(WASHINGTON) — In a social media post on the day of Canada’s election, President Donald Trump suggested that Canadians should vote for him in order for Canada to become the 51st state.
“Elect the man who has the strength and wisdom to cut your taxes in half, increase your military power, for free, to the highest level in the World, have your Car, Steel, Aluminum, Lumber, Energy, and all other businesses, QUADRUPLE in size, with ZERO TARIFFS OR TAXES, if Canada becomes the cherished 51st. State of the United States of America,” Trump said on Monday, seeming to refer to himself as the candidate.
He added, “America can no longer subsidize Canada with the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year that we have been spending in the past. It makes no sense unless Canada is a State!”
Despite Trump’s suggestion, Canadians cannot vote for him since he is not on the ballot. There are 16 registered political parties in Canada — with the Liberals and the Conservatives being the most dominant. Other parties include the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, the United Party and the Canadian Future Party.
In response to the president’s post, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre issued a sharp reply, saying Trump should “stay out of our election.”
“The only people who will decide the future of Canada are Canadians at the ballot box. Canada will always be proud, sovereign, and independent, and we will NEVER be the 51st state,” Poilievre wrote in a post on X. “Today, Canadians can vote for change so we can strengthen our country, stand on our own two feet, and stand up to America from a position of strength.”
Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Mark Carney posted a video on X on Monday with the message: “This is Canada — and we decide what happens here.”
Latest polls show the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives, when only a few months ago the Conservatives held a 25-point lead.
Canada has a parliamentary system, meaning if the Liberals win a majority of seats in the election, or are able to form a minority government with members of another party, Carney will continue to serve as prime minister.
Nearly all of the polls for the election are expected to close by 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday.
(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Gerry Connolly, the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee, announced he will “soon” step down from his role and won’t run for reelection because his cancer has returned.
“The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress. I will be stepping back as Ranking Member of the Oversight Committee soon,” Connolly said in a statement. “With no rancor and a full heart, I move into this final chapter full of pride in what we’ve accomplished together over 30 years.”
Connolly, 75, who was first elected in 2009, defeated Rep. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, 35, for the committee chair in December as the younger representative attempted to bring in a new generation of leadership.
Connolly announced he had been diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in November.
“When I announced my diagnosis six months ago, I promised transparency,” he said in his statement Monday. “After grueling treatments, we’ve learned that the cancer, while initially beaten back, has now returned. I’ll do everything possible to continue to represent you and thank you for your grace.”
Connolly has served on the Oversight Committee since his first term and has led Democrats on the subcommittee on government operations since 2013. He won the chair vote, 131-84, according to multiple Democratic sources, cementing his role in one of the most high-profile positions in Washington to combat the Trump administration and a unified Republican majority in Congress.
(LONDON) — Millions of people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France lost power on Monday due to an unknown grid issue, the Spanish government confirmed to ABC News.
The Spanish government said it called an emergency crisis meeting to fix the situation as soon as possible.
Authorities, meanwhile, asked people to stay at home and to avoid circulating, while emergency generators were also being put in place.
Red Eléctrica, the corporation that operates the national electricity grid in Spain, confirmed power outages across the country.
“Plans to restore the electricity supply have been activated in collaboration with companies in the sector following the zero that occurred in the peninsular system,” it wrote in a post to X. “The causes are being analyzed and all resources are being dedicated to solving it.”
A later post said power was recovered in some areas.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Democratic lawmakers are “urgently” calling for the White House to issue a full disclosure of financial transactions leading up to President Donald Trump’s sudden pause on a sweeping set of tariffs earlier this month, raising concerns that people close to the president “potentially violated federal ethics and insider trading laws” surrounding his actions.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., sent a letter on Monday, signed by a group of 23 other Democrats, to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, calling for a commitment from all senior White House and executive branch employees to “expeditiously” transmit all reports related to their securities transactions since the start of Trump’s term to the Office of Government Ethics, requesting, too, that all of this mandatory reporting be made public.
The letter, shared first with ABC News, also asks that any extensions granted to White House employees related to their accounting reports become public, noting that this was practiced during the first Trump administration.
“We are concerned that no periodic transaction reports have been posted on the OGE database for White House officials’ individual disclosures at any point since President Trump took office on January 20, 2025,” Schiff and Levin wrote.
“There is reason to doubt that not a single senior White House official or employee has made any financial transactions triggering a periodic transaction report since the start of the Administration,” the letter continued. “As an important point of reference, during the first Trump Administration, periodic transaction reports filed by senior White House officials were made publicly available on the OGE’s disclosure database, as required by the Ethics in Government Act and the STOCK Act.”
The White House did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.
