Today in our brief news: Trump is calling on Ukraine to spare Russian refineries because diesel prices in the U.S. have hit record highs. At the same time, Canada is pulling further away from Washington economically and exploring much closer ties with the EU. In Sweden, a single seat may decide the next government. And in Tbilisi, a 70-story Trump Tower is set to rise on property tied to the circle of Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is under U.S. sanctions.
Plus, a look at Washington itself: Under Trump, where does public office end and business begin?
When a President Treats the State Like His Private Club
Donald Trump’s second presidency has created a situation in Washington where political power and private advantage are getting dangerously close to each other. The president is having a massive ballroom built, talks about a triumphal arch and is simultaneously waging a war against Iran, while his family does business in regions whose governments depend on decisions made in Washington. The old question of whom a president serves is getting a very material answer. Trump has long since connected the White House to a world where access brings money and proximity to the president has its own market value. Add to that a judiciary that has granted him far-reaching protection from prosecution, while pardons and political loyalty increasingly shape a government whose boundaries are becoming harder to see. ICE is being used against political opponents, troops are being sent into the country, and the fight over upcoming elections has long since become tied to the question of how far the White House is willing to go to hold on to power. Kings at least used to pretend the court was bigger than their family.
The American Constitution was supposed to prevent exactly this kind of development. James Madison argued in 1787 over the power of the president, while Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were far less suspicious of a strong head of state. George Washington won both of his elections virtually unopposed. Madison and Thomas Jefferson nevertheless assumed that decisive political power had to rest with Congress and that the president and the courts were supposed to carry out the will of the people. 200 years of war have thoroughly changed that relationship. Abraham Lincoln concentrated enormous power in the presidency during the Civil War because the country was fighting for survival. The Spanish-American War of 1898 expanded Washington’s influence over Cuba and the Philippines, later also over Guam and Puerto Rico. During World War I, the federal government grew further. Woodrow Wilson strengthened the idea that decisions over war and peace increasingly belonged to the president. Vietnam and Iraq followed, Afghanistan too. No nationwide referendum decided any of it. Presidents ordered, Congress got used to it. Richard Nixon had Cambodia bombed, Barack Obama expanded the war in Afghanistan again. The extraordinary became administrative routine.
Under Trump, this development has gained an additional private business side. The accusation surrounding the Iran war goes far beyond the classic question of military objectives: Washington could use its control over shipping and oil supplies to influence the global market, while people in Trump’s family circle maintain business ties in the Gulf states. None of that proves personal enrichment from the war. The connection between state power and private business, however, raises questions that would have caused a political earthquake under almost any other president. The Constitution has a rule against financial benefits from foreign states. Trump has treated such limits for years more like annoying furniture. His companies, digital currencies and international business relationships keep moving through a political landscape in which foreign governments know who sits in the White House and whose family is doing business.
His inner circle adds to that impression. Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel had ties to Trump Media before joining the government. At the same time, there is little visible enthusiasm inside the administration for fully investigating the financial entanglements surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Trump sends trusted associates with their own economic interests into regions where war and billions are being negotiated. Businesspeople used to pay politicians to buy access to the government. Under Trump, it increasingly looks as though the government itself is becoming part of the business. That is where the most dangerous change lies. A republic can survive bad presidents. It becomes harder when power, personal loyalty and private money move so close together that no one can clearly say where public office ends and the family business begins.
Sweden Hangs on 1 Seat - 175 to 174 and Nothing Is Decided Yet
Sweden’s parliamentary election has landed on a result that could hardly be tighter. With 92 percent of the vote counted, the left-wing opposition bloc around former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is provisionally on 175 of the 349 seats. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s governing alliance is on 174. A single seat now separates a change of government from continuity. Andersson told supporters that they were currently ahead but would have to wait for the final result. Kristersson is also keeping every option open and said he would examine possible majorities once the count is finished. The election is unlikely to be decided before Wednesday. That is when local election authorities count, among other things, early votes that did not reach polling places by Election Day. Overseas votes are included as well.
Kristersson has governed Sweden since 2022 with a 3-party coalition from the center and the right. For its parliamentary majority, it depended on support from the Sweden Democrats. This time, the party was supposed to receive cabinet posts for the first time if the governing bloc won. That may now come to nothing. The Sweden Democrats lost almost 3 percentage points compared with 2022 and fell from 2nd to 3rd place. Back then, they had won 20.5 percent. Party leader Jimmie Åkesson admitted on election night that no one yet knew who would govern Sweden next. Initial exit polls had shown the left bloc much further ahead. There was already cheering at the Social Democrats’ election gathering. As more votes came in, the room grew quieter.
