Friday Focus: Trump becomes more erratic as the midterms approach and why Canadians should anticipate a spring election

Become a Munk Donor ($50 annually) to get 72-hour advanced access to the full length editions of Friday Focus. Go to to sign up. This week, the U.S. President became a troll under a bridge, we learned AI is coming for our jobs, and America could be headed towards war with Iran. But amidst it all, a big story in Minnesota did not get the coverage it deserves: in a major retreat, the Trump administration is withdrawing significant numbers of ICE agents from the area. This story shows the importance of local people on the ground organizing and recording unseemly and unlawful behaviour for the public. Meanwhile there are musings that the President is considering pulling out of CUSMA negotiations as relations with Canada continue to decline and his behaviour gets more erratic. What will happen if he loses in the midterms? A defanged Trump is a more dangerous president than the version we are currently witnessing. In the second half of the show Rudyard and Janice talk about the likelihood of the Liberals calling a spring election to seize on high poll numbers, presenting their case to Canadians as needing a national mandate as they enter into tough CUSMA negotiations. Rudyard and Janice suggest, however, that there is more going on behind the scenes that is driving Canada towards a snap election.

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Friday Focus: Trump becomes more erratic as the midterms approach and why Canadians should anticipate a spring election is an episode from The Munk Debates Podcast by iHeartRadio Podcasts.

This episode is 26:23 long.

This episode was published on Feb 13, 2026.

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