Transparently Disingenuous Russia

"Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine."

"[It would allow the country to] hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Putin said Russian troops had the "strategic initiative" in Ukraine   Reuters

"He is afraid of negotiating with Ukraine."

"He is afraid of negotiating with me personally, and by excluding Ukraine's [government] he is suggesting that Ukraine is not an independent actor for him."

"Europe definitely knows how to defend itself, and we are working together to ensure greater security for our country and all European nations." 

"Russia continues looking for excuses to drag this war out even further."

"Putin is playing the same game he has since 2014 [unilateral annexation of the Crimean peninsula]."

"This is dangerous for everyone -- and there should be an appropriate response from the United States, Europe, and all our global partners who seek peace."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

 

"You could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when... Putin started getting into Zelensky's credibility, because that's not going in the right location."

"New leadership means you're not gonna have a deal for a long time." 

"If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia's fault - which it might not be... I am going to put secondary tariffs... on all oil coming out of Russia."

"There will be a 25% tariff on oil and other products sold in the United States, secondary tariffs."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

(Volodymyr Zelenskyy / X)

 

As a brilliant solution to vexing problems, Russian President Putin's Friday proposal for Ukraine to be placed  temporarily under external governance throughout the efforts to reach a peaceful settlement in the conflict that Russia imposed upon Ukraine through its military invasion and subsequent claims of legitimacy in annexing Ukrainian provinces as Russian territory, this one registered as just another form of naked aggression on the part of Russia in its territorial grabs. 

 

Further, calling into dispute Ukrainian democracy and President Zelenskyy's legitimacy reminds one of Vladimir Putin's musical chairs performance when he brought in Dmitry Medvedev as president while he took on Medvedev's prime ministerial role, to enable them to once again reverse the situation ensuring that Russia's two-term presidency limit would not interfere with Putin's designs to remain Russian president in perpetuity to which end he changed the constitution and now sits secure as Russia's legal long-term president. Any challengers have been summarily either murdered or imprisoned.

 

Yet this is the man who insists that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has no legitimacy to sign a peace agreement since his term expired. A pathetic piece of demagoguery since he would be very well aware that it is illegal in Ukraine for national elections to be held during times of conflict and the nation is under martial law. Still, Putin pressed ahead with the claim that any such agreement to a permanent ceasefire signed by the sitting Ukrainian government could be challenged by a successor government so that new elections should be called for, through external vigilance under temporary guardianship. 

A summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron considered plans for troop deployment to Ukraine in view of an eventual peace deal where Macron announced that 'several' other nations would volunteer to participate in the force along with France and Britain. Mr. Putin, however, made it clear that he would not accept troop involvement from NATO members in a prospective peacekeepng force. So, for Mr. Putin it would be far more appropriate if Belarus, Iran and North Korean troops comprised such a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

 

"They are playing games and they're playing for time", stated U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, while Macron and other Paris summit participants accused Russia of insincerity in its offering to participate in negotiations that could lead to a peace agreement to end the bloodshed. 

Both Russia and Ukraine agreed in principle to a tentative US.-brokered agreement to pause strikes on energy infrastructure even as both sides hold varying views on when the deal to halt strikes should become effective, accusing one another of violations, making it more than obvious just how fraught any semblance of an agreement would be in the challenge to negotiate a broad peace. 

 

Germany has voted to hugely boost investment in its military   BBC

 

Russia's claims of wanting peace and an end to the conflict -- as long as it is able to hold on to the one-fifth of eastern Ukraine that the Kremlin now considers part of Greater Russia, are viewed with skepticism by its neighbours. Leading Norway, as an example to refurbish its old Cold War Military Bunkers, and leaving Germany convinced it must now begin to rebuild a viable military, the better to confront any future expansionary moves by Moscow.

 

Bunkers like the ones at Bardufoss can keep expensive fighter planes safe from attacks by drones (Credit: Norwegian Armed Forces)

 

 

 

Ramping Up North Korea's Military Technology

"Keeping with the trend of modern warfare in which the competition for using intelligent drones as a major means of military power is being accelerated and the range of their use is steadily expanding in military activities [stressed by North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un]."

Korean Central News Agency report

 

"North Korea is realizing the need for not only nuclear weapons but also modernized capabilities in large-scale warfare, like AI and unmanned systems."

"There is a risk that these could become actual combat capabilities in a relatively short period of time."

Cha Du-hyeogn, former South Korean intelligence adviser

 

"North Korea is completely transforming itself by  upgrading its weapons systems for modern warfare based on its experiences in the war in Ukraine, and by copying military technologies from countries like China and Russia."

