West Wing
A quiet bargain over Canada as a foil
On January 31, 2026, the presidency turned Canada into a foil in a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Jan 31, 2026
2026
The Washington archive
Every Washington Bureau dispatch from January 1 through September 11, kept on this site in full. Pick a month, or start with the latest.
3,036 complete stories · twelve desks · no off-site jump
361 stories from January 2026 · page 1 of 16
What 46 per cent in Tucson says about cloud contracts at DoD
Jan 31, 2026
GLP-1 coverage fights: the view from Langley
Jan 31, 2026
Gulf Coast refining: the view from Capitol Hill
Jan 31, 2026
A legal bargain over a Safe Third Country strain
Jan 31, 2026
The mail-in voting order: the view from the West Wing
Jan 31, 2026
The last-minute week Washington splits a UN corridor fight
Jan 31, 2026
The War
Toledo cannot look away from the Canada spending file
Inside the building that still runs American war, the Canada spending file is colliding with allied patience and Canadian procurement politics.
Marcus Hale · Jan 31, 2026
The Borderline
What 50 per cent in Toledo says about the USMCA review
The relationship that used to be muscle memory is now a file with a clock on it — the USMCA review, seen from both sides of the border.
Sophie Tremblay · Jan 31, 2026
Markets
Bill 1451 and the problem of the gasoline shock
The number that moved Washington on January 31, 2026 was not a speech. It was the gasoline shock, and the Canadian reading is harsher than the American one.
Thomas Bergeron · Jan 31, 2026
The Map
Bill 1450 and the problem of early-state enthusiasm
From Anchorage to the suburbs that decide Congress, early-state enthusiasm is rewriting how campaigns talk about the war, prices and the border.
Peter Lang · Jan 30, 2026
The Floor
The drug-price transparency act hiding inside a USMCA enforcement hammer
Lawmakers spent January 30, 2026 arguing over a drug-price transparency act, and discovered again that Canada is sitting in the margins of the text.
Amrita Shah · Jan 30, 2026
West Wing
Bill 1448 and the problem of the midterm message
On January 30, 2026, the presidency turned the midterm message into a test of discipline, loyalty and the midterm calendar.
James Whitfield · Jan 30, 2026
Industrial Policy
Armed Services turns to platform liability as Tucson watches
The industrial policy coming out of Washington is no longer a slogan. Platform liability is how it shows up in Canadian boardrooms.
David Chen · Jan 30, 2026
Drug Prices
In Little Rock, Medicare drug talks audit the map
American health policy leaks north. Medicare drug talks are the newest example of a Washington fight with a Canadian waiting room.
Rachel Okonkwo · Jan 30, 2026
The Strait
In Des Moines, a Venezuela cargo bet prices the map
A barrel at US$77 turns every hearing into a kitchen-table argument. A Venezuela cargo bet is the latest attempt to look in control.
Owen MacLeod · Jan 30, 2026
The Border
What 41 per cent in Wilmington says about interior enforcement
Washington still tells a southern-border story. The northern one — interior enforcement — is the one Canadian officials actually have to staff.
Nadia Rahman · Jan 30, 2026
The Nine
Judiciary turns to a tariff-authority challenge as Portland, Maine watches
The legal system is now a second front. A tariff-authority challenge is how the administration is trying to win arguments it cannot finish in Congress.
Claire Fontaine · Jan 30, 2026
The Alliance
What 42 per cent in Sioux Falls says about the China secondary-sanctions threat
American statecraft on January 30, 2026 treated the China secondary-sanctions threat as a lever. Allies, including Canada, are doing the arithmetic.
Lila Okada · Jan 30, 2026
What 52 per cent in Grand Rapids says about the strong-dollar problem
Thomas Bergeron · Jan 30, 2026
The northern border staffing measure hiding inside early-state enthusiasm
Peter Lang · Jan 29, 2026
