Thursday, October 17, 2024

Florida homeowners fear soaring insurance cost after hurricanes
 Hurricane Milton hit in Florida · Reuters

Thu, October 17, 2024 
By Michelle Conlin and Matt Tracy

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For 32 years, Jim Tynan had a homeowners' policy with Allstate on his 1,200-square foot condo in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

In January, Tynan's Allstate subsidiary told him it was going to drop him. Tynan called ten different agencies, "and none would cover me," he said.

Finally, he found one that would. It cost 50% more.

Florida has been hit with four major hurricanes in the past four years, which has sent insurance premiums rocketing and caused some insurers to pull back on coverage. For residents cleaning up after storms or living nearby water, they have another worry: Will they still have insurance?

Tynan said he has not been hit directly by a hurricane but is two miles from the ocean.

"I live in fear I will get a letter from my new company telling me they are going to drop me, too," said Tynan, speaking after the latest hurricane. "It's very scary."

Six other homeowners contacted by Reuters in areas including both Florida coasts and the Keys also said they were worried that the back-to-back hurricanes would result in more price hikes and exclusions. Worse, they feared they could lose their insurance altogether.

Allstate said it worked with regulators to protect as many customers as possible. For those that it cannot cover, "We work with other carriers to offer alternative coverage offerings."

A number of homeowners in Florida have faced a precarious situation for securing insurance. Average homeowner premiums in Florida surged nearly 60% between 2019 and 2023. Some major insurance providers have reduced coverage. The state insurer, Citizens, meanwhile has taken on increased business.


Analysts and insurance experts predict more nervousness about insurers following Hurricane Milton, which made landfall on Florida's Southwest coast just 12 days after Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida's Northwest coast.

"This is ...certainly going to cause insurers to be concerned about continuing to insure in the market," said Marc Ragin, associate professor of risk management and insurance in the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.

The increased hurricanes could increase reliance on the state-backed nonprofit insurer Citizens, considered the insurer of last resort.

Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis has in the past raised questions about how the insurer could pay claims if large storms hit. Citizens spokesperson Michael Peltier said it would always be able to pay as it was structured to first levy surcharges on policyholders and then, if needed, assessments on non-policyholders. He said about 80,000 claims came in so far related to Milton and it expected to be able to pay them all without having to levy assessments on non-Citizens policyholders.


DeSantis' office said on Wednesday that while Citizens will always have the ability to pay claims "this comes at the expense of all Florida insurance policy holders."

Citizens had over 1.2 million policies in force as of June, according to data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR), up from roughly 1.14 million policies at the end of 2022.

"We could see a scenario where Citizens again has to take on a lot of policies," said Chai Gohil, global insurance analyst at investment management firm Neuberger Berman.

INSURANCE WORRIES

The storms, in close succession, intensified concerns about higher prices.

"The hope of a softer market I think just disappeared after Helene and Milton," Orion180 founder and CEO Ken Gregg told Reuters in a written statement. Gregg added that Milton would have an impact on the reinsurance market for the next season "in capacity and pricing."

Brian Schneider, Fitch Ratings' senior director of insurance, said price hikes by reinsurers pushes "a lot of the primary insurance companies, particularly on the commercial side, to have to increase their pricing that they charge on the property business."

Florida's insurance market is made up of a mix of major established players, newer entrants and Citizens.

In addition, a number of insurers, including Orion180 Insurance, are taking on existing policies from Citizens in a "Depopulation Program" to shift policyholders to private insurers. Citizens spokesperson Michael Peltier said it aims to reduce its policies in force to below one million by the end of 2024.

Despite the massive storms, a number of private insurers said they remained committed to the market.

The largest include State Farm Florida Insurance and Universal Property & Casualty Insurance, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FLOIR).

"State Farm plans to continue our presence in the Florida insurance marketplace," a company spokesperson told Reuters.

Universal Property & Casualty Insurance chief strategy officer Arash Soleimani said the company is "firmly committed" to Florida. "Nothing that's happened this year has been outside our modeled expectations."

Security First Insurance, a Florida-focused insurer, also said it remained committed to the market.

"Another hurricane like Milton for Security First would be an earnings event, not a capital event," CEO Locke Burt told Reuters.


Of those that pulled back, many retain some exposure.

Progressive began reducing exposure in mid-2022 to focus on states with less catastrophe exposure, although a Progressive spokesperson said it continues to write property business in the state.

In 2023, Farmers Insurance exited its own-branded coverage in the state. A Farmers spokesperson said it continues to serve customers through its Bristol West and Foremost brands.

Travelers has avoided underwriting in Florida due to the weather-related risk there, Travelers president of personal insurance Michael Klein said on an April earnings call. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

"I think that while Milton and Helene are back-to-back gut punches for the state of Florida, large insurers are in a great position to pay claims," said Michael Carlson, president and CEO of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida which represents large insurers in the state and doesn't see large players leaving.

For homeowners, however, the worries mount.

"The reality is we may be forced out of our home where we have lived for 35 years," said Sherri Hansen, who lives in the Florida Keys. "All our eggs are in this one basket."

(Reporting by Matt Tracy in Washington and Michelle Conlin in New York; editing by Megan Davies and David Gregorio)
MAGAITES

Witnesses saw an armed group harassing Helene aid workers in a small Tennessee town, sheriff says

KIMBERLEE KRUESI and SARAH BRUMFIELD
Updated Wed, October 16, 2024 



People gather at a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C.,, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Makiya Seminera)


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Witnesses reported seeing a group of armed people harassing hurricane relief workers in a remote Tennessee community last weekend, a sheriff said Wednesday as a man in North Carolina appeared in court for allegedly threatening aid workers in that state.

