Kremlin, Putin also brought up a subject close to his heart — ice hockey — and raised the possibility of matches between players of both countries.”We’ve been seeing efforts by the Russians to warm up the situation with Donald Trump and vice versa… Putin is a big hockey fan,” Gary Smith, a former Canadian diplomat and author of “Ice War Diplomat”, told AFP.Smith’s book focuses on a series of hockey matches between Canada and the Soviet Union during the Cold War in 1972, which is considered one of the most significant events in 20th-century Canadian history.”The advantage of sports is that it impacts foreign societies from top to bottom because there’s such a mass interest in sports,” he added. “So you have an opportunity to really convey a message, a cultural message. And what it does is it helps break down cultural stereotypes.”For instance, we didn’t like the communists at all but they had a goaltender, 20 years old, named Vladislav Tretiak, and he put a human face on communism.”- ‘Relationships of trust’ -Whether ice hockey can help to “humanise” modern-day Russia more than half a century later remains to be seen.First, games would have to actually take place between the Americans and Russians and despite Trump’s agreement in principle, this is not yet a done deal.The North American NHL cut ties with its Russian counterpart, the KHL, after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Russia is banned from international competitions until at least 2026. Smith assesses the chance of the offer coming to fruition as “50-50″ — and dependent on the course of the war.”The longer the war in Ukraine goes on, the less likely this series will happen,” he said, noting that the White House read-out of the call made no mention of ice hockey.Putin, 72, portrays himself as having a healthy and athletic lifestyle and took up ice hockey late in life, playing in high-profile gala matches every year.Ice hockey “brings people together and helps build relationships of trust”, he said during one match in 2019 when asked about possible “hockey diplomacy”.By coincidence, Russian Alex Ovechkin, who plays for NHL franchise the Washington Capitals, is closing in on the league record of 894 goals set by the player widely considered the greatest of all time, Wayne Gretzky.Ovechkin founded “PutinTeam” to support the Russian president in the 2018 election and his Instagram profile picture shows him standing with Putin.- Elbows up! -In recent weeks, ice hockey has also emerged as a proxy for tensions between North American neighbours the United States and Canada. In February, a clash on the ice between the two countries in an international tournament in Montreal was marked by three fights in the first nine seconds and a chorus of deafening boos.Faced with Trump’s repeated calls to make their country the “51st state”, Canadians have adopted a rallying cry of resistance directly drawn from the vocabulary of their national sport: “Elbows up!”New Prime Minister Mark Carney, himself a former player, also alluded to ice hockey in a speech about the trade war with Washington over tariffs. “Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” he said, referring to ice hockey’s notorious punch-ups. “The Americans should make no mistake: in trade as in hockey, Canada will win.”The former central banker donned his national team jersey for the final of the tournament.Despite a phone call from Trump himself to the American players before kickoff, the United States lost the final 3-2 to Canada.

The Atlantic magazine on Wednesday published what it said was the entire text of a chat group mistakenly shared with a journalist by top US national security officials laying out plans of an imminent attack on Yemen.The stunning details, including the times of strikes and types of planes being used, were all laid out in screenshots of the chat, which the officials had conducted on a commercial Signal messaging app, rather than a secure government platform.The magazine, which initially only published the broad outlines of the chat, said it was now publishing the details after the Trump administration repeatedly denied that any classified information had been included.The scandal has rocked President Donald Trump’s administration, which for now is reacting defiantly — attacking The Atlantic and denying any wrongdoing.White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly responded to say The Atlantic was conceding “these were NOT ‘war plans.’ The entire story was another hoax.”National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes had said Monday the chain cited by The Atlantic appeared to be “authentic.”Atlantic journalist Jeffrey Goldberg said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent information in the Signal chat — also including Vice President JD Vance and Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe — right ahead of strikes against the Huthi rebels on March 15. For reasons unknown, Goldberg’s phone number had been added to the group.Goldberg also revealed disparaging comments by the top US officials about European allies during their chat.The Atlantic initially did not publish the precise details of the chat, saying it wanted to avoid revealing classified material and information that could endanger American troops.But on Tuesday, Ratcliff and other officials involved in the chat played down the scandal, testifying before Congress that nothing critical had been shared or laws broken — and that nothing discussed was classified.The Atlantic said on Wednesday that it asked the government whether in that case there would be any problem in publishing the rest of the material.Leavitt responded, The Atlantic said, telling the magazine again that “there was no classified information transmitted in the group chat.”And a CIA spokesperson asked only that one of the agency’s officials referenced in the chain not be identified by name.- ‘More F-18s LAUNCH’ -The Atlantic said its publication Wednesday included everything in the Signal chain other than that one CIA name.It includes Hegseth laying out the weather conditions, times of attacks and types of aircraft being used. The texting was done barely half an hour before the first US warplanes took off and two hours before the first target, described as “Target Terrorist,” was expected to be bombed.The details are shockingly precise for the kind of operation that the public usually only learns about later — and in vaguer terms.”1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package),” Hegseth writes at one stage.”1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets).”A short time later, Trump’s National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, sent real-time intelligence on the aftermath of an attack, writing “Building collapsed. Had multiple positive ID” and “amazing job.”The Huthi rebels, who have controlled much of Yemen for more than a decade, are part of the “axis of resistance” of pro-Iran groups staunchly opposed to Israel and the US. The Trump administration has stepped up attacks on the group in response to constant Huthi attempts to sink and disrupt shipping through the strategic Red Sea.