Yoo Yong-won, National Defence Committee, North Korea

South Korean TV shows footage of what appears to be an airborne early warning and control aircraft. Getty Images

"Suicide attack drones" powered by artificial intelligence, is now the latest military technology championed by North Korea. Inspired no doubt by the success realized by the Ukrainian military in its existential struggle against North Korea's much-admired Vladimir Putin toward whose bloodthirsty territorial expansion he has dispatched tens of thousands of North Korean soldiers as disposable fodder in the conflict, ostensibly to gain experience in battle-hardened situations.

 

Pyongyang is determined to  update weapons capabilities in lock-step with the front-line experience its soldiers are gaining with modern warfare technologies in Ukraine. Core reconnaissance and attack drones are for the moment Kim Jong Un's preoccupation, believing that development of unmanned control and AI capability to be priorities for North Korea's military.

 

International observers such as North Korea analyst Cha Du-hyeogn at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul states that the hermit kingdom's ambitions should be taken seriously. North Korea has revealed its development of a "new-type strategic reconnaissance drone" capable of tracking and monitoring various targets and troop activity on land and at sea. Photos of Kim inspecting a large reconnaissance drone on a runway and of drones crashing into ground targets were released by State media.

 

According to experts who have viewed the photos, the large drone in the photograph is similar to the U.S. RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, a type of drone that North Korea introduced in 2023 at a weapons exhibition in Pyongyang. Additionally, North Korea showcased for the first time an airborne early-warning and control aircraft. One which would enable North Korea to manage air and ground operations in real time, simultaneously.

 

Images released from North Korean state media KCNA show what it said were self-detonating drone during a test of the unmanned aerial vehicles. Elements of this image were blurred before its release.

KCNA

Left unannounced was what AI technology is used in its new suicide attack drones, much less when North Korea plans to ramp up production. However, according to Cha Du-hyeogn, it is questionable whether these suggested new capabilities could be mass-produced any time soon, in his opinion. Suicide attack drones are typically small and easy to manoeuvre, so they can be undetected and produced in large quantities.

 

Further, there is no evidence as yet that North Korea has mastered such technologies, much less incorporated AI technologies which can detect air defence systems, he said dismissively. Despite which in recent months North Korea has been emphasizing its reconnaissance drone technology, a key component of Kim's military modernization strategy, where he has been pushing the mass-production of suicide drones. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been pictured inspecting new suicide drones, which state media say have been equipped with artificial intelligence (AI).  KCNA

Canada/U.S. Relations Out of Kilter

Then: "Reliance on a US defence umbrella, a critical factor since the end of WW2 for so many countries is no longer guaranteed."

"No affected country can afford to close its eyes and hope that 2026 or 2028 elections in the US will bring everything back to 'normal' ... and not happen again."

"The toothpaste cannot go back in the tube." March 25 LinkedIn post 

Now: "The reality is that, without U.S. consent, no country can hope to operate the F-35 for long. [Building Canada's future fighter force solely on the F-35 would be] irresponsible."

"We may find for example that 36 F-35 and 150 other fighter aircraft such as Rafale or Gripen could be a better strategic, economic, and military posture while investing heavily in 6th gen developments." 

Retired Lt.-Gen. Yvan Blondin

The F-35 program has had a controversial history in Canada. Photo by Errol McGihon /Postmedia

Once the man who was chief of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 2012 to 2015, retired Lt.-Gen. Blondin had insisted the U.S.-built F-35 represented the best fighter jet for Canadian operations given that its allies in democracy gravitated around American leadership, technology and military operations. That is, until the election and ascension of Donald Trump to the American presidency. Much has since then changed.

 

Canada's economy is now under threat by the Trump administration amidst aggressive statements on annexing the country under American hegemony as the 51st U.S. state. And nor is Canada the only nation that finds itself under threat, since seizing Greenland and the Panama Canal have also come under discussion in the U.S. ostensibly to secure American concerns over security issues. 

 

Yet, confoundingly, one of the countries that stands to pose the greatest risk to American security has somehow secured President Trump's confidence.

 

A former fighter pilot, the retired general had years back recommended that Canada take on the F-35 from Lockheed Martin, persuading then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper it would be in Canada's best military operational interests. Which resulted in then-PM Harper's Conservative government locking into the acquisition in 2010, despite delays when increasing costs and technical problems associated with the F-35 began to surface. 

In 2023 the Liberal government under Justin Trudeau, after having for years denied that the F-35 would answer to Canada's needs and skirting the issue of acquisition, changed tack to announce it was prepared to buy 88 F-35s at a cost of $19 billion, although Canada was financially committed only to the purchase of the first 15 jets hearking back to the Conservative government decision.