Although there is no indication that the incidents are related, they come with the Federal Emergency Management Agency facing rampant disinformation about its response to Hurricane Helene, which came ashore in Florida on Sept. 26 before heading north and leaving a trail of destruction across six states. Reports of threats to aid workers sparked a temporary shift in how FEMA was operating in western North Carolina.

In Tennessee, Carter County Sheriff Mike Farley said that witnesses reported Saturday that FEMA workers were being harassed by a small group of armed people in the remote community of Elk Mills, not far from the North Carolina border. No arrests were made, but Farley said that the people who showed up were looking to cause trouble.

“It was a little hairy situation, no guns were drawn, but they were armed,” Farley told The Associated Press.

Farley said his department was setting up a 24-hour command post in Elk Mills because of what happened. The region is still largely cut off from the rest of the state because Helene damaged and destroyed many bridges and roads.

“The community in that area has been great to work with, but this group is trying to create more hate toward the federal government,” Farley said.

Over the weekend, reports emerged that FEMA workers aiding the Helene efforts could be targeted by a militia, but authorities later said they believed that a man who was arrested and accused of making threats acted alone. FEMA has said operational changes were made to keep personnel safe “out of an abundance of caution,” but workers were back in the field Monday.

Helene’s arrival three weeks ago in the Southeast decimated remote towns throughout Appalachia and killed at least 246 people, with a little over half of the storm-related deaths in North Carolina. On Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said that a task force that has taken calls from concerned loved ones throughout the storm’s aftermath still has a working list of approximately 90 people who haven’t been accounted for.

William Parsons, the man accused of making the threats in North Carolina, said he believed social media reports that FEMA was refusing to help people, but that he realized that wasn't the case when he arrived in hard-hit Lake Lure, a small community about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Asheville.

During a phone interview with WGHP-TV, the 44-year-old Parsons read aloud a social media post he made that said “We the people” were looking for volunteers on Saturday to “overtake the FEMA site in Lake Lure and send the products up the mountains.”

Parsons, of Bostic, explained that he believed FEMA was withholding supplies and that his post was a call for action, not violence.

“So we were going to go up there and forcefully remove that fence,” he said, but he found a different situation than he expected in Lake Lure. He said he wound up volunteering that day in the relief effort, but law enforcement officers cast doubt on that claim Wednesday.

Capt. Jamie Keever, of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office, said in an email Wednesday that a soldier called 911 on Saturday after someone overheard Parsons making a comment that “he was going after FEMA and was not afraid of law enforcement or soldiers.”

Keever said Parsons was arrested at a Lake Lure grocery store that was a site for a FEMA bus and a donation site for relief efforts.

“It does not appear Parsons was involved in any relief efforts at the time and if so why was he armed,” Keever said. “I think based off of his statement he was prepared to take action with his firearms and take the donations.”

Parsons had an AR-style rifle and two handguns, according to his arrest warrant.

Sheriff’s officials said Parsons was charged with “going armed to the terror of the public,” a misdemeanor, and released after posting bond. The sheriff’s office said initial reports indicated that a “truckload of militia” was involved in making the threat, but further investigation determined that Parsons acted alone.

Parsons told WGHP-TV that he had a legally owned gun on his hip and his legally owned rifle and pistol in his vehicle.

A public defender was appointed for Parsons during a court appearance Wednesday, WYFF-TV reported. The public defender's office didn't immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

Trump re-ups ‘Barack Hussein Obama’ conspiracy when asked about tariffs at economic forum

Gustaf Kilander
Tue, October 15, 2024 

Former President Donald Trump referred to President Barack Obama by his middle name Hussein when asked about tariffs during an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday.

Trump was speaking to Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait when he started to ramble about a variety of subjects, such as the importance of steel production during war times before he began to brag about his record of keeping the US out of armed conflict.

As Trump jumped from one subject to another, Micklethwait sought to bring the subject back to tariffs, saying one of the issues with Trump’s proposed tariff policy is geopolitics. He noted that the former president has received some credit for saying that there’s effectively a cold war with China.

The Bloomberg editor went on to note that the US won the Cold War with the Soviet Union “because it rallied allies to it” but that Trump is suggesting “slamming allies with 20 percent, 30 percent tariffs.”

Micklethwait asked how it would help the US take on China if it turned its allies against itself.

“China thinks we’re a stupid country, a very stupid country,” Trump said. “They can’t believe that somebody finally got wise to them. Not one president, Bush, Obama, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of him? Think of it. Not one president charged China anything.”


Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois, on October 15, 2024. Trump emphasized former President Barack Obama’s middle name during the interview (AFP via Getty Images)

Trump has long used Obama’s middle name in an attempt to make him appear un-American.

Amid Obama’s rise, many on the right, including Trump, pushed the baseless “birther” conspiracy theory that he was a Muslim born in Kenya, and thus ineligible to be commander-in-chief.

Earlier in the conversation about tariffs, Trump said: “I was the only president in 82 years that kept you out of a war, except I defeated ISIS, but I inherited that war.”

The former president explained his veering from subject to subject by returning to the concept of “the weave.”

“You have the weave, as long as you end up in the right location at the end,” he said. “We have never been so close to World War III as we are right now with what's going on in Ukraine and Russia and the Middle East.”

“I had no wars in the whole world ... I talked plenty of countries out of wars ... And I knocked out ISIS in a matter of weeks. It was supposed to take four to five years. I did it in a matter of weeks,” he added. “We actually have a great military but we don't know how to use it.”



Obama slammed Trump and some of his supporters as he hit the trail for Vice President Kamala Harris last week.

