Morning. In focus today, we look at why disparate forces are lining up against Trump: Builders, booze-makers, unions and even MAGA supporters. SAD!

Trade: Canada is ready to “get tougher” if U.S. trade deal isn’t reached before the Aug. 19 deadline, Prime Minister Mark Carney says.

Pharmaceuticals: Health Canada’s backlog of generic drug applications has doubled over the past year.

Defence: Canada’s banks are facing roadblocks to financing defence companies’ ambitious plans.

Real Estate: Toronto home sales and prices climbed in July, a sign that the country’s largest real estate market could be on its way back up.

U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday that Iran and Oman were close to a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would help bring an end to the war and lift pressure on the global economy.

Reopening the crucial trade route would certainly soothe energy markets, which are wobbling between relief over a potential ceasefire and worry over continued attacks.

But it might also have the effect of calming the increasingly loud chorus arguing against Trump’s war and tariff policies in the United States, made up of Republican leaders and voters (including MAGA enthusiasts), major unions and the alcohol industry.

The Republicans

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution last month to halt the country’s military action in Iran, helped by the support of four members of the GOP.

Those members said they were defending constitutional principles that limit a president’s ability to enter the country into a war without congressional approval.

But they were also joining forces with a Democratic Party that was largely framing the war-powers resolution around affordability. Moving the focus away from pocketbook issues has left vulnerable Republicans terrified of voter backlash that could cost their party its slim majorities in both chambers of Congress in the November midterms.

The voters

Earlier this week, Americans picked Democrats ​over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in nearly a decade in a Reuters/Ipsos ‌poll. And their approval rating of Trump’s performance as President has fallen to 35 per cent – one percentage point away from his lowest this term.

You can almost trace the rise of oil against his party’s weakening approval ratings on the economy. U.S. households have been hit by soaring gasoline prices, too. (Tariffs haven’t helped, but that source of pain might not be as visible.)

The MAGA set

Even some of Trump’s most loyal supporters are showing signs of discontent. A recent poll conducted by Politico showed that support for the Iran war had plummeted among those in the “Make America Great Again” movement.

While many MAGA supporters have not abandoned the war, their support appears to be softening. A growing percentage say the U.S. should continue fighting only if the economic costs do not rise, and 1 in 5 now favour ending the conflict entirely. (The poll did not ask respondents how that would be achieved.)

The builders

Both tariffs and the war in Iran are making it more expensive to build homes in the U.S., The Globe’s Olivia Grandy writes.

During his second term, Trump has imposed tariffs on a range of goods used in construction, renovation and home furnishings. Add those on top of long-standing taxes on imports of Canadian softwood lumber, and the bill gets bigger and bigger for American builders. And before you reach for your calculator, add the high price of borrowing, fuelled by uncertain trade policies and spiking bond yields.

“America has a problem: We have a shortage of housing,” said Anirban Basu, chief economist at the Associated Builders and Contractors, a national U.S. trade association. “But we’re doing so many things to drive up the cost of housing,” he added, including “these tariffs that impact a variety of construction inputs.”

The unions

Two major American private-sector unions – representing hundreds of thousands of manufacturing workers – have announced their strong opposition to Trump’s new suite of tariffs on Canadian goods. They are calling on the White House to reverse course, Vanmala Subramaniam reports.