 

Lt.-Gen. Blondin elaborated, explaining that the problem with the F-35 is the issue of complete control that the United States maintains over all aspects of the plane, not merely the aircraft itself. Time remains before a decision must be made for the purchase of the remaining 72 F-35s, said Lt.-Gen. Blondin after Liberal Leader Mark Carney ordered a F-35 purchase review, taking into account an increasingly hostile America under President Trump. 

 

Saab's Gripen E fighter jet is an alternative being considered to the American-made F-35. Photo by Saab /PST

 

There are options in suggestions the Swedish built Gripen -- second in the Canadian fighter jet competition -- would be considered a solution. There had been a promise by its Swedish manufacturer that the Gripens could be built in Canada. Former defence procurement chief at the Canadian Armed Forces Alan Williams, and other defence analysts have given warning the F-35 represents a strategic vulnerability for Canada, with American total control over software upgrades and aircraft spare parts.

 

Canada, pointed out Lt.-Gen. Blondin, must now look to developing a defence strategy taking into account the new realities of changes in its relationship with the United States. Those who are in support of Canada's F-35 purchase point out the hundreds of millions worth of contracts that companies in Canada have been involved in, supplying parts for the U.S. aircraft, creating Canadian aerospace employment.

 

That too changed,  however, when in late February, President Trump informed Lockheed Martin, manufacturer of the F-35. that a change was in order; specifically that he wanted those jobs returned to the U.S. when Canadian contracts come up for renewal.

 

Yvan Blondin said building Canada’s future fighter force solely on the F-35 would be “irresponsible.” Photo by Jack Boland /Jack Boland/Toronto Sun

 

U.S. Scuttling Traditional Trade Relations

"The United States will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions."

"[The statement included ensuring safe navigation in the Black Se, a ban on strikes against energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine, and President Donald Trump’s imperative that] the killing on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict must stop."

White House statement

 

WHAT DOES RUSSIA SAY IT WILL GET?

* The lifting of restrictions on state agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank "and other financial organizations involved in ensuring international trade in food (including fish products) and fertilisers, their connection to SWIFT, and the opening of necessary correspondent accounts".

* The removal of curbs on trade finance operations.

* The removal of sanctions and restrictions on companies producing and exporting food (including fish products) and fertilisers.

* The removal of sanctions and restrictions on insurance companies dealing cargoes of food (including fish products) and fertilisers. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov specifically mentioned the Lloyd’s of London insurance market.

Reuters

 

"This is the most disturbing action that I think we've seen from [U.S. President Donald Trump] since his election."

"In essence, what he is doing is funding [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's regime ... and funding the death of Ukrainians."

"We do need to become less dependent, unfortunately, on the United States of America."

"It's a sad thing for us to say."

"[Saskatchewan may change how it responds to Trump's threats]."

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe

Cargo ships are seen from a patrol boat of Ukraine’s coast guard as they sail in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, February 7, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/

 A plan by the United States to restore the Russian agricultural sector's position is, according to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, a backchannel funding Ukrainian death and suffering. The White House statement carrying news of the United States plan to help Russia expand its markets following talks between American and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia is disturbing in its ramifications. The intention is to also lower maritime insurance costs and according to the Trump administration, enhance Russian access to shipping ports.

 

"This latest announcement from Donald Trump isn't just a betrayal of Ukraine, where people will continue to be killed and occupied under Putin's illegal invasion", added the province's NDP leader Carla Beck, responding to President Trump's threats as they apply to onerous tariffs to be imposed on Canada and Mexico for a full range of products entering the United States, along with extended similar threats to Europe, Japan and South Korea, even as the Trump administration is open to trade dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a stunning reversal of traditional U.S. trade policy and politics.

 

Saskatchewan, the world's largest producer of potash, a mineral in use as a crop-growing fertilizer, foresees consequences with Russian potash -- sanctioned since the 2022 invasion by Russia of Ukraine -- anticipating a scenario where Russian fertilizer will flood the market once sanction measure are lifted. This is all part and parcel of a coming global trade war inspired by the Trump administration where 25 per cent tariffs have been imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum, along with a 10 per cent levy on potash if it doesn't comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The traditional trading partners of the United States are reeling in shock at the warnings and threats emanating from the White House. U.S. allies suddenly find themselves estranged and confused in their relations with the new administration whose pronouncements on stiff tariffs -- while warning of  consequences with retaliatory measures their once-trusting trading partners ruminate on imposing and then reconsidering when the U.S. -- warns further that retaliatory measures will only incur the wrath of the U.S. which will then impose even higher tariffs, upending global integrated trading patterns.

International experts on trade negotiations and investments are attempting to make sense of a sudden turn-about in international relations. What they are all certain of, is the conclusion that in alienating traditional trading partners with explosive accusations and punishing tariffs, the United States and American consumers in general will not come away unscathed. The unsettled situation will penalize the U.S. too, albeit not as stringently as its hapless trading partners. As well, a global recession appears to be waiting in the wings. 