“I’m sorry, gentlemen, I’ve noticed this, especially with some men who seem to think some of Trump’s behavior — the bullying and the putting people down — is a sign of strength. And I am here to tell you – That is not what real strength is. It never has been,” Obama said in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

“Real strength is about working hard. And carrying a heavy load without complaining. Real strength is about taking responsibility for your actions and telling the truth even when it’s inconvenient,” Obama added. “Real strength is about helping people who need it and standing up for those who can’t always stand up for themselves. That is what we should want for our daughters and our sons, and that is what I want to see in a president of the United States of America.”
ICYMI

Donald Trump Suggests Using Military to Stop ‘Radical Left’ on Election Day: ‘The Enemy from Within’

Danielle Jennings
Tue, October 15, 2024 

In a Fox News interview, Trump said that "lunatic" Democrats like Adam Schiff, who led his first impeachment trial, are "tough to handle" enemies that pose bigger national threats than Russia and China



Spencer Platt/GettyDonald Trump

Former President Donald Trump recently made a suggestion that the military could be used to shut down “radical left lunatics.”

During an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures on Sunday, Oct. 13, Trump was asked about President Joe Biden’s previous comment that he fears there could be chaos from MAGA supporters on Election Day.


The former president reacted by saying he does not think his supporters — who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent Biden's election victory from being certified in Congress — will ignite chaos, saying the real election threat is "the enemy from within."

“I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics,” he continued. “And I think it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

Related: Donald Trump Compared to Hitler After Vowing to Invoke 1700s Law Used to Justify Japanese Internment Camps

Bill Pugliano/GettyDonald Trump

Though the context of Trump's initial remark implied that he was talking about policing militant people stirring up trouble on Election Day, the former president dug a deeper hole for himself by also telling Fox News that Democrats like California Rep. Adam Schiff — who led the prosecution in Trump's first impeachment trial — are part of the "enemy from within."


"The thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff," he said later in the interview. He then called those people "more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries."

Related: Trump Secretly Shared COVID-19 Tests with Putin and Stayed in Touch After Presidency, Bob Woodward Claims



AP/Shutterstock House impeachment manager Adam Schiff, a Democratic congressman from California, on Jan. 22, 2020

Following the comment about policing liberals with the National Guard or military, Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign responded, stating that Trump’s remarks should "alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security."

In a statement shared with The Hill, Harris’ senior campaign adviser and senior spokesperson Ian Sams said, "Donald Trump is suggesting that his fellow Americans are worse ‘enemies’ than foreign adversaries, and he is saying he would use the military against them."

Related: Trump’s Rumored AG Candidate Warns of Retaliation Against Liberal Prosecutors, Judges, Witnesses: 'Go to Hell'

Sams continued by calling attention to Trump's previous claim that he would briefly be a "dictator" if he took office in January 2025.

"Taken with his vow to be a dictator on ‘day one,’ calls for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution, and plans to surround himself with sycophants who will give him unchecked, unprecedented power if he returns to office, this should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security," Sams added. "What Donald Trump is promising is dangerous, and returning him to office is simply a risk Americans cannot afford."

Steven Ferdman/GC ImagesDonald Trump

Trump's new remark about the "radical left" comes after a series of aggressive statements about how he will handle his adversaries if elected president.

When Fox News' Laura Ingraham recently asked him to confirm that he wouldn't weaponize the justice system against his political enemies, he said that "a lot of people" want him to do just that.

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After Trump baselessly accused Biden and Harris of playing politics with hurricane relief efforts, two former White House officials alleged that it was Trump who wielded disaster aid as a political tool during his presidency, refusing to provide California with federal relief for a 2018 wildfire until they showed him that the affected area was Republican-leaning.

Trump seemingly vowed to do it again while speaking to California voters on the campaign trail in October, threatening that he would refuse to give the heavily Democratic state "fire money" down the road if the governor doesn't meet his demands.

Related: Donald Trump Threatens to Deny California Federal Disaster Aid as President If They Don’t Do What He Asks

The idea of using the military to police liberals hits at a similar theme found in Project 2025, a far-right playbook for Trump's presidency that was drafted by his allies, about refocusing federal agents.

The Project 2025 mandate suggests that the FBI should be overhauled to increase federal law enforcement presence in select areas of the U.S. where the administration believes its laws aren't being enforced strictly enough.

It also advises that a potential Trump administration should sue local government officials who don't prosecute crimes to the administration's liking.


Trump’s threat to deploy military against ‘radical left’ draws backlash

Ellen Mitchell
Wed, October 16, 2024 

Trump’s threat to deploy military against ‘radical left’ draws backlash

Former President Trump’s suggestion that U.S. troops could be used to go after “radical-left lunatics” following the presidential election has alarmed those in the military community and bolstered Democratic warnings about the dangers of a second Trump term.

Trump, who warned Sunday that he could deploy active or National Guard troops to counter the “enemy from within,” quickly drew condemnation from Vice President Harris’s campaign, which said the comments “should alarm every American who cares about their freedom and security.” Harris herself called Trump “increasingly unstable and unhinged” during her Monday campaign rally in Erie, Pa.

Trump has suggested deploying the military within U.S. borders before, and his former Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the public should take Trump’s comments “seriously.”

“Yes I do, of course,” Esper said Monday evening on CNN when asked whether he fears Trump would try to utilize the military against U.S. citizens.

“Because I lived through that, and I saw over the summer of 2020 where President Trump and those around him wanted to use the National Guard in various capacities in cities such as Chicago and Portland and Seattle,” Esper said.

Trump, in an interview with Fox News that aired Sunday, dismissed President Biden’s concerns that Election Day wouldn’t be peaceful and said he thinks “the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and destroyed our country.”

“I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical-left lunatics,” Trump said.

“And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by [the] National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” he continued.

The remarks quickly drew outrage from the left, with Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), calling Trump’s comments “dangerous” and “un-American.”

