Mark Carney's European diplomatic blitz locked in $2 billion for Ukraine and critical minerals deals with Germany while Trump threatens military occupation of Democratic cities and Xi Jinping makes empty overtures to Zelenskyy.
5️⃣ Carney's European Tour Rewrites Western Alliance While Polls Slip
Prime Minister Mark Carney completed a four-capital sprint through Kyiv, Warsaw, Berlin, and Riga, securing concrete deliverables: $2 billion in immediate military aid to Ukraine, critical minerals agreements with Germany, defense pacts with Poland, and a three-year extension of Canada's NATO brigade in Latvia. The tour positions Canada as Europe's essential partner for resources and security while explicitly shutting out Trump's America from new supply chains.
But the international triumph hasn't translated domestically. New Abacus polling shows Conservatives leading 41% to 39%, though other major polls still have Liberals ahead by 10-15 points. The single outlier poll aside, Carney maintains a 68% approval rating—the highest of any Canadian PM at this stage. The real test comes in September when shovels hit the ground on the energy corridor and military procurement projects that will create jobs from Quebec to British Columbia.
4️⃣ Poland Threatens Starlink Cutoff as Xi Makes Empty Gestures to Ukraine
Poland's government is preparing to sever Starlink internet services to Ukraine under pressure from Trump, who wants to "stop blindly throwing punches." This would cripple Ukraine's battlefield communications just as Xi Jinping sent his first message to Zelenskyy in 2.5 years—diplomatic pleasantries with zero mention of the actual war. Zelenskyy firmly rejected China as any future security guarantor, stating bluntly that China "helped Russia by opening the drone market" while Ukraine burned.
The timing reveals the squeeze play: Trump signals retreat, Poland's pro-Putin faction cuts digital lifelines, and Xi pretends neutrality while supplying Russia with drones and soldiers. Ukraine faces coordinated pressure to accept unfavorable negotiations while their supposed allies play both sides.
3️⃣ Alex Acosta Finally Faces Questions About Epstein's Sweetheart Deal
Former Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta will testify September 19th before the House Oversight Committee about the 2008 plea deal that let Jeffrey Epstein serve just 13 months—with daily work release privileges. The non-prosecution agreement Acosta negotiated shielded Epstein from federal sex trafficking charges and protected unnamed co-conspirators. New subpoenas target Epstein's estate and demand the "birthday booklet" of contacts that surfaced in Ghislaine Maxwell's recent testimony.
Given Acosta's Trump loyalty and Maxwell's convenient amnesia in her own interview, expectations for revelations remain low. The dance continues: appearing to investigate while protecting the powerful names still hidden in those files.
2️⃣ Pritzker Tells Trump "Do Not Come to Chicago"
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker went nuclear on Trump's threat to deploy troops to Chicago, calling it "unconstitutional, illegal, and a dangerous power grab." With Chicago homicides and property crimes actually DOWN in 2025, Pritzker exposed the military threat as pure political theater. Trump responded with personal attacks about Pritzker's appearance while signing an executive order creating National Guard "specialized units" for rapid deployment to cities that defy him.
The confrontation represents something unprecedented: governors openly telling a president to stay out, clergy mobilizing resistance, and state officials promising legal action if federal troops arrive. When Pritzker said "there is no place you will be able to hide from me" if Trump harms Illinoisans, he crossed a line governors haven't crossed in generations.
1️⃣ Trump Weaponizes Entire Federal Government Against Democratic States
Trump has launched systematic warfare on blue states: threatening military occupation, closing federal offices in Democratic cities, and holding education and research funding hostage unless states comply with conservative mandates. From overriding state climate laws to blocking SALT deductions that specifically punish blue state taxpayers, this represents the most aggressive federal attack on state sovereignty in American history.
Democratic attorneys general now hold encrypted daily calls discussing what they privately call "soft secession"—not breaking away, but nullifying federal mandates through state law. Oregon stockpiles abortion medication, Illinois explores digital sovereignty, California deploys its $76 billion reserves. The systematic punishment of Democratic regions through every federal lever is creating a constitutional crisis that could fundamentally break American federalism.
The risk isn't just civil conflict—it's giving Putin exactly what he wants: a fractured America mirroring the Soviet collapse. Yet as Dean Blundell and Zev Shalev discussed, when masked federal agents snatch people off streets and a mentally deteriorating president calls for military occupation of American cities, resistance becomes survival. The question isn't whether governors should resist, but whether American democracy can survive if they don't.
The FiveStack is available as an audio podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Advertising inquiries email next@narativ.org. The FiveStack is a co-production of deanblundell.substack.com and narativ.org.
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