A worker at the Mosaic potash mine near Belle Plaine, Sask., holds a few examples of the white, crystalline substance during a tour on April 26, 2024. (Alexander Quon/CBC)

 

 

 

What Geneva Convention Might That Be?

"[The proceedings are nothing but] another sham trial [held for Russia's] own amusement."

"The world must respond to such shameful sham trials of Ukrainian defenders."

"It is obvious to everyone that those who should be in the dock are not those defending themselves but those who initiated the aggression, those who invaded foreign land with weapons, and those who arrived with tanks on the territory of an independent state!"

"Ukrainian prisoners of war are combatants, not criminals! They were fulfilling their duty to the state, protecting its territorial integrity and sovereignty."

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine human rights envoy 

A woman with the words "Free Azov" written on her face attends a rally aiming to raise awareness on the fate of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Kyiv, Ukraine (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

In a military court trial denounced by Kyiv as a sham and a violation of international law, Russia bizarrely convicted 23 captured Ukrainian servicemen on terrorism charges related to the war that the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused. Current or former fighters of the elite Azov brigade make up the personnel held on  trial. Russia had designated the Azov brigade as a terrorist group. Extending the charge of terrorism to any who worked within the brigade whether as cooks or support personnel.

 

The prominent Russian human rights group, Memorial, re-designated the Ukrainian defendants as political prisoners some of whom had been captured in 2022 during fighting in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, defending their country from the Russian invader. Others among the prisoners had been detained while attempting to leave the city once it was overrun by Russian forces, according to Memorial.

 

On Wednesday when the verdict was brought down in the Russian court in the city of Rostov-on-Don, only a dozen prisoners were in attendance. Of those charged, eleven -- including nine women -- had returned to Ukraine through prisoner exchanges and were thus convicted in absentia, while one other defendant had died last year while in custody.

 

Lawyers of Ukrainians captured by Russia during hostilities in Ukraine sit in front of the defendant's cage during a hearing at the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Wednesday, March 26, 2025. AP Photo

All of the  convicted had been charged with staging a violent coup d'etat and with organizing the activities of a terrorist organization. Russian 'justice' had seen fit to entirely inverse reality; in essence claiming that loyal Ukrainian servicemen in responding to the illegal, internationally criminal armed military invasion of their country were the aggressors, not the invading army engaged in what he Kremlin termed a 'limited military action'. Limited, presumably, in the Kremlin's estimation that the further annexation of Ukrainian territory would take a trifling amount of time and effort.

 

The dozen Ukrainian men remaining in Russian custody will serve their time in maximum security penal colonies, according to the court where they were given prison sentences ranging from 13 to 23 years. The Russian independent news site Mediazona reported that all twelve of the convicted held in Russia are prepared to appeal the verdict.

 

"None of the defendants in the case are accused of any war crimes: they are all being tried for the very fact of serving" in Azov at one time or another, stated Memorial, in their explanatory defence. Ukraine's presidential adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, stated that the trial of combatants amounted to "an official war crime" which would warrant a response from the International Criminal Court. 

 

The defendants testified of abuse they had undergone while behind bars; that they were severely beaten, had suffered broken bones, were interrogated with bags covering their heads, were given food laced through with household chemicals, and were forced under duress to stand all day long while singing the Russian anthem, according to Mediazona. 

Rescuers work at the site of an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, on Tuesday. (Reuters)

It'll Take Awhile To Live This One Down : Learning On The Job

"[The uproar] represents a] co-ordinated effort to distract from the successful actions taken by President Trump and his administration to make America's enemies pay and keep Americans safe."

White House statement 

"[The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg is] deceitful, [a] discredited so-called journalist."

"Nobody was texting war plans and that's all I have to say about that."

Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth 

"[It was] the only glitch in two months [of his administration]."

"Michael Waltz has learned a lesson and he's a good man."

"It was one of Michael's people [staffer] on the phone. A staffer had his [Goldberg's] number on there."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

 

"In the amazing story of the Signal group coordinating Yemen airstrikes, Vice-resident J.D. Vance once again comes out as driven by deep anti-European resentment."

Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt

 

"U.S. Vice-President and Secretary of Defense loathe Europe [as they try to extort money out of it]."

Mike Martin British Parliamentarian

At the White House on Tuesday, President Donald Trump said his critics were inflating the incident. “They’ve made a big deal out of this because we’ve had two perfect months,” he said.  Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times

Quite obviously that old self-help book "How to make Friends and Influence People" is not a go-to tract in the White House library to which old diplomatic hands can refer new White House personnel and elected officials to, for the efficacy of putting their best foot forward when dealing with friendly nations. The members of the Trump administration appear to share a deep-seated hostility toward just about all the member-democracies of NATO and the G7 nations. Evidently stemming from the burden that Europe and other democratic allies place upon the United States as the most powerful country on the globe, to ensure security for all.