“As someone who wore this nation’s uniform proudly … the idea of sending U.S. military personnel against American citizens makes me sick to my stomach,” said Walz, who served for 24 years in the Army National Guard before running for public office.

“It’s a call for violence, plain and simple. And it’s pretty damn un-American if you ask me,” he told attendees at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Monday.

The GOP presidential nominee wouldn’t immediately have command of U.S. troops should he win in November and would only gain control following the inauguration in mid-January.

Former New York Rep. Max Rose (D), a senior adviser to liberal veterans group VoteVets who serves in the Army Reserve, said what Trump and his associates are seeking to do “is not just weaponize the military but actually try to replace leaders in the military who stand up against him and follow the rule of law.”

Speaking Monday evening on MSNBC’s “The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle,” he added: “It just shows yet again how serious and grave these coming days are, not just this one election, but the future of this country.”

And retired Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner said he feared Trump could use the National Guard as “his own personal police force.”

“If he was to be the commander in chief again, everything changes. The Supreme Court has given him immunity,” Manner said on CNN. “And the threshold for turning the National Guard into his personal police force is quite low.”

Manner explained that as long as Trump had a consenting state governor, he could authorize the funds to pay them and “use the National Guard almost in any way that he wants.”

“Most Americans don’t know how very easy it would be for an unhinged president to use the military against our own citizens,” he added.

Pushback from Republicans on Trump’s comments, meanwhile, has been virtually nonexistent.

Rep. Byron Donalds (Fla.) appeared to be the lone Republican to publicly break from Trump on Tuesday, saying “we’re not going to have” the U.S. military deployed inside U.S. borders.

“Obviously we don’t want to have the United States military — we’re not going to have that be deployed in the United States,” Donalds said Monday on CNN. “That’s been long-standing law in our country since the founding of the republic.”

Donalds was among the 147 Republicans who voted against certifying the 2020 election results in January 2021.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) sparred with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday over the comments, with Youngkin refusing to accept that Trump was threatening to deploy U.S. troops against his political enemies.

This isn’t the first time Trump has suggested using the military to accomplish his political goals, as he has previously opined using troops to aid in the mass deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally.

Trump also used the National Guard along with U.S. Park Police to clear Lafayette Square of protesters in the summer of 2020 so he could walk from the White House and pose for a photo in front of a historic church.

That incident came just after Trump delivered remarks declaring himself “your president of law and order,” calling on governors to deploy National Guard units and “dominate the streets” amid sweeping racial justice protests.

He also has talked of weeding out military officers who don’t share his ideology and “moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas” to the southern border, according to his platform known as Agenda 47.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit watchdog organization, scoured more than 13,000 of Trump’s Truth Social posts from Jan. 1, 2023, to April 1, 2024, and found that he vowed at least 19 times to weaponize law enforcement against civilians, including multiple branches of the military.

While the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act largely prohibits active duty troops from carrying out law enforcement duties inside the United States, Trump’s supporters have cited the Insurrection Act of 1807 as a possible law he could use to get around that.

The 200-year-old statute, meant to curb rebellions, was used during the Civil War and during the Civil Rights Movement. It was last used by then-President George H.W. Bush during the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

The law says the president, as commander in chief, can call on American troops if there’s been “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination or conspiracy” in a state that “opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.”

Whether the law could be legally applied to Trump’s political goals remains to be seen.

What’s far more likely to come to fruition, should Trump return to the White House, is his plan to remove military officials that don’t see eye to eye with him; the president is responsible for promoting officers in the military, though they would have to be approved by the Senate.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. 

Stellantis should deliver on investment commitments, White House says

As Fiat stalls, Italy's Turin struggles for new identity · Reuters

Updated Wed, October 16, 2024
By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Chrysler-parent Stellantis should make good on its commitments to the United Auto Workers union and to communities impacted by plant closures in the United States, the White House said Wednesday.

The deal reached in 2023 between the UAW and Stellantis "included a commitment to reopen and expand production in communities that were devastated by previous plant closures," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. "What we want to see is Stellantis certainly deliver on those commitments to the UAW and to the communities."


The UAW says its local chapters could launch multiple strikes after asserting Stellantis has failed to keep the product and investment commitments it agreed to after the union conducted a six-week strike last year.

Stellantis agreed in 2023 within the UAW contract to invest $1.5 billion to reopen its shuttered Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant and build new mid-size trucks by 2027 as part of $19 billion in overall investment plans.

The automaker first acknowledged in August delaying some investments because of economic conditions but reiterated on Wednesday "it remains committed to investing in the U.S. to create jobs and support its communities."

President Joe Biden traveled to Illinois in November 2023 to tout the agreement.

Stellantis in recent weeks has filed 11 lawsuits against the UAW and local units, saying the union has violated its contract by threatening to strike over the company's delays in planned investments.

Separately, Jean-Pierre did not respond directly to a question about a report that Stellantis plans to move some Ram 1500 pickup production to Mexico. Stellantis is currently making Ram pickup trucks in Mexico and Michigan.

Republican Donald Trump has vowed, if elected, to impose 100% tariffs or higher on all imported Mexican vehicles.

Stellantis said on Wednesday it recently announced a $235 million investment in its Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan to support ongoing production of Ram trucks. The company added as it manages "the transition to electrification, it will continue to abide by the 2023 collective bargaining agreement."

Stellantis added "no other announcements have been made about production of the Ram 1500."

(Reporting by David Shepardson, Gabriella Borter and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski and Sonali Paul)
MODI'S SECRET SERVICE IN CANADA

Trudeau says Canadian police went public with Indian diplomat allegations to prevent more violence

ROB GILLIES
Updated Wed, October 16, 2024 




Canada Foreign Interference
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testifies at the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. 
(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP)


TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada's national police force went public with its allegations against Indian diplomats this week because it had to disrupt violent acts in Canada including drive-by-shootings, extortions and even murder.