Hours before Trump announced he was rolling back tariffs to 10% to all countries except China, which sent the stock market soaring, he posted on Truth Social: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” and “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.”
Stocks were down the morning before Trump’s Truth Social post. Nasdaq soared 12.1% at close, the index’s largest single-day gain since 2021, while the Dow jumped 7.8%, its biggest one-day increase in five years.
“Newly identified data raises concerns about potential violations of federal ethics and insider trading laws by individuals close to the President with access to non-public information,” Schiff and Levin’s letter reads.
Trump has said he hasn’t engaged in insider trading himself — but that he couldn’t definitively claim that members of his administration have not. “I can commit to myself, that’s all I can commit to,” Trump told reporters on Friday, when asked whether he could assure Americans that no one in his administration was insider trading with information about trade deals coming together.
Trump said he hires “honorable people” but said, “I have thousands of people that work for me, but I can’t imagine anybody doing that.”
The Democrats requested a response from Wiles no later than May 9, 2025, and for a “detailed plan” for how the administration plans to address any officials and employees who may have failed to file required disclosures from the start of the administration.
“By failing to take these steps, the Administration would be withholding critical information from the American people regarding potential violations of federal ethics and insider trading laws. We look forward to reviewing all required reports and disclosures,” Schiff and Levin wrote.
“Senior White House officials have influence over or become witting of consequential policy decisions that can have market moving impacts,” the letter said. “It is critical that such officials adhere to all applicable ethics, conflict of interest, and disclosure requirements.”
“The American public deserves nothing less than full transparency, particularly in the context of the harm done to pension funds and retirement savings as a result of the President’s erratic trade policy,” it continued
The letter was signed by Sens. Chris Van Hollen, Elizabeth Warren, Jeffrey Merkley and Elissa Slotkin, as well as Reps. Brad Sherman, Brad Schneider, Angie Craig, Jerry Nadler, Rashida Tlaib, Cleo Fields, Yassamin Ansari, Seth Magaziner, Pramila Jayapal, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Mark DeSaulnier, Madeleine Dean and Delia Ramirez.
Schiff had previously written to Wiles and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer over the rollbacks on Trump’s tariffs. In that letter, sent with Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Schiff asked for an investigation into potential conflicts of interest. Schiff has not received a response from Wiles following his request, a spokesperson for the senator told ABC News.
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire to come into effect during the 80th anniversary commemoration of V Day, which celebrates the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The ceasefire will come into effect on May 8 and end on May 10, the Kremlin announced in a statement posted to its official Telegram channel Monday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(VANCOUVER) — At least 11 people were killed and “dozens” of others were injured Saturday as a vehicle plowed into a large crowd at a street festival in Vancouver, officials said, describing it as a “mass casualty incident.”
“A 30-year-old suspect, a Vancouver man, was arrested at the scene,” the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post, later adding, “At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism.”
Vancouver police identified the suspect as Kai-Ji Adam Lo. The BC Prosecution Service charged him with eight counts of second degree murder.
Lo, a Vancouver resident, appeared in court on Sunday and remains in custody. The charge assessment is ongoing and further charges are anticipated.
The suspect is believed to have acted alone and there is currently no active threat to Canadians, Prime Minister Mark Carney said while delivering short remarks in Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday.
The suspect had a history of interactions with police and health professionals for mental health reasons, Vancouver Police Interim Chief Constable Steve Rai told reporters Sunday.
“This is the darkest day in our city’s history,” Rai said. “Last night, as thousands of members of Vancouver’s Filipino community gathered for an important cultural celebration, the actions of a single person shattered our collective sense of safety.”
Crowds had gathered in the Canadian city to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day, Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement. A vehicle “drove into a large crowd of people” at the festival in the South Vancouver neighborhood at about 8:14 p.m., police said.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,” Sim said, describing the incident as “horrific.”
The ages of the 11 victims ranged from 5 to 65, according to Rai on Sunday. He also said the number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks.
The block party celebrating Filipino culture and Lapu-Lapu, a national hero of the Philippines, had been scheduled to run through 8 p.m. on Saturday, according to the organizers. Rai said there was a risk assessment conducted before the festival, and there were “no known threats to the event or to the Filipino community.”
“It is hard to make sense of something so senseless,” Rai said.
Videos from the scene, which were verified by ABC News, appear to show the aftermath of the incident, which happened on a stretch of East 43rd Avenue that had been lined on both sides with food trucks.
The videos appear to show first responders rushing to help the injured between the rows of food trucks. A black SUV can be seen in one video with what appears to be heavy damage to its hood. Police have not yet publicly identified the suspect’s vehicle.