 

In all fairness, it wasn't Europe that imposed this burden on the United States. This is a holdover from World War II when Europe was under attack by Nazi Germany and its Axis members in a brutal conflict that the entry of the United States for the Allied side turned the tide after Imperial Japan, part of the Nazi Axis, had attacked Pearl Harbour in an act of war. The American military involvement in stemming the  tide of fascism and eventually ending the war with the world's only nuclear strikes, resulted in the acknowledgement of its singular status as the world's policeman. A role that the U.S. was pleased to take up, cementing its legacy as world power without equal.

 

That status appears to have grown stale; the U.S. is fed up with being taken for granted, for being the shield that protects other internationally law-abiding nations from harm threatened by those countries of the world for which territorial expansion through force of arms and conflicting ideological roots create chaos and war. Now, under the second Trump administration, the message was sent that all countries formerly dependent on the protection canopy of the U.S. had better shore up their own defences for the burden will no longer be accepted by the United States of America.

 

An America that is prepared to react militarily only when it perceives threats aimed directly toward it.  And since the Houthi rebels in Yemen have complicated international marine traffic, and threatened both the U.S. and Israel (which Washington deems deserving of a place under its canopy), just as its sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a close looming threat with its nuclear and rocketry development, itself earning close scrutiny and threats, the American military has been ordered to disable the Houthi war machinery and by extension the nuclear plans of Iran.

 

Atlantic editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, in 2023. Credit...Justin T. Gellerson for The New York Times

An inadvertent, and quite amateurish online meeting on the Signal platform between Trump associates and Cabinet members saw the erroneous inclusion of The Atlantic's editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg who was by inclusion made privy to the strategic military plans. As a journalist his first instinct was to use the data he was exposed to, once the initial shock of receiving it had passed. And as he published the timeline of the almost comedic misadventure, the shock to the public, the news media, and the political opposition was that of outrage at the sheer clumsiness of making sensitive plans available through sheer sloppiness.

 

From the European perspective, however, it was the revelation of senior executive Cabinet members sneering at Europe that drew the most attention. President Trump's inner circle shares his contempt for Europe's leaders, are wholly sympathetic to the president's decision to downgrade relations with embattled Ukraine, while make friendly overtures to Moscow. When the U.S. spurned Europe's fears of Vladimir Putin's outright threats to the stability of eastern Europe through his annexation of a fifth of Ukrainian territory, NATO members reeled in disbelief.

 

As for the documents revealed through an inadequate lapse of intelligent judgement, retired French Army Lt. Gen. Michel Yakovleff with his own history at NATO headquarters, described the U.S. officials involved in the debacle as "a bunch of incompetent, arrogant idiots" with "no clue" about operational security. "When you have that level of incompetence, anything is possible", he stated.

 

European leaders were stung by the revelation through the Signal chat that JD Vance questioned whether the U.S. expending military assets on securing nearby shipping lanes would be just another example of "bailing Europe out again". To which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth replied: "I fully share your loathing of European freeloading. It's PATHETIC." 

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stands by U.S. President Donald Trump, in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025. Photo by Carlos Barria/REUTERS

Honk If You Hate Teslas

"I don't know that we can attribute this [that Tesla in Canada and elsewhere in the world is now faring more poorly than other EV makers] to any one factor."

"I wasn't surprised by this [the steep drop in price of used Teslas in Canada]. We also look at the market in the U.S. and globally, and we saw this trend."

"Overall, EV sales are going down. EV demand is down, so it's hard to conclude what's happening."

Baris Akyrek, vice-president, insights and intelligence, auto-Trader.ca

The price of a used Tesla dropped 21.9 per cent year-over-year, while all other EVs listed on AutoTrader fell 16.3 per cent. Photo by Stephen Llewellyn/The Daily Gleaner/Postmedia files

 

No one need concern themselves that the wealthiest man in the world, reportedly with a fortune between US$350 and US$500 billion is being beggared by ill fortune. The fact is, the 'ill fortune' is of his very own construction. And his wealth may decline marginally, but he will remain a man of immense wealth. His personal idiosyncrasies are such that many people are affronted by what he does and says, as much as what they think he does and says. Such being the ill fortune of the filthy rich and the resentment a combination of wealth and odd behaviour engenders.

 

As for Mr. Musk himself, contemplating a possibly temporary but steep loss in public regard that has extended itself to the vehicles he manufactures, no doubt rejection stings and stings sharply for someone more accustomed to basking in the soft light of admiration for his business acumen, his proclivity for taking risks, and his larger-than-life ambitions. This is a man not content to sit on his piles of cash, but driven to invest in bold new production adventures.