The Royal Canadian Police said Monday it had identified India’s top diplomat in the country and five other diplomats as persons of interest in the June 2023 killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The RCMP also said they uncovered evidence of an intensifying campaign against Canadians by agents of the Indian government.

“We are not looking to provoke or create a fight with India," Trudeau said. "The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada. We need to respond in order to ensure Canadians safety.”


Niijar's killing has strained bilateral relations between India and Canada for over a year and boiled over this week as the countries expelled each other’s top diplomats over those allegations and other alleged crimes in Canada.

Trudeau said he has tried not to “blow up” relations with India and that Canadian officials provided evidence privately with their Indian counterparts who, he said, have been uncooperative.

“The decision by the RCMP to go forward with that announcement was entirely anchored in public safety and a goal of disrupting the chain of activities that was resulting in drive by shootings, home invasions, violent extortion and even murder in and across Canada," Trudeau said while testifying Wednesday before the Foreign Interference Commission in Ottawa.

Trudeau said Indian diplomats have been passing information about Canadians to the highest levels of the Indian government which was then shared with organized crime, resulting in violence against Canadians.

“It was the RCMP's determination that that scheme needed to be disrupted," he said.

RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said Monday police have evidence allegedly tying Indian government agents to other homicides and violent acts in Canada. He declined to provide specifics, citing ongoing investigations, but he said there have been well over a dozen credible and imminent threats that have resulted in police warning members of the South Asian community, notably the pro-Khalistan, or Sikh independence, movement.

Trudeau said India has violated Canada’s sovereignty. India has rejected the accusations as absurd.

In response to Trudeau’s testimony at the inquiry, India’s foreign ministry claimed again that Canada has not provided evidence of the allegations. In a statement, the ministry blamed Trudeau for “the damage that this cavalier behavior has caused to India-Canada relations.”

India has repeatedly criticized Trudeau’s government for being soft on supporters of the Khalistan movement who live in Canada. The Khalistan movement is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.

Nijjar, 45, was fatally shot in his pickup truck after he left the Sikh temple he led in Surrey, British Columbia. An Indian-born citizen of Canada, he owned a plumbing business and was a leader in what remains of a once-strong movement to create an independent Sikh homeland.

Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Niijar’s murder and are awaiting trial.

Trudeau noted his government could have gone public with the allegations when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the G20 Summit in September 2023, but chose not to. He met with Modi and expressed concerns privately then.

“It was a big moment for India welcoming all the leaders of the world to New Delhi for a very important summit and we had the opportunity of making it a very uncomfortable summit for India if we went public with these allegations ahead of time," said Trudeau. “We chose to continue to work with India behind the scenes to try and get India to cooperate with us.”

Trudeau said that when he returned home India's response, particularly through the media, was to attack Canada.

Trudeau later went public in Parliament with the allegation that the Indian government might have been involved in Niijar’s killing. He said there were about to be media stories detailing the allegation of India's possible involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh on Canadian soil. He said he went public because of worries about public safety.

Canada’s foreign minister on Monday said violence in Canada has worsened since then.

The British government said India should cooperate with Canada’s investigation into accusations that its government has been involved in an escalating number of violent crimes in Canada. In a statement, the British Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said India's cooperation with Canada’s legal process “is the right next step.”

A U.S. State Department spokesman told a news conference Tuesday that the U.S. had long been asking India to cooperate with Canadian authorities.


India made ‘horrific mistake’ by violating Canadian sovereignty, says Justin Trudeau

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
THE INDEPENDENT UK
Thu, October 17, 2024 

Scroll back up to restore default view.


Justin Trudeau said India made a "horrific mistake" by allegedly interfering in Canada's sovereignty as bilateral relations degraded to their lowest point in decades.

The Canadian prime minister made the comment just two days after Ottawa expelled six Indian diplomats and New Delhi followed suit as the fallout from the investigation into the assassination of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar continued to damage ties between the two countries.

The Canadian government has claimed that India’s high commissioner and other top diplomats were directly involved in the killing of Nijjar. India has denied the allegation as "preposterous". New Delhi reacted furiously when Ottawa first made the allegation last year by briefly suspending visas for Canadians.

Nijjar, 45, a Sikh activist and plumber, was shot dead by masked gunmen in Surrey, outside Vancouver, in June 2023. He was a face of the Khalistan movement, which seeks to carve out an independent Sikh homeland in western India. New Delhi had long accused Nijjar, a Canadian citizen born in India, of being involved in terrorism, an allegation he denied.

“The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada," Mr Trudeau told an independent panel looking into suspected external interference in Canadian politics on Wednesday.

He said Canada had to take violations of its sovereignty and of international law seriously.

The Indian foreign ministry responded that Mr Trudeau’s deposition confirmed its position that Canada had provided "no evidence whatsoever" to support its allegations against Indian diplomats. ”The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with prime minister Trudeau alone," foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

Mr Trudeau said he was briefed about Nijjar’s murder in the summer of 2023. He received intelligence from Canadian authorities and "possibly from Five Eyes allies", he added, which made it "incredibly clear that India was involved" in the killing of a "Canadian on Canadian soil".

The Five Eyes is a global intelligence network of the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand.

Canadian police have charged four Indian nationals living in the North American country with Niijar’s killing. They are all awaiting trial.

Mr Trudeau said his government could have gone public with this information when Indian prime minister Narendra Modi hosted the G20 Summit in September 2023, but chose not to. He met with Mr Modi and expressed concerns privately then.

"At that point, it was primarily intelligence, not hard evidentiary proof. So we said, let us work together and look into your security services," Mr Trudeau told the inquiry.