The Social Democrats have governed Sweden for much of the period since World War II. Andersson was prime minister from 2021 until the last election and would once again need partners to return to office. Sweden’s party system is currently divided into 2 major blocs with 4 parties each. Parties need at least 4 percent of the vote to enter parliament. On foreign policy, many parties are closer together, including on support for Ukraine and Sweden’s NATO membership. That is why much of this election focused on whether the Sweden Democrats could enter government directly for the first time. The party was founded in the 1980s by people with backgrounds in far-right groups, including neo-Nazis. Under Åkesson, who has led it since 2005, the rhetoric was toned down and openly racist members were expelled. Its rise is still part of a broader European development in which right-wing parties have become significantly stronger. On September 6, the AfD won a regional election in Germany. More than 8 million people were eligible to vote in Sweden, a country of around 10.6 million. Now a handful of still uncounted ballots could decide which side of the Riksdag ends up with 1 more chair.
Trump Calls on Ukraine to Spare Russian Diesel - While Moscow Bombards Odesa
Donald Trump has called on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries and other facilities used to produce and distribute diesel. “Zelenskyy has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia,” Trump said on the sidelines of the Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf club. He said they had spoken with Zelenskyy about it. There were plenty of other targets, but Russian diesel should be spared because the attacks were “hurting the world.” In the United States, the average diesel price hit a record of more than $6 a gallon on Friday. Ukrainian long-range strikes have been hitting Russia’s oil and gas industry for months. That has already led to fuel rationing in Russia, and Moscow halted diesel exports in July. Kyiv’s position is that this very industry funds Russia’s war and directly supplies it with fuel. Trump’s demand lands in a war where energy itself has long since become a weapon.
The global shortage, however, is far from coming from Russia alone. Since the Iran war began, oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have fallen sharply. According to the International Energy Agency, net exports of diesel and gasoil from Gulf states in August were down to just over 1 quarter of the level seen before the war began in February. At the same time, Ukrainian attacks had damaged Russian refineries and brought product exports close to a halt. Back in February, Russia and the Gulf states together accounted for nearly 45 percent of global seaborne trade in diesel and gasoil. Washington is now asking Kyiv to show restraint toward Russian energy infrastructure, while the U.S.-led war against Iran itself has pushed a substantial share of supply out of the market. For American drivers, all of that geography eventually shows up as a number at the pump.
While Trump is urging Zelenskyy to protect Russian diesel production, Russia has recently stepped up its attacks on Ukraine. Missiles and fast drones are again hitting Ukraine’s power grid ahead of winter. Overnight into Sunday, numerous targets were struck on both sides. In Nizhnekamsk, in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, 2 people were killed and 14 others injured, according to local authorities. The city is home to major refineries and industrial plants. Mayor Radmir Belyaev reported a fire at an industrial facility. At the same time, Ukraine’s military intelligence said drones had hit the major refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban. A key processing unit and the tank farm were reportedly struck. Authorities in the Krasnodar region reported 3 injuries and damage to an oil pipeline. Russia’s Defense Ministry said 389 Ukrainian drones had been shot down overnight.
On the Ukrainian side, another massive Russian attack hit Odesa. According to the military administration, at least 9 people were injured. On Saturday, a Russian drone had already struck a residential high-rise, killing 2 people and injuring 26. Russian drones also struck western Ukraine. Near the Yahodyn-Dorohusk border crossing with Poland, a gas station caught fire. The crossing itself remained undamaged, according to Ukrainian authorities, and no one there was injured. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha described it as Russian terror right at the doors of the European Union and NATO. A few days earlier, 2 people were killed in a Russian drone strike at the Starokozache crossing between Ukraine and Moldova. Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 453 drones overnight, including a newer jet-powered version. 409 were reportedly shot down or electronically suppressed. While those attacks continue, Ukraine of all countries is now being told to spare part of Russia’s war economy so diesel prices can come down.
Trump’s Trade War Pushes Canada Toward Europe - Carney Wants a New EU Partnership Status
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is working on a political realignment that would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago. After trade talks with the United States collapsed, Canada is supposed to become much more closely tied to the European Union. Carney has reportedly even proposed a new status to European leaders: Canada could become a kind of EU partner, more closely integrated than any other country outside Europe. Full membership and entry into the European single market are not currently on the table. Working groups are, however, examining how Canada, with its 41 million people, could gain access to parts of Europe’s roughly $21 trillion single market. The talks go especially far in energy and defense. Critical minerals and artificial intelligence also play a major role. Canadian goods and workers in those sectors could eventually move much more freely between Canada and Europe. Emmanuel Macron and Carney have even reportedly discussed allowing Canadians to live and work in the EU without visas.
