yeah, he got the call...

Hi Global Recap readers,

Remember yesterday’s newsletter, when I wondered whether Ontario Premier Doug Ford got a call from Prime Minister Carney after his ad derailed Carney’s talks to lower US tariffs?

Looks like he did.👇🏼

🇨🇦 CANADA
Ontario Pulls Reagan Ad

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he'll pull the anti-tariff ad that pushed Donald Trump to terminate trade talks with Canada.

• Action: Ford said he will pause the campaign on Monday after speaking with Prime Minister Mark Carney to restart negotiations.

• Spend: Ontario planned about 75 million Canadian dollars for ads using Ronald Reagan’s 1987 anti-tariff address, aiming at US audiences during the World Series games between the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers.

• Accusation: Trump called the ad “fake” and accused Canada of trying to sway an upcoming Supreme Court ruling on his global tariff regime.

  • The Reagan Presidential Foundation said Ontario used selective edits without permission and that the ad “misrepresents” Reagan’s address.

  • Supporters argue the edits only removed references to trade with Japan and kept sections consistent with opposition to Trump-style tariffs.

  • Regardless, some Canadians on social media are questioning Premier Ford’s leadership, saying the controversy has undercut Carney’s push to lower tariffs.

🇺🇸🇻🇪 US & VENEZUELA
Pentagon Sends Carrier

The Pentagon just ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to Latin America, expanding a campaign against transnational criminal organizations.

• Forces: According to US Defense officials, about 6,000 personnel are already spread across eight warships in the Caribbean, with the Ford Carrier Strike Group adding roughly 4,500 sailors as it transits from a port stop in Split, Croatia.

• Hardware: The deployment includes F-35s staged in Puerto Rico, destroyers like USS Mahan, USS Churchill, USS Bainbridge, plus USS Jason Dunham, USS Gravely, USS Stockdale, guided-missile cruiser Lake Erie, and the littoral combat ship Wichita.

• Command: A new joint task force led by Marine Lt. Gen. Calvert Worth now coordinates the buildup, signaling a shift from maritime interdictions to wider options.

• Lethality: Since early September, US boat strikes have destroyed small craft and killed occupants, leaving ~43 dead in 10 attacks, with Trump hinting the land might be next for drug labs and infrastructure tied to Venezuela.

• Special Ops: The MV Ocean Trader and elements of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, including MH-6 Little Birds, have operated within 90 miles of Venezuela, which officials describe as training that keeps rapid options on tap.

Here's a clip of Venezuelan President Maduro calling for peace (in English):

🇪🇺 EUROPEAN UNION
Europe Tightens Sanctions

European leaders just met in London as part of a self-styled Coalition of the Willing to ramp up economic pressure on Russia and finance Ukraine’s defense through 2027.

• Leaders: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in central London.

• Focus: The group backed new US sanctions on Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil after President Trump targeted them this week, with the EU following suit hours later. However, the UK was the first to sanction both companies, sanctioning them a week before the US.

• Goal: Starmer pushed other countries to sanction Russian oil majors, arguing Western unity is the only way to cripple Moscow’s war financing.

• Zelenskyy: He praised the sanctions as “a big step.” However, it should be noted that he’s been pressing for US-made Tomahawk missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia and “shorten the war.”

  • Advocates say the weapons would give Kyiv leverage and push Moscow to the table.

  • For now, the fight tilts sharply toward Russia, and Putin sees no reason to deal.

  • Sanctions have an impact, but analysts note that Russia, under restrictions for over a decade, has had time to build extensive networks to evade them.

• NATO: That said, Rutte said “Putin is running out of money, troops, and ideas” and urged Europe to press its advantage before winter.

🇨🇳🇹🇼 CHINA & TAIWAN
China Sets
Taiwan Holiday

China announced today that it is creating a national “Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration” for Oct. 25, 1945, framing it within its sovereignty claims. Beijing says marking the island’s handover from Japan reinforces what it calls an “indisputable” historical link to Taiwan.

• Holiday: The National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved a new national-level commemoration on Oct. 25, tied to the 1945 transfer of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China. For context, Taiwan was under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945.

• Quote: Shen Chunyao, who leads the NPC’s Legislative Affairs Commission, said the day highlights “the indisputable historical fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” per state broadcaster CCTV.

• History: In 1945, Taiwan, then a Japanese colony, was handed over to an official of the Republic of China after World War II.

• Politics: The Kuomintang (KMT) government retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to the Communists, who founded the People’s Republic of China the same year. The Kuomintang remains one of Taiwan’s two major parties.

• Taiwan: Taiwan already marks Oct. 25 as “Retrocession Day,” a national holiday denoting a territory’s return to a country or government.

For simplicity, here's a concise chain of events:

• 1945: Japan surrendered Taiwan to the Republic of China (ROC), then governed by the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek. The ROC was officially a constitutional republic, but in practice a KMT-dominated authoritarian state that opposed communism.

• 1949: After losing the Chinese Civil War to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the KMT government retreated to Taiwan, where it continued to claim to represent all of China.

The dispute stems from this split:

• The CCP never seized Taiwan by force, leaving it as a de facto sovereign state.

• The CCP’s victory on the mainland, however, forms the basis of its claim that Taiwan is a de jure part of China.