"We chose to continue to work with India behind the scenes to try and get India to cooperate with us.”

Mr Trudeau said he had hoped to handle the matter “in a responsible way" that didn’t hurt the bilateral relationship but New Delhi rejected Ottawa’s request for assistance.

"It was clear that the Indian government's approach was to criticise us and the integrity of our democracy," he said.

The prime minister said he went public because of worries about public safety which Canadian authorities say have only worsened since.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police commissioner Mike Duheme alleged on Monday that they have evidence tying Indian government agents to other homicides and violent acts in the country. He declined to give details, citing ongoing investigations, but said there had been over a dozen credible and imminent threats resulting in police warning members of the South Asian community, notably the pro-Khalistan movement.

Canada’s top envoy to India, Stewart Wheeler, who New Delhi has ordered to leave by Saturday night, told AFP that Ottawa had provided “credible, irrefutable evidence of ties between agents of the Government of India and the murder of a Canadian citizen”.

The British government said on Wednesday that India should cooperate with the Canadian investigation into accusations that its agents were involved in an escalating number of violent crimes in Canada.

In a statement, the British Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office said India's cooperation with Canada’s legal process “is the right next step”.

A US State Department spokesman said Washington had long been asking India to cooperate with Canadian authorities.

Trudeau accuses India of 'massive mistake' amid diplomatic row

Nadine Yousif - BBC News, Toronto and Nikita Yadav - BBC News, Delhi
Thu, October 17, 2024 

On Wednesday, Trudeau appeared before a public inquiry looking into foreign interference in Canadian politics [AFP via Getty Images]

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of making a "massive mistake" that Canada could not ignore if Delhi was behind the death of a Sikh separatist leader last year on Canadian soil.

Trudeau made the comments two days after Canadian officials accused India of being involved in homicides, extortions and other violent acts targeting Indian dissidents on Canadian soil.

After Canada levelled the accusations on Monday, both countries expelled top envoys and diplomats, ramping up already strained tensions.

India has rejected the allegations as “preposterous”, and accused Trudeau of pandering to Canada’s large Sikh community for political gain.

On Wednesday, India hit back angrily again and called Trudeau's behaviour "cavalier".

"Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and Indian diplomats," foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement.

"The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behaviour has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone."

In his remarks before a public inquiry looking into foreign interference in Canadian politics, Trudeau had criticised India's response to the investigation into Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing in June 2023.

According to Trudeau, he was briefed on the murder later that summer and received intelligence that made it "incredibly clear" that India was involved in the killing.

He said Canada had to take any alleged violation of its sovereignty and the international rule of law seriously.

Mr Nijjar was shot and killed in Surrey, British Columbia. He had been a vocal supporter of the Khalistan movement, which demands a separate Sikh homeland, and publicly campaigned for it.

At the time, however, Canada's intelligence did not amount to hard evidence or proof, Trudeau told the inquiry.

Police have since charged four Indian nationals over the Mr Nijjar's death.

Trudeau said he had hoped to handle the matter “in a responsible way" that didn't "blow up" the bilateral relationship with a significant trade partner, but that Indian officials rebuffed Canada's requests for assistance into the probe.

"It was clear that the Indian government's approach was to criticise us and the integrity of our democracy," he said.

Shortly after he made the allegations public, saying in that September that Canada had "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder.

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The prime minister also added on Wednesday more detail to further allegations released this week by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The police force took the rare step of publicly disclosing information about multiple ongoing investigations “due to significant threat to public safety” in Canada.

RCMP said on Monday there had been “over a dozen credible and imminent threats to life” which “specifically” focused on members of the pro-Khalistan movement.

Subsequent investigations had led to police uncovering alleged criminal activity orchestrated by government of India agents, according to the RCMP.

Trudeau said the force made the announcement with “a goal of disrupting the chain of activities that was resulting in drive-by shootings, home invasions, violent extortion and even murder" in the South Asian community across Canada.

India has vehemently denied all allegations and maintained that Canada has provided no evidence to support its claims.

The RCMP and national security advisers travelled to Singapore last weekend to meet Indian officials - a meeting the RCMP said was not fruitful.

Following Monday's allegations from Canadian officials, the UK and US urged India to co-operate with Canada's legal process.

On Wednesday, the British Foreign Office said in a statement that it is in contact with Ottawa "about the serious developments outlined in the independent investigations in Canada".

The UK has full confidence in Canada’s judicial system,” the statement added.

"The Government of India's co-operation with Canada's legal process is the right next step."

The US, another close Canadian ally, said that India was not co-operating with Canadian authorities as the White House had hoped it would.

“We have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously and we want to see the government of India co-operate with Canada in its investigation," said spokesperson Matthew Miller at a US State Department briefing on Tuesday.

"Obviously, they have not chosen that path.”

Canada's foreign minister, Melanie Joly, has said that Ottawa is in close contact with the Five Eyes intelligence alliance - comprising the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - on the matter.


Deepening Canada-India standoff seen as a short-term boost for Modi, Trudeau

Tue, October 15, 2024 

: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G20 summit in India

By Krishn Kaushik and David Ljunggren

NEW DELHI/OTTAWA (Reuters) - The prime ministers of India and Canada could benefit politically in the short term from the unprecedented expulsion of top diplomats from each country, analysts said on Tuesday.

Canada kicked out six Indian diplomats on Monday, linking them to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader and alleging a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada. India retaliated by telling six Canadian diplomats to leave.

Although the tit-for-tat move sent bilateral relations skidding to a new low, Narendra Modi and Justin Trudeau are unlikely to mind too much. Both leaders are in their third terms and face political challenges.

Analysts suggested the move could bolster Modi's image as a hawk on national security.

