Joshua Milgrim

(Bloomberg) -- The US and Canada have agreed to open the delayed Gordie Howe International Bridge.

I was recently in Europe, where the topic du jour was America. What I heard didn't surprise me, but the consistency did. Again and again, people asked the same question: Can America still be counted on? This week's NATO summit surely did little to reassure them. The Alliance itself is stepping up. More money for security — building upon a trend begun during the Biden Administration, when the number of allies devoting the long agreed 2% of GDP to defense went from 9 to 23. Greater industrial cooperation, including across the Atlantic.  Sustained support for Ukraine. A strong reaffirmation of its commitment to collective defense in the face of Russian provocations. The Trump Administration could and should have declared success. Instead, more public confrontations with allies, threats directed at fellow NATO members, and renewed suggestions about taking territory from a close partner dominated the headlines. The greater damage is quieter, and much harder to reverse. Many Europeans are no longer asking when America will return to the role it has played for generations. They are planning for a future in which it doesn't. For nearly eight decades, NATO and our broader network of alliances have been among our greatest strategic advantages. They have deterred aggression and so made war less likely, expanded our influence, strengthened our economy, and kept Americans safe. They allow us to share burdens rather than carry them alone. They multiply American power instead of diminishing it. These relationships were never acts of charity. They were built out of enlightened self-interest to advance our own security and prosperity. When allies lose confidence in the United States, they don't simply wait for Washington to change course. They adapt. They build new partnerships. They look elsewhere for leadership. Those decisions, once made, are difficult to undo. Our adversaries and competitors understand this. Russia has long sought to fracture the transatlantic alliance. China benefits whenever democratic nations are less able to act together. Every doubt cast on America's reliability is an opportunity for those who would prefer a weaker, more divided West.

CTV: I think part of [the tensions between Canada-US] is because of some of the language that your president has used around the relationship with our country. Hoekstra: Some of the language that some of your premiers have used and some Canadians have used, there's fault to go around to both.

‼️ MAJOR BREAKING: Carney is the first Canadian Prime Minister in 60 years, whose economy shrank in the first year. Not during a war. Not during a pandemic. Not during 2008. During peace. During normalcy. During Mark Carney. Not slow it. Not stall it. Shrink it. THIS IS “CANADA STRONG” UNDER CARNEY. The man with a PhD in Economics, elected to run the economy, running the biggest deficit outside of Covid, is the only Prime Minister, in 60 years, to shrink our economy.