Denmark welcomed on Wednesday Washington’s decision to limit a US delegation’s visit to Greenland to a US military base, after previous plans for the unexpected trip sparked criticism.US Vice President JD Vance announced Tuesday that he would accompany his wife Usha on Friday to the Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, the Danish self-governing island coveted by President Donald Trump.Since returning to power in January, Trump has insisted he wants to take over Greenland for national security purposes, refusing to rule out the use of force to do so.Vance’s announcement came just hours after Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s outgoing Prime Minister Mute Egede harshly criticised plans by a US delegation to visit the Arctic island uninvited.Egede had qualified the initial plans as “foreign interference”, noting that the outgoing government had not “sent out any invitations for visits, private or official”.Following March 11 elections, Greenland has only a transitional government, with parties still in negotiations to form a new coalition government.”We have asked all countries to respect this process,” Egede had said in a Facebook post.Yet the White House announced Sunday that Usha Vance would travel to Greenland from Thursday to Saturday, while Egede had said US national security adviser Mike Waltz was also expected to take part.US media had reported that Energy Secretary Chris Wright would be part of the visit as well.Usha Vance had been scheduled to view “historical sites, learn about Greenlandic heritage and watch the Avannaata Qimussersu, Greenland’s national dogsled race,” in the southwestern town of Sisimiut, the White House had said.Frederiksen denounced that visit as “unacceptable pressure” being put on Greenland and Denmark, and vowed “to resist”.- ‘Very positive’ -JD Vance said in a video statement that he and Usha would travel only to the Pituffik base to visit US Space Force members based there and “check out what’s going on with the security” of Greenland.”I think it’s very positive that the Americans have cancelled their visit among Greenlandic society. They will only visit their own base, Pituffik, and we have nothing against that,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR on Wednesday.”The cars (from the US advance security detail) that were delivered a few days ago are in the process of being sent back home, and the wife of the US vice president and the national security adviser will not visit Greenlandic society,” Lokke Rasmussen said.”The matter is being wound up and that’s positive,” he added.A US Hercules plane later took off from Nuuk airport, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.com.Marc Jacobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College, said the US change of plan was a “de-escalation” aimed at saving face after Danish and Greenlandic leaders made it clear the US officials were not welcome. Locals in Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-biggest town of 5,500 people, had announced a protest during Usha Vance’s visit, following another anti-US protest outside the US consulate in Nuuk on March 15.”They didn’t want to risk… photos being shown to US voters on social media,” Jacobsen told AFP.Jacobsen also dismissed Vance’s claims in his video announcement that other countries were trying to use the territory to “threaten the United States, to threaten Canada, and, of course, to threaten the people of Greenland”.”The only country threatening Greenland, that’s actually the US,” Jacobsen said. “If he meant China or Russia, they’re not threatening Greenland. They have no interest in attacking Greenland.”A self-governing territory that is seeking to emancipate itself from Copenhagen, Greenland holds massive untapped mineral and oil reserves, though oil and uranium exploration are banned.It is also strategically located between North America and Europe at a time of rising US, Chinese and Russian interest in the Arctic, where sea lanes have opened up because of climate change.Greenland’s location also puts it on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States.Greenlandic officials have repeatedly said the territory does not want to be either Danish or American, but is “open for business” with everyone. According to opinion polls, most Greenlanders support independence from Denmark but not annexation by Washington.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio headed Wednesday to the Caribbean looking for ways forward on violence-torn Haiti and to show support for oil-rich Guyana in its dispute with Venezuela.Donald Trump’s top diplomat departed for Jamaica, where he will attend a summit of the Caribbean Community, before stops Thursday both in Guyana and neighboring Suriname.At the Caribbean summit, Rubio will meet the leaders of Haiti as well as host Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, according to the State Department.It is Rubio’s second trip south of the US border since taking office as the Trump administration puts a laser-focus on preventing migration.Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, has been at a breaking point for years with the collapse of government authority, rampant violence and the crumbling of public health services.A Kenyan-led international security mission supported by former president Joe Biden has deployed to Haiti in hopes of bringing stability, but the troop force has come up short and violence has resumed.More than 60,000 people have been displaced in one month inside the capital Port-au-Prince in a resurgence of gang violence, the International Organization for Migration said last week.Rubio has made an exemption to sweeping cuts in US assistance to allow the continuation of US support to the Haiti mission. The Trump administration has yet to announce new ideas on Haiti, beyond revoking deportation protections for thousands of Haitians living in the United States.Mauricio Claver-Carone, the US special envoy on Latin America, said Rubio hoped to speak with Caribbean nations to hear their views on Haiti.”The circumstances are dire,” he told reporters.”We are developing a strategy in order to be able to continue to support the Haitian National Police, in order to deal with this,” he said.”It is a strategy in development.”Rubio, visiting the Dominican Republic last month, said the international mission in Haiti “needs to be broadened for it to be able to eliminate these gangs.” “If that can be achieved, we need to discuss the future of Haiti,” which can include incentives for domestic manufacturing, Rubio said.