Carney said he was “devastated by the horrific events” at the festival, adding that at least 20 people were injured in addition to the 11 killed.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver,” he said in a statement. “We are all mourning with you. We are closely monitoring the situation and are grateful to our first responders for their swift action.”
The investigation is ongoing, Carney added.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, who spoke at the festival, said he was “horrified to learn of an incident at Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day celebrations that injured and killed innocent people.”
“As we wait to learn more, our thoughts are with the victims and their families — and Vancouver’s Filipino community, who were coming together today to celebrate resilience,” he said in a statement.
(MILWAUKEE, WI) — A reserve judge will be appointed to take over the cases of Judge Hannah Dugan, who was arrested by the FBI over allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant, according to a Milwaukee County official.
The county’s chief judge, Carl Ashley, said late Sunday that a reserve judge would take over Dugan’s calendar on Monday morning. The reserve judge was not named in the statement released to media.
Dugan, a judge on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, was arrested on Friday over allegedly helping an undocumented immigrant “evade arrest” the week prior, FBI Director Kash Patel said.
Patel said on social media that the FBI believes “Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse.”
U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement that two FBI agents arrested Dugan “for allegedly helping an illegal alien avoid arrest” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“No one is above the law,” Bondi said on Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — North Korean authorities confirmed for the first time that the country’s forces fought against Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region, with state media claiming “victory” there and describing the North Korean soldiers involved as “heroic.”
The official acknowledgment came as Russian President Vladimir Putin also praised North Korean troops for their contribution in the theater, saying in a statement posted to the Kremlin website that Moscow’s “Korean friends” fought “with honor and valor, covering themselves with unfading glory.”
“The Russian people will never forget the feat of the Korean special forces,” Putin added. “We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on an equal basis with their Russian brothers in arms.”
In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s Central Military Commission confirmed Monday its troops took part in the Russian operation to eject Ukrainian units from Kursk.
Fighting erupted there after Kyiv’s forces entered the border region in a surprise offensive in August 2024. It was the largest Ukrainian operation on Russian territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The military commission lauded North Korean units fighting in Kursk for “performing heroic feats in the operations to repulse and frustrate the grave sovereignty infringement by the Ukrainian authorities.”
This weekend, top Russian commander Valery Gerasimov said Russia had fully liberated Kursk after months of intensifying assaults on remaining Ukrainian positions there. Gerasimov praised North Korea units for “significant assistance.”
The North Korean committee said the involvement of its soldiers — which according to various U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assistance involved at least 10,000 troops — “fully demonstrated their high fighting spirit and military temperament,” with “mass heroism, matchless bravery and self-sacrificing spirit.”
In a statement carried by KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said fighters in Kursk were “heroes” who “fought for justice.” A monument to the Kursk contingent would be erected in Pyongyang, Kim added.
“The motherland should hand down forever the soul of the soldiers who fought to defend its great honour and take important state measures to specially and preferentially treat and take care of the families of the brave soldiers who participated in the war,” Kim continued.
North Korean units entering the fighting in Kursk quickly sustained casualties, according to estimates by Ukraine-aligned governments.
British intelligence assessed that by March roughly 5,000 North Korean troops deployed to fight Ukraine had been killed or wounded, with a third likely killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyrylo Budanov — the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence — both said in February that North Korean troops had suffered about 4,000 casualties.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said in March that North Korean forces had suffered around 5,000 casualties, according to the Yonhap news agency, South Korea’s state media.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — An American overnight airstrike in Yemen killed at least 68 people at a migrant detention center in the Saada Governorate, according to the country’s Civil Defense organization.
Another 47 people were injured in the strike in the city of Saada, in the northwest of the country, the Yemen Civil Defense said in a statement posted to Telegram on Monday morning.
The struck center housed around 100 African migrants, the Yemen Civil Defense said. There was no immediate U.S. comment on the strike.
A statement issued by the U.S. military’s Central Command before the alleged attack on the migrants’ center was reported said its “intense and sustained campaign” since March 15 has so far struck more than 800 targets and “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including senior Houthi missile and UAV officials.”
President Donald Trump’s administration intensified the U.S. airstrike campaign against Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen from March 15, expanding a campaign that began under former President Joe Biden in response to Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping and strikes on Israel.
The Houthis began their attacks in October 2023, in response to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted.
Central Command said its strikes “have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks. Ballistic missile launches have dropped by 69%. Additionally, attacks from one way attack drones have decreased by 55%.”
“U.S. strikes destroyed the ability of Ras Isa Port to accept fuel which will begin to impact Houthi ability to not only conduct operations, but also to generate millions of dollars in revenue for their terror activities,” the statement read.
“Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis,” Central command continued. “The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime.”
“We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” the command said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
