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Week in Politics: Canada talks collapse; U.S. 'Economic D-Day; record national debt

NPR | By Scott Simon,

Ron Elving

Published August 22, 2026 at 7:43 AM EDT

Trade talks with Canada collapse hours before a new tariff deadline. President Trump threatens Iran with an "Economic D-Day" the same week the U.S. national debt surpassed $40 trillion.

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weekend edition saturday

Scott Simon

Scott Simon is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First.

See stories by Scott Simon

Ron Elving

Ron Elving is Senior Editor and Correspondent on the Washington Desk for NPR News, where he is frequently heard as a news analyst and writes regularly for NPR.org.

See stories by Ron Elving