 

Unfortunately for Elon Musk he has also chosen to invest his name, his reputation and his time in the world of politics. And as some interpret it, extreme measures in politics, aligning himself wholeheartedly with the new American Republican President of the United States of America. To whom he volunteered his advice as a businessman whose ventures have made him as wealthy as Croesus through a keen insight and admirable judgement. Both of which he was prepared to offer to Donald J. Trump in streamlining government services and pay-outs for a leaner, more efficient model.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and White House Senior Advisor, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk deliver remarks next to a Tesla Model S on the South Lawn of the White House on March 11, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Tesla electric vehicles now face the public backlash in protests, vandalization and charging stations set afire. This, just as the pace of adoption to EV technology began to ebb, from its previous flow. So that all vehicles in the EV marketplace have experienced an ownership slowdown, but Tesla far more prominently than others. Leading to a glut of used Teslas in Canada, their prices dropping more swiftly than the aggregate of the market, according to Auto-trader.ca Inc.

 

The number of used Teslas in early March listed on AutoTrader rose 12.5 percent on a year-over-year basis even as the number of all other EVs listed on Auto-Trader declined 3.1 percent. The rising used inventory for Tesla appears even starker measured against used internal combustion engine vehicle inventory whose decline was 14.1 percent in the same time period. A used Tesla dropped in price 21.9 percent in that period in comparison to all other EVs that fell 16.3 percent.

 

Edmunds.com Inc., a California-based market research firm, stated that Tesla experienced its "highest-ever share" of trade-ins for new or used cars from dealerships selling other brands. The Tesla-owning population is suddenly eager to divest itself of the vehicles, generally considered, in reaction to the anger felt toward Elon Musk over his government advisory role, to have an unsavoury odour. Tesla owners are also concerned that their Tesla vehicle will become one of the many that are vandalized. No one wants to own something that no one else wants to own.

 

Tesla reported an eight percent decline in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024; its stock has dropped 39 percent to US$244.29. Without doubt, Mr. Musk could never have envisioned the consequences of his decision to be granted special government status under the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency where he is busy dismantling U.S. federal government agencies to slash spending and diversify government services.

 

Nor has he endeared himself to segments of the population with his spontaneous and often ill-thought-out comments, such as posting on his social-media platform X, a meme comparing former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler in 2022. Or in 2023 when he curtailed Ukraine's use of satellite internet service provider Starlink of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. of which he is CEO. 

Demonstrators hold anti-Tesla posters during a protest encouraging people to boycott Tesla outside the Tesla Centre Park Royal in London, Britain, March 15, 2025.

Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters

"Tesla Takedown"

"All of the platforms in which we communicate and talk to one another are controlled more and more by the tech oligarchy."

"Were seeing that the press is being owned by billionaires, the social media we use is owned by the same billionaires, and the alignment that is happening in the United States ... is just a more overt version of the same kind of thing that's happening in Canada." 

Juan Alperin, professor, faculty of communication, art and technology, Simon Fraser University

 

"[It's my belief that billionaires are] interfering [with politics in North America and Europe in ways they should not be involved]."

"I'm also against the attacks on Canadian sovereignty ... by saying Canada is not a country and that our prime minister is a governor [Musk quips]."

Andrew Balakshin, Vancouver resident 

Over 80 Tesla vehicles were damaged at a Hamilton, Ontario dealership in a vandalism spree. Carscoops

The backlash against Elon Musk's support of U.S. President Donald Trump's war on Canada begins to mirror a rising tide of popular dissent within the United States that has begun targeting the appointed head of DOGE, through targeting his Tesla electric vehicle car production facilities in a series of protests outside Tesla dealerships to deliver a message of rejection. Those protests are par for the course with a disgruntled public expressing their opinion. It is the accompanying and linked violent criminal acts of sabotage, of puncturing tires, keying paint jobs and most of all fire-bombing vehicles that tell the story of matters getting out of hand.

 

Now Canadians in cities including Ottawa and Vancouver have linked themselves to the growing rejection of Tesla as representative of government-cost-slashing actions of DOGE, under the direction of Elon Musk that speaks to a spreading global rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump's abrasive and volatile style of government.

 

Surrey, British Columbia saw residents holding signs with messages including "elbows up", "Elon be-gone", and "democracy dies in apathy". President Trump has proceeded with his threat to slap steep tariffs on Canadian goods, the result of which has predictably been a trade war. His repeated barbs that Canada would be better off as the 51st state, and that Canadians would love to become Americans, surrendering their sovereignty for the 'greater good' of immersing within the U.S. has struck most Canadians as an unforgivable assault by a former friendly neighbour. 