Ottawa is now thinking far beyond traditional trade agreements. Undersea cables are supposed to connect Canada directly with Europe, and joint data centers are under discussion. New satellite networks and European data storage are meant to reduce dependence on American technology companies. Carney also wants pipelines built so Canadian gas can be shipped more heavily to Europe. Icebreakers could carry fertilizer east through the Northwest Passage. Research institutions on both sides of the Atlantic are supposed to work more closely together, and Canada also wants to join European student exchange programs. Behind that speed is the break with Washington. Around 2 thirds of Canadian exports currently go to the United States. Donald Trump’s threats to make Canada the 51st state have clearly changed something there. Carney now calls the relationship a “rupture, not a transition” and warns that the political changes in the United States could outlast Trump.
This new closeness to Europe will not come cheap. Countries with broad access to the European single market usually pay into the EU budget and adopt European rules. Free movement of workers comes with it as well. That could quickly trigger resistance in Canada, especially in Alberta and Quebec. Europe’s economy is also growing much more slowly than America’s and can hardly replace Canada’s enormous trade with the United States in the short term. Even the trade agreement between Canada and the EU reached around 10 years ago still has not been fully ratified in 10 European countries. In Brussels, there is also growing concern that Canada may simply be using Europe to pressure Washington. After Brexit, no one wants to create a special model that other countries could later demand as an easier alternative to membership.
Carney is moving ahead anyway. His government has already studied the relationships the United Kingdom and Norway have with the EU and identified 36 areas where Canada could work more closely with Europe. Special envoy John Hannaford is leading the talks on the Canadian side, while Joost Korte represents the European Commission. At first, several European governments held back. Trump’s attempt to gain control of Greenland and the war against Iran changed the mood. Carney now speaks regularly with Friedrich Merz and other European leaders. Canada has already negotiated with Germany over the purchase of submarines worth around $25 billion. On Thursday, Carney is expected to present his plans to the European Parliament, after which additional working groups are supposed to turn them into concrete projects. For decades, Canada oriented its economy south. Now Ottawa is looking back across the Atlantic. Donald Trump, of all people, may have pushed Canada closer to Europe than any Canadian government before him.
Trump Tower in Tbilisi - 70 Stories on Land Tied to a Sanctioned Oligarch
A 70-story Trump Tower is planned for Tbilisi and would become the tallest building in Georgia. The property came from a fund controlled by the family of Bidzina Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili founded the ruling Georgian Dream party, made his fortune in Russia and is still considered the most powerful man in the country. The developers agreed to buy the land back in 2023 and committed to paying the family fund up to $85 million. The final payments were reportedly made in July 2026. Just 2 months earlier, the Georgian investors had reached an agreement with the Trump Organization to use the Trump name.
Those involved include Samson Pkhakadze, president of Wissol Group, as well as former lawmaker Ilia Tsulaia, who is tied to Georgian Dream. In May, both traveled to Mar-a-Lago and signed the agreement there with Eric Trump. The Trump Organization typically allows developers to use its name in exchange for an upfront payment and a share of the revenue. How much the U.S. president’s family will make from the project is not publicly known. The political backdrop makes the deal explosive. Under Georgian Dream, Georgia has moved steadily closer to Moscow. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Tbilisi refused to join Western sanctions. The government passed a law on “foreign agents,” which the opposition called Russian-style, and in 2024 suspended EU accession talks until 2028. In spring 2024, Ivanishvili accused the West of turning Georgia and Ukraine into “cannon fodder.” In December of that year, the United States sanctioned him, saying he was undermining Georgia’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic future in Russia’s interests.
Despite those sanctions, the fund controlled by his family continued receiving payments for the very property where the American president’s name is now supposed to appear. Georgian analysts also see the project as an attempt to gain access to the Trump administration. President Mikheil Kavelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze had already publicly emphasized their political closeness to Trump in 2025. Around 15 years earlier, another Trump-branded tower had already been planned in Georgia, that time in Batumi. The developers paid about $1 million to use the name. It was never built. This time, the Trump name is supposed to rise 70 stories over Tbilisi - on land tied directly to the circle of a man sanctioned by Washington.
