Trump ends Canada trade talks over Reagan ad; Chauncey Billups faces gambling charges
President Donald Trump has ended all trade negotiations with Canada, furious over a new ad that uses Ronald Reagan’s own words against tariffs.
Plus, federal investigators say a major gambling operation connected to organized crime has disrupted the NBA. And one Hall of Famer is among those involved in the scheme.
And new video shows the Louvre thieves making their getaway on a construction cherry picker. The latest twist in France’s “heist of the century.”
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, Oct. 24, 2025.
Trump cuts trade talks with Canada after seeing Ronald Reagan-themed ad
President Donald Trump is cutting off trade talks with Canada following a television ad campaign.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump criticized a Canadian ad campaign that uses old Ronald Reagan video and audio, warning that tariffs “hurt every American worker and consumer.”
He called the spot “fraudulent” and accused Canada of trying to “interfere with the U.S. Supreme Court.” The court will hear a case next month on whether his global tariffs are legal.
The ad includes a clip of Reagan saying, “High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens: markets collapse, businesses and industries shut down, and millions of people lose their jobs.”
The Reagan Foundation confirmed the audio was used without permission and claimed the ad “misrepresents” the original radio address.
The former president gave the address in April 1987. The foundation is now encouraging everyone to watch it in full.
All this comes a day after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his country will double non-U.S. exports over the next decade, saying Trump’s tariffs left them no choice.
Carney met with Trump earlier this month to try to ease trade tensions.
Canada remains America’s second-biggest trading partner, behind Mexico, with hundreds of billions in goods flowing both ways each year.
NBA coach, player arrested in connection with mob gambling ring
Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier have been released from jail after being indicted in two separate federal gambling cases linked to organized crime.
They’re among 34 people charged, including suspected members of New York’s Bonanno, Genovese, Gambino and Luchese crime families.
Billups is accused of using his celebrity to draw high-rollers into rigged poker games — games that, prosecutors say, used fixed shuffling machines and even X-ray tech to read cards.
The operation stretched from the Hamptons to Las Vegas and pulled in at least $7 million. When players couldn’t pay up, the mob allegedly turned violent.
Rozier and former player Damon Jones are charged in a related case for allegedly illegally betting on NBA games.
Rozier’s lawyer said he’s been cleared before and plans to fight back.
“What I can tell you is there are a lot of people who are very close-lipped about what happened in 2023. But what I was told is that there was an investigation. They interviewed him twice. They took his phone, downloaded everything, and at the end of the day, end of the day they said there’s nothing to see here and cleared him,” Rozier’s attorney said. “But you know, we got a trophy hunt, so we’re gonna fight it.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said the charges include wire fraud, money laundering, extortion and illegal gambling. He called it one of the largest sports-betting stings in recent memory.
Trump heads to Asia to meet with China’s Xi amid trade tensions
Trump will head to Asia on Friday night, marking his first trip there since returning to office. It’s a high-stakes trip that could reshape global trade and test relations with China.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the president will meet with Xi Jinping next week in South Korea on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
“On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China before departing to return home to Washington, D.C.”
The two leaders met in 2017 at Mar-a-Lago, then again two years later in Japan.
This time, the stakes are even higher as a full-blown trade war erupts over rare earth minerals and magnets, new 100% U.S. tariffs and China’s role in fentanyl exports.
The president will also stop in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, before returning to Washington.
Vance rebukes Israel vote, calls Knesset annexation ‘stupid political stunt’
A diplomatic conflict is emerging between Washington and Israel, just as Vice President JD Vance concludes a high-profile visit to the country.
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, passed a symbolic vote to annex part of the West Bank.
The move caught the White House off guard and struck a nerve.
The vote came while Vance was still in the country, and U.S. officials claimed it undercut the administration’s push to lock in a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
On the tarmac in Tel Aviv before departing, Vance didn’t hide his frustration.
“I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.”
— Vice President JD Vance
Trump, asked about the issue back in Washington, snapped at a reporter’s question.
“Don’t worry about the West Bank. Israel’s not going to do anything with the West Bank. Ok? Don’t worry about it. Is that your question? They’re not gonna do anything with the West Bank. Don’t worry about it.”
— President Donald Trump
The administration is now trying to keep its peace effort on track, with a new U.S.-Israel coordination center opening in southern Israel to serve as a hub for stabilization efforts in Gaza.
Plus, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Thursday to continue negotiations.
Louvre thieves caught on video escaping using a cherry picker and bike
A new video released revealed a bizarre twist in what’s being called the heist of the century.
Surveillance footage circulating online allegedly shows two of the Louvre thieves escaping — not on foot, but on a cherry picker.
One person wearing a motorcycle helmet and the other in a yellow construction vest lower themselves from a broken window before taking off on a motorcycle into the Paris night.
Investigators claimed the entire operation took just seven minutes from the moment they cut through the glass to the moment they vanished. They got away with eight imperial jewelry pieces worth more than $102 million.
The Louvre’s director admits security “weaknesses,” including a camera pointed the wrong way, which failed to capture the very window where the thieves got in and out.
More from Straight Arrow News:
As electric bills rise, more states ban disconnections in dangerous weather
Shelby Green’s lights were off. She could plug her phone into a wall socket, but it wouldn’t charge.
It would be weeks until she received her next paycheck for her job as an undergraduate researcher at Florida State University in chemical engineering. And her bank account was nearly empty.
“I had no hot water, no power,” Green told Straight Arrow News.
She spent seven days in the winter of 2017 going from class to work, trudging to the university gym to shower and visiting the library until it closed, before returning to sleep in the cold, powerless townhome-style apartment she shared with her sister.
Eventually, she decided, “this is not sustainable,” and worked with her sister to open a credit card and pay the $200 electric utility balance. Green’s story is not unique. Every year, 3 million to 6 million Americans have their power shut off because they can’t afford to pay their bill. And the cost of electricity is increasing across the country.
Disconnection is more than an inconvenience; during periods of high heat or extreme cold, losing power can be deadly. At least 2,325 Americans suffered heat-related deaths in 2023, according to a recent study.
State laws, however, are offering some relief. Many states have long had laws that prevent disconnection during extreme cold. More recently, a growing number of states are passing laws that prevent utility companies from disconnecting customers during extreme heat. With the addition of New Jersey in September and Virginia, Washington, Illinois and Delaware in the past two years, a total of 23 states now mandate heat-related disconnection protections. Read the full story now >
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