 

A number of the most prominent incidents in the U.S. have been reported in left-leaning cities in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, where anti-Trump and anti-Musk sentiment runs high. In this image, a member of the Seattle Fire Department is seen inspecting a burned Tesla Cybertruck at a Tesla lot in Seattle, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

 

Ordinary Canadians have retaliated by refusing to buy American products, seeking out Canadian-produced goods or alternately foodstuffs arriving in Canada from other parts of the world rather than the United States. Musk, the self-described "free speech absolutist" faces criticism from hate-speech watchdogs, seething with outrage that his social media platform X allows extremist, dangerous and antisemitic comments to flourish on X.

 

The world's wealthiest individual has been advising President Trump on overhauling the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency, newly created to install Mr. Musk as a special government agent dedicated to reducing the costs of government services. There are those who cite a post Musk shared originating with another X user that posted: "Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn't murder millions of people. Their public sector workers did."

 

Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

 

Few individuals have the high profile internationally as does Elon Musk. His partnering with the new U.S. president has only increased his visibility and the suspicions surrounding his intentions. Resulting in the auto production company directly associated with the man becoming a target for protests and vandalism. In Oregon gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership. In Seattle four Cybertrucks were destroyed in a deliberate blaze.

 

Action Network website hosts the "Tesla Takedown" protests where events are posted, used by individuals and community groups to promote what the site describes as 'progressive causes'. Dozens of protests are shown scheduled across the United States and Europe through the remainder of March and into April. 

 

Law enforcement respond to reports of incendiary devices at Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas, March 24, 2025.  @DocumentingATX / X

"The FBI will be relentless in its mission to protect the American people. Acts of violence, vandalism, and domestic terrorism — like the recent Tesla attacks — will be pursued with the full force of the law."

"These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night."

"Individuals require little planning to use rudimentary tactics, such as improvised incendiary devices and firearms, and may perceive these attacks as victimless property crimes." 

Federal Bureau of Investigation statement

"The First Step In A Movement To Peace"

"[This is the first step in a] movement to peace."

"Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting peace." 

"The blood and treasure that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people."

White House statement

 

"We have received signals from the United States that we are talking about the ceasefire on energy facilities, so not to attack energy infrastructure, and we are also talking about the civilian infrastructure facilities."

"We talked only about one power plant, [Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in south Ukraine] which is under Russian occupation."

"[I had] felt no pressure [from Trump]. It was a fruitful conversation, perhaps the most fruitful we have had, the mood was positive."

"We instructed our teams to resolve technical issues related to implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he had ‘a positive, very substantive’ conversation with the US president. Photograph: @ZelenskyyUa/X

 

"The need to halt arms supplies to Kyiv was discussed during Putin and Trump’s conversation."

"[Ceasing military aid would be] high on the agenda in negotiations between Russia and the US, but the topic will not be discussed publicly."

Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov

 

"It’s a very strange demand, of course. He [Vladimir Putin] wants Ukraine to give up its army, to give up security guarantees, to give up its right to be in alliances, and to give up on various territories."

"This is what he’s been fighting for for three years, and he couldn’t do it militarily …"

"And now that’s what he wants from the negotiations process."

Zelenskyy aide Mykhailo Podolyak

During a lengthy telephone call on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to seek a limited ceasefire against energy and infrastructure targets in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, an agreement that the White House felt would eventually include a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, and ultimately, a full and lasting end to the fighting between Russia and Ukraine. 

A statement by the White House added plans for negotiations to "begin immediately" on those steps, to take place in the Middle East, though it was not clear whether Ukraine is in agreement with the phased ceasefire plan. A limited ceasefire covering the Black Sea and long-range missile strikes and the release of prisoners was what Ukrainian officials envisaged at their meeting with the U.S. delegation this month in Saudi Arabia.

 

Mr. Putin, on the other hand, according to the Kremlin, welcomed President Trump's calls for the maritime ceasefire and felt confident enough it "agreed to begin negotiations to further work out specific details of such an agreement".  Russia and Ukraine were preparing to exchange 175 prisoners of war on each side the day following, according to the Putin-Trump conversation. Russia planned to hand over to Ukraine in addition, 23 badly wounded soldiers.

 

During the 90-minute conversation, Mr. Putin called on his American counterpart to end its foreign military and intelligence arrangements with Ukraine. While the White House focuses on Russia to sign off on its 30-day ceasefire proposal aimed at ending the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian officials agreed last week to the 30-day ceasefire proposal in talks led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, nonetheless remains skeptical that the Russian president is sincere in his oblique statements for peace, given that Russian forces continue to pound his country. The latest engagement is yet another turn in dramatically shifting U.S.-Russia relations reflecting Mr. Trump's pre-election statements of his intention to quickly put an end to the war as a top priority. 