- Guyana, the new Gulf Arab ally -Rubio will be the third successive US secretary of state to visit Guyana with interest spiking after the discovery of major oil reserves. The South American country now has the largest crude oil reserves in the world on a per capita basis.The oil is concentrated in the Essequibo border region which is disputed with Venezuela, led by leftist US nemesis Nicolas Maduro. Guyana earlier this month denounced what it called a Venezuelan military vessel’s incursion in its waters. Venezuela denied any violation and requested a meeting between Maduro and Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, who dismissed the offer.Claver-Carone likened Guyana to oil-rich Gulf Arab nations where the United States stations troops, in recent decades due to tensions with Iran.”We want to work with Guyana in order to ensure the cooperation there and its guarantees on its security. We’ve seen the threats from Venezuela,” he said.Trump has severed a deal by Chevron to operate in Venezuela and threatened a new tariff effective April 2 for countries that buy Venezuelan oil.Ali, despite his cooperation with the United States, said that Caribbean nations have concerns they would raise with Rubio about another threatened Trump move — fines for use of Chinese-made container ships.”We have to have early conversations to ensure that we mitigate or minimize the impact on the region,” Ali said.

China remains the main threat to the United States globally but of increasing concern is its closer cooperation with Russia, Iran and North Korea, said an annual US intelligence report released Tuesday.China’s rise in all areas of power has been identified for years by the US as its main threat, and was behind Barack Obama’s strategic Asia-Pacific pivot.But Beijing’s “coercive pressure” against Taiwan and “wide-ranging cyber operations against US targets” were indicators of its growing threat to US national security, said the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community.”China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat to US national security,” the report said.Beijing was also making “steady” progress towards having the ability to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan, it said.The report, which compiles assessments from US intelligence agencies, warned that Beijing would keep expanding its “coercive and subversive malign influence activities” to weaken the US internally and globally.And the Chinese government would seek to counter what it sees as a “US-led campaign to tarnish Beijing’s global relations and overthrow” the Chinese Communist Party, the report said.Beijing’s military is gearing up to challenge US operations in the Pacific and “making steady but uneven progress on capabilities it would use in an attempt to seize Taiwan,” it assessed.But, it said, the Chinese leadership would seek to reduce tensions with the United States as it seeks to “protect its core interests, and buy time to strengthen its position.”China was more “cautious” than Russia, Iran and North Korea — other key US adversaries — about appearing “too aggressive and disruptive.”The report said that the autocratic style of President Xi Jinping — China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong — was affecting its ability to respond to challenges.”Xi’s focus on security and stability… and securing other leaders’ personal loyalty to him is undermining China’s ability to solve complex domestic problems and will impede Beijing’s global leverage,” the report found.Beijing called the report “biased” and accused it of “exaggerating the China threat.””The US publishes these kinds of irresponsible and biased reports year after year,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing. “We have no intention of surpassing anyone or replacing anyone,” he said Wednesday.US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told a Senate hearing Tuesday that “China is our most capable strategic competitor” based on current intelligence.- Ukraine lessons -In addition to China, the assessment analyzed threats to the United States posed by Russia, North Korea, Iran and “non-state transnational criminals,” including Mexican drug cartels and Muslim extremist groups.It warned countries grouped together under the acronym CRINK — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — were stepping up cooperation and could pose new challenges to US power on a global scale.”This alignment increases the chances of US tensions or conflict with any one of these adversaries drawing in another,” it said.But it called their cooperation “uneven and primarily motivated by a common interest in… weakening US power,” moderated by a “desire to control escalation.”Within that group, cooperation between China and Russia posed the greatest and “most persistent” threat to the US.The allies have drawn closer since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent Western attempts to isolate Moscow.The war and Western sanctions have made Moscow “a catalyst for the evolving ties,” the report said, as it becomes more reliant on other countries.It has stepped up cooperation with Iran to acquire drones and North Korea for supplies and troops, all to be used in Ukraine.The conflict has afforded Moscow an array of lessons in battling Western weapons and intelligence.”This experience probably will challenge future US defense planning, including against other adversaries with whom Moscow is sharing those lessons learned,” the report concluded.