"I think people will see the government of India standing up to intimidation and coercive measures applied by a developed country," said Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India's former foreign secretary. "The public will strongly back Prime Minister Modi and the government."

In a June election, Modi suffered a setback when his Bharatiya Janata Party unexpectedly lost its majority. In his weakened position, Modi is forced to rely on regional allies to form a coalition government.

Canada is home to the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab, or about 2% of Canada's population. Demonstrations in recent years to carve a separate homeland have irked India's government, which regularly accuses Canada of harboring separatists.

Harsh Pant, foreign policy head at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank, said the more Trudeau targeted India, the better it was for Modi.

"(He is seen as) a leader of a country standing up for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of a nation. ... That someway encapsulates why Modi and his popularity will not be dented," he said.

For Trudeau, whose Liberal Party is trailing far behind in the polls for a national election that must be held by October 2025, the news took the spotlight off a supposed effort by unhappy legislators to urge him to quit and let a new leader take over.

"There will be time to talk about internal party intrigue at another moment," he told reporters when asked about the matter on Sunday.

"Right now, this government and indeed all parliamentarians should be focused on standing up for Canada's sovereignty, standing against interference and looking to be there to support Canadians in this difficult moment."

The leaders of both Canada's left-leaning opposition parties, whose support Trudeau needs to keep his minority government alive, said they backed the expulsions.

But Cristine de Clercy, professor of politics at Trent University in Peterborough, said any bump for Trudeau would likely be brief.

"You could say, yes, the short-term upside is to displace headlines," she said. "The list of domestic issues that he has to address is so much longer and more complicated than this single incident in a faraway country."

The politically influential Sikh community has backed the Liberals and other parties in recent years. At least one leader said he welcomed the expulsions but did not expect the dispute to impact domestic politics.

"It shows that the government is actually holding India to account, which is actually their job," said Moninder Singh, a spokesperson for the nonprofit B.C. Gurdwaras Council which represents Sikh institutions in the province.

(Additional reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Richard Chang)


US, UK Push Ahead With Modi Despite Bombshell Trudeau Claims

Laura Dhillon Kane
Wed, October 16, 2024 


(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s closest allies signaled they will continue to pursue stronger ties with Narendra Modi’s government, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations that Indian diplomats secretly collected intelligence on Sikh separatists living in Canada who were then threatened, extorted or killed.

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The extraordinary claims, backed by statements from Canada’s national police force, are the latest development in a dispute that began last year, when Trudeau accused India of involvement in the murder of a Sikh activist in British Columbia.

Canada now alleges that Indian officials were involved in a much wider array of illegal activities on Canadian soil. It expelled six Indian diplomats on Monday after India refused to waive their diplomatic immunity for questioning. India responded by ordering six Canadian diplomats to leave.

Trudeau’s allegations have the potential to undermine the public case for western allies strengthening their relations with India, but both the UK and US governments issued relatively muted statements on Tuesday that suggested little change in their approach.

“We have made clear that the allegations are extremely serious and they need to be taken seriously, and we’ve wanted to see the government of India cooperate with Canada in its investigation,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. “Obviously they have not chosen that path.”

At the same time, Miller said India continues to be “an incredibly strong partner of the United States” and that New Delhi is key to the broader US vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Trudeau spoke by phone with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the latest developments. A brief readout released by Downing Street didn’t mention India by name, but said both leaders “agreed on the importance of the rule of law” and to remain in “close contact pending the conclusions of the investigation.”

On Wednesday, the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office named India’s government in a statement, saying its cooperation with Canada on the investigation “is the right next step.” The UK was in contact with its Canadian partners about the allegations and it had full confidence in Canada’s judicial system, it said.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters didn’t refer to India in his statement Tuesday. “The alleged criminal conduct outlined publicly by Canadian law enforcement authorities, if proven, would be very concerning,” he said.

Western countries have increasingly courted India as a geopolitical counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region — despite their distaste with elements of Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. The UK is seeking a free trade agreement with India, while the US is partnering with the nation on defense, clean technology and energy.

Canada’s claims bring out into the open the question of whether Indian diplomats may be involved in similar activities in other western nations with large Sikh diasporas. The US is already grappling with this issue behind the scenes, adopting a “quiet diplomacy” approach to its own allegation that an Indian government agent ordered the assassination of a US citizen in New York — a plot that was foiled.

“This issue is not unique to Canada, although the diplomatic fallout and the way all of this has unfolded publicly is unique to Canada,” Vina Nadjibulla, vice president of research and strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said in an interview.

The US has made a calculation that public shaming will work less effectively than cooperating with India — and to some extent it has been proven correct, she said.

Indian officials were in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the US allegation that one of its agents tried to arrange the killing of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, an American Sikh separatist. Miller said the timing was coincidental to Canada’s claims.

Bloomberg has reported that the internal Indian probe has resulted in a finding that rogue agents were to blame and that several Indian officials have departed the spy agency as a result. On Tuesday, the Hindustan Times reported that India had arrested an official identified in the US indictment as having directed the plot.

India has established no such internal inquiry into Canada’s allegations — instead, it has only denied, obfuscated and attacked in response, Trudeau said Monday. While the difference is also due to the US’s status as a superpower, it does speak to the efficacy of the US approach, Nadjibulla said.

‘It Needs Its Allies’

Canadian police and Trudeau said they spoke out publicly on Monday to counter an ongoing public safety threat and because efforts to work with India were unsuccessful.

Still, Canada’s strategy has been frustrating to allies and may not ultimately be constructive, Nadjibulla said. “Canada cannot effect change of behavior on its own. It needs its allies,” she said. “So while it’s good for us to stand on principle, the efficacy of that will only be determined on whether or not others stand with us.”

India, for its part, has called Canada’s claims “preposterous.” It had designated both Pannun and the slain Sikh separatist in British Columbia, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, as terrorists.

