Calder McHugh

New York

Freelance Writer at Freelance

Co-Founder and Writer at Southpaw Report

Deputy Editor at POLITICO

Deputy Editor, @politico Nightly, writing/editing @politicomag

Articles

The comeback tours that no one wants

1 week ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh

Former President Joe Biden participates in a bilateral meeting with Canada's former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada on March 24, 2023. | Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images EXIT STAGE LEFT — Over the course of just a few months this winter, two of North America’s most recognizable and longest-serving political leaders were unceremoniously shuttled off stage.
Pierre Poilievre’s Biggest Selling Point Is Now a Huge Liability

1 week ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh

The Canadian Conservative leader soared because of a media strategy that sounded a lot like Donald Trump. That’s no longer helping him. Illustration by Claudine Hellmuth/POLITICO (source images via Getty and iStock) Calder McHugh is deputy editor of POLITICO Nightly. Pierre Poilievre was asking Elon Musk for help.
Pierre Poilievre’s Biggest Selling Point Is Now a Huge Liability

1 week ago | yahoo.com | Calder McHugh

Pierre Poilievre was asking Elon Musk for help. In April 2023, the Canadian Conservative Leader sent a letter to Twitter’s headquarters requesting that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation be labeled as “government-funded media.”Poilievre has made defunding the CBC — Canada’s public broadcaster that receives 65 to 70 percent of its funding from the government though it operates autonomously — a major plank of his campaign.
Calgary showdown

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Nick Taylor-Vaisey |Mickey Djuric |Sue Allan |Calder McHugh

| Subscribe here | | Follow Politico CanadaThanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. In today’s edition:→ Playbook goes door knocking in Calgary. → Ground report from Toronto-St. Paul’s. → GRAYDON CARTER on how Canada should understand Trump’s threats. Want more POLITICO? Download our mobile app to save stories, get notifications on U.S.-Canada relations, and more. In iOS or Android . CALGARY CLASH — Conservatives hold an iron grip on seven of 11 federal seats in Alberta’s largest city.
Canadian Export Graydon Carter Talks Trump, Napoleon and Canada’s Election

2 weeks ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh

The former Vanity Fair editor’s long-running feud with Trump is legendary. Now, he’s sounding off on his threats toward his home country of Canada. Graydon Carter speaks onstage during Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on October 4, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. | Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Calder McHugh is deputy editor of POLITICO Nightly.
Wall Street isn’t celebrating ‘Liberation Day’

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on March 28, 2025, in New York City. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images EVENT PLANNING — “Liberation Day” is finally upon us. It’s not entirely clear what it means. The details remain clouded in mystery.
The Trump agenda gets its first stress test

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh

Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump stands on stage with family members, then-Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, during the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 18, 2024.
Collateral damage

3 weeks ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh |Nick Taylor-Vaisey |Mickey Djuric

Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Ottawa Playbook | Follow Politico CanadaThanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Let’s get into it. → Republicans reckon with Trump’s role in the Liberals’ comeback. → 2,000 pounds of patriotism — and a standing O — at SkyDome. → Liberal momentum: Real, or no? We asked a pollster. Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre in British Columbia last night.
Trump’s Canadian Collateral Damage

1 month ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh

The prospect of a conservative in power north of the border thrilled the American right. Until Donald Trump torpedoed him. Canada's Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks to the crowd at a "Canada First" rally on Feb. 15 in Ottawa. | Andrej Ivanov/Getty Images Calder McHugh is deputy editor of POLITICO Nightly. Mere months ago, the Conservative Party in Canada looked headed towards a landslide victory.
The midterms won’t save the Democrats

1 month ago | politico.com | Calder McHugh |Charles Mahtesian |Charlie Mahtesian

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) questions Pete Hegseth during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14. | Andrew Harnik/Getty Images UNFRIENDLY MAP — If there’s any silver lining for Democrats in the gray storm cloud that is GOP-dominated Washington, it’s that in two years there’s likely to be a backlash. That’s not an assessment of Trump’s first two months in the White House so much as it is a historical fact.