 

That in so doing ties with longtime U.S. allies are strained, given their insistence that Putin must pay a price for its invasion of Ukraine, seems not to trouble Mr. Trump one whit. 

As for Ukraine's president, in his nightly video address on Monday, his statements clearly reflected his doubt that Putin is ready for peace. "Now, almost a week later, it's clear to everyone in the world -- even to those who refused to acknowledge the truth for the past three years -- that it is Putin who continues to drag out this war", he said.

 

As an aside during the conversation between the U.S. and Russian presidents, the White House later stated that what also came under discussion between the two leaders  during their extensive conversation, is the explosive situation currently unfolding in the Middle East; both purportedly agreeing that "Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel".

 

As for Mr. Putin's longer-range designs, the Kommersant Russian newspaper reported that Putin had informed a meeting of senior business leaders of his intention to continue the fighting until such time that he obtains full control of -- along with international recognition of -- the four regions in Ukraine that Moscow annexed in 2022. Quite obviously, Mr. Putin has abandoned none of his hardline objectives in the war he imposed upon Ukraine.

 

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin meeting at a summit in Helsinki, July 2018. EPA-EFE/Mauri Ratilainen

 

Liberal Government of Canada Bypassing Canadian for Foreign Technology

"It was a slap in the face. We seem to have a problem in this country buying our own, made-in-Canada solutions. It's a lack of national pride."

"DND [Department of National Defence] thinks Canadian companies should be happy with secondary work, doing logistics or setting up antennas."

Dipak Roy, Chairman, D-TA Systems 

BAE Systems

 

Despite having worked on a number of contracts for the Canadian Department of National Defence, mostly preparatory work for the longer vision of an over-the-hoirizon-radar project for which D-TA received funding for the development of such a system, Mr. Roy is disturbed that his firm had not been consulted in any meaningful way by the very Canadian government that had promoted D-TA, speaking of it as a success story in its development of unique industrial technologies.

 

With 50 employees, D-TA Systems delivered a working radar to Defence Research and Development Canada, the DND science agency based in the national capital, Ottawa. Established in 2007, D-TA Systems was involved in defence projects in the United States, Canada and other NATO nations, as well as Japan. Working on over-the-horizon radar since 2011 for various DND and U.S. military projects, it has not only the leading technology, but the experience in installing it. 

The actual initial capability for the new dedicated system was with the firm, for which DND spent $30 million. Accordingly a number of systems have been delivered. The Liberal government's decision to contract with an Australian company for a new radar system for a recently announced $6-billion project for the Department of National Defence over-the-horuzon radar system left Mr. Roy in disbelief, since his company has been a leader in producing such systems for DND and companies who supply the U.S. military.

 

The March 18 announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney that a system to detect incoming missiles over the Arctic was planned, and that the chosen supplier would be in Australia, along with the British firm BAE to provide the technology, made little practical sense to Mr. Roy who pointed out that the Australian government will own the intellectual property rights for the system whereas with D-TA radars, Canada itself has full control over such rights. 

Over-the-horizon radar has the capacity to conduct surveillance at far greater ranges than ordinary radar technology, extending the distance of capabilities by bouncing signals off the ionosphere -- a layer of the Earth's atmosphere that reflects radio waves. The minimum range for the radar is estimated to be 500 kilometres, the maximum range could be over 3,000 kilometres. The system's purpose is meant to track aircraft, missiles and surface ships.

 

Australia's defence minister lauded the contract which would significantly give advantage to the country's defence firms, while Australian media outlets point to the Canadian project as the largest defence export agreement in Australian history. Mr. Roy turns that around, stating that Canadian firms would be left with support work if they were lucky.

 

Among domestic aerospace and defence companies in Canada, frustration is growing that the Liberal government has passed over Canadian technology -- rather deciding to opt for foreign systems. The lack of Canadian-built systems on board the new Canadian Surface Combatant ships, originally to be outfitted with a command system developed in Canada called the CMS-330, failed to materialize when the Liberal government approved use of an American radar and command system, gifting the United States with full control over a critical capability for the Canadian fleet.

 

An aerial view of a portion of Australia’s Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN). Australian Department of Defense

 

"Prime Minister Carney announced that Canada intends to partner with Australia to develop advanced Over-the-Horizon Radar technology. This partnership will include developing Canada’s Arctic Over-the-Horizon Radar system, an investment of more than $6 billion [Canadian dollars; approximately $4.18 billion U.S. dollars at the rate of conversion at the time of reporting] that will provide early warning radar coverage from threats to the Arctic."

"A key component of Canada’s NORAD modernization plan, the radar system’s long-range surveillance and threat tracking capabilities will detect and deter threats across the North. The Prime Minister confirmed the partnership in his call with the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, earlier today."

PMO press release