Trudeau and his foreign minister, Melanie Joly, said Monday they had briefed their Five Eyes partners: the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. A Canadian government official who asked not to be identified to discuss internal matters said they aren’t expecting big shows of public support from allies.

Trudeau and Joly, the official said, understand that this is a sensitive diplomatic matter and other countries may pursue their own approaches. However, the official stressed that allies support Canada’s probe behind closed doors.

Pannun said in an interview that the quiet diplomacy of the other Five Eyes nations won’t stop Modi’s administration. The Indian government feels encouraged that it has faced “no accountability” from the US, UK and others, he said.

“They are not being openly and publicly admonished, and they can continue to order assassinations of pro-Khalistan Sikhs and get away with it,” he said.

--With assistance from Iain Marlow, Alex Morales and Dan Strumpf.

India made 'horrific mistake' in violating Canada's sovereignty, Trudeau says

UPI
Thu, October 17, 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) of posing a threat to members of the South Asian community in Canada. File Photo by Press Information Bureau/UPI


Oct. 17 (UPI) -- India made a "horrific mistake" by attempting to violate Canada's sovereignty, Prime Minister Justine Trudeau said, as Ottawa continues to lob stringent accusations that New Delhi agents pose a threat to the lives of Southeast Asians on Canadian soil.

Trudeau made the staunch criticism of India on Wednesday during the second day of a two-day public inquiry into foreign interference, two days after Canada and India expelled one another's diplomats as Ottawa has become more vocal about alleged threats posed by India to the Canadian public.

According to a statement from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on Monday, investigations have uncovered "serious criminal activity" being committed by agents of India within the country.

The federal police agency said that over the past few years it has charged "a significant number" of people linked to the Indian government for direct involvement in homicides, extortions and other criminal acts.

There have also been more than a dozen credible and imminent threats to life targeting members of the South Asian community, specifically members of the separatist Khalistan movement, which seeks to create a separate homeland for Sikhs in India's Punjab region.

Trudeau has previously accused India of being behind the June 18, 2023, assassination of Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

"We are not looking to provoke or create a fight with India," the Canadian leader said Wednesday during the hearing. "The Indian government made a horrific mistake in thinking that they could interfere as aggressively as they did in the safety and sovereignty of Canada and we need to respond in order to ensure Canadians are safe."

India has staunchly rejected the accusations. Following Trudeau's testimony on Wednesday, New Delhi's foreign ministry spokesman, Shri Randhir Jaiswal, released a statement saying it only confirmed that Ottawa has no evidence to support its claims.

"Canada has presented us no evidence whatsoever in support of the serious allegations that it has chosen to level against India and India diplomats," Jaiswal said. "The responsibility for the damage that this cavalier behavior has caused to India-Canada relations lies with Prime Minister Trudeau alone."



The U.S. economy under Donald Trump and Joe Biden, in 3 charts

Photo: Javier Ghersi (Getty Images)


Deena Zaidi
Thu, October 17, 2024 

The U.S. economy remains a heated topic in presidential debates and a top concern for American voters. Eight in ten registered voters say it will be crucial to their vote in the 2024 presidential elections.

Under a new presidential term, unforeseen events have spillover effects and can undermine the most well-planned strategies, making identifying the exact cause and effect difficult. Barack Obama inherited an economy during the Great Recession while Donald Trump’s last year in office was disrupted by a pandemic, which spilled over to Biden’s term.


While presidents have little control over the economy they inherit, they can significantly influence policies around trade, immigration, and distributing the budget — keys to a thriving economy.

It is important to note that, unlike the stock market, the economic numbers are lagging indicators, making direct comparisons between presidencies more complex.
Inflation

Donald Trump’s (2017-2021) presidency saw an average year-over-year inflation rate of 1.9%. The consumer-price index (CPI) rose 7.8% cumulatively during his term. Trump’s presidency saw continued low inflation until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.


Inflation surged under Biden, but largely due to inherited factors. It rose from 1.4% in January 2021 and peaked at 9% in June 2022, after which it declined to 2.4% in September 2024.

datawrapper-chart-b1YNd


To bolster the economy, the Fed lowered its benchmark rate by 50 basis points for the first time since March 2020. At the press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “Our patient approach has paid dividends — inflation is much closer to our target” of a 2% annual rate. The upside risks to inflation have diminished and the upside risks to employment have increased.”
Jobs

The unemployment rate during both the Trump and Biden administrations started above 4%. The jobless rate when Trump became President was 4.7% and before the pandemic touched 3.5%. However, during the pandemic, the rate peaked at 14.8% due to the Covid lockdown measures. The unemployment rate was 6.4% in January 2021.

When President Biden took office, unemployment continued to fall and in January 2023, it fell to 3.4% — the lowest in more than 70 years. In July 2024, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% before falling to 4.1% in September.

datawrapper-chart-d0JJe


Economic growth

The growth comparisons are skewed due to the pandemic, which led to a dramatic economic collapse as many businesses shut down. While the event weighed on the GDP numbers under the Trump administration, in Biden’s term, the pandemic recovery boosted these figures.

Between January 2017 and January 2021, the average annual growth rate was 2.3%, which included the economic slowdown and recovery from the Covid pandemic. On January 31, 2020, the Trump administration declared a state of emergency and passed stimulus measures which included the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide relief to individuals and businesses. Trump’s presidency saw a brief but severe recession. However, the economy showed recovery under Trump, a trend that continued under the Biden administration. The U.S. has shown the strongest recovery within the G7.

In the second quarter of 2024, GDP increased at an annualized rate of 3%, unchanged from the second revised estimate. This was an upward revision from 1.6% in the first quarter.

datawrapper-chart-ny6oN