Trump focuses on Iran, deal with Carney in 30 days perhaps and why John Tory shouldn't be Toronto's mayor again...

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Should Donald Trump focus on a deal with Mark Carney for trade and security or one with the mullahs in Iran to stop Tehran from getting nukes? As much as I’d like a deal between Ottawa and Washington, it looks like we are understandably taking a back seat to the President’s focus on stopping the war between Israel and Iran.

Trump left the G7 early, but not before some ominous words to the cameras and then posts to Truth Social.

“I think Iran is basically at the negotiating table, they want to make a deal,” Trump said while speaking to reporters as he announced his trade and security deal with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“As soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something,” Trump added.

During a group photo with other G7 leaders, Trump said he had to leave quickly.

"I have to be back as soon as I can. I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand, this is big stuff,” Trump said. "I have to be back to Washington as soon as I can.”

Those were his public comments to the cameras, then as he left, Trump started posting on his Truth Social account. He had several posts, including one attacking Tucker Carlson, that said Iran could not obtain nuclear weapons, ever.

“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he finished one post with.

People in Tehran took that advice seriously and started leaving in droves. There were highway traffic jams trying to leave the city of more than 9 million people.

There was plenty of speculation that the United States was about to use its own air force to bomb Iran, something that hasn’t happened as I write this.

Bill O’Reilly, appearing on News Nation said he had communicated with Trump and didn’t think he wanted to use American air assets yet.

“Earlier today, very briefly, I texted with President Trump. He doesn't want to use American air power at this point, because that would cause some problems with China and Putin. He would rather have the Iranians surrender, which he believes they will,” O’Reilly said.

There is no reason to doubt what O’Reilly said about texting with Trump, we shall see what the coming days bring.

Back to that Carney-Trump deal...

I went out of a limb about two weeks ago saying that a deal was getting close, then that one was imminent and would be unveiled last week before the G7. Obviously, that didn’t happen and in part possibly because Trump’s attention is elsewhere, see above.

By last Thursday, I was reporting that talks, which had taken on an urgency, had cooled.

I had interviewed American Ambassador Pete Hoekstra on Friday, June 6^th for the Full Comment Podcast and while he didn’t layout anything of big substance on the trade and security talks, we all knew were going on, he did acknowledge their existence and spoke a truth anyone who has been in any negotiation, even buying a house, can understand.

“I've been involved in enough negotiations on a wide range of issues that you're moving through, and you're knocking down these issues consistently, and you say, “Wow, we're getting close.” Hoekstra said.

“And then you get to the last little piece, and you say, that's all we got to get done. That's it.”

His point was that it is sometimes the small bits at the end that can derail things.

But sometimes it’s the big things...

I wrote two columns about meeting between Carney and Trump ahead of the official opening of the G7 on Monday.

One was critical of how subservient Carney was to Trump during the public portion of the bilateral. You can watch the whole video, it is rather embarrassing for Mark “Elbows Up” Carney to not know where his elbows are or what direction they should be pointing.

Trump stood there trash talking Justin Trudeau and saying he wants tariffs on Canada even after a new deal and Carney just smiled awkwardly. So, you can read my dressing down of the PM who really dislikes any criticism if you like.

Or you can check out what I wrote about the news from the official readout from Carney’s PMO that they want to have a deal by mid-July.

“To that end, the leaders agreed to pursue negotiations toward a deal within the coming 30 days,” the statement said.

That is still longer than the Americans would like, based on the intel for my latest column on this issue.

“I think we have different concepts,” Trump said of his view on trade compared to Carney’s.

“I have a tariff concept. Mark has a different concept, which is something that some people like, but we’re going to see if we can get to the bottom of it. Today.”

They clearly didn’t get to it by the end of the day. While Trump is showing patience publicly, not everyone in the American administration is happy with the current pace.

“We did a deal with China in a weekend, Canada should take half a day,” one American official recently quipped.

Toronto needs change...

I’m guessing most of you reading this don’t live in Toronto, but you hear about our politics. Olivia Chow has not been a good mayor and that has some wanting John Tory to come back.

I’ve known John close to 20 years, he’s a nice man and his heart is in the right place. I can say the same thing about Olivia Chow, but neither of them deserve to hold the highest office in Toronto.

The stats in this column that was posted this morning are devastating.

What to read...

Do you remember the retired general they tried to cancel a few years ago after he complained about woke policies? Michel Maisonneuve is back with a new piece in National Post about how cash alone won’t fix Canada’s military.

We’ve heard all about China’s foreign interference in our elections but few details. Sam Cooper at The Bureau has details on declassified FBI intelligence on how China was ballot stuffing for Biden in 2020. Do you think they used the same tactics in our elections?

I normally post columns worth reading here, but today, just a screenshot of this piece from the Toronto Star. They used the occasion of Father’s Day to say we should recognize the importance of mothers. I would say, as would the science, that both parental units are important, and we all know that usually, mothers get and deserve more recognition, but the Star being the Star just couldn't help itself.