China says it will increase tariffs on US-made goods to 84%, after Donald Trump’s 104% levy on Chinese imports came into effect this morning. European stock markets fell further after the announcement, and there has been a sharp sell-off in US Treasuries – traditionally a safe haven during market routs. At a Republican event last night, Trump told guests that world leaders were “kissing my ass” while negotiating deals. Volodymyr Zelensky says his forces have captured two Chinese nationals fighting with the Russian army in eastern Ukraine, despite China claiming it’s not directly helping Russia’s war effort. The Ukrainian president says there are likely “many more” Chinese citizens in the Kremlin’s forces and that his government has demanded an explanation from Beijing. Europe’s first Universal theme park will be built in Bedfordshire, in what Keir Starmer is calling a “major vote of confidence” in the UK. The movie studio’s 476-acre resort, featuring blockbuster-themed rides and a 500-room hotel, is expected to welcome around 8.5 million visitors a year when it opens in 2031 and could inject nearly £50bn into the UK economy by 2055.

Trump’s “abiding goal”

During Donald Trump’s first term, says Jonathan Lemire in The Atlantic, there were always two guardrails against his more “impulsive” actions: the stock market and cable news. If Wall Street reacted badly, Trump would change course. And he was so obsessed with TV that his aides often got themselves booked on news shows, knowing he would be more receptive to an idea he heard there than in the Oval Office. This time is very different. He has responded to the stock market crash by doubling down on tariffs, and insiders say he has been completely unbothered by media coverage, even a Wall Street Journal front page with an unflattering photo and the headline: “Trump Heads to Golf Club Amid Tariff Turmoil”.

That’s because this time he isn’t interested in winning arguments or boosting stock prices, says Walter Russell Mead in The Wall Street Journal. Trump’s one “abiding goal” is to maximise his personal power. Domestically, he thinks that asserting total control over America’s tariff policy will intimidate businesses into doing his bidding. Internationally, he believes his “shock and awe” tactics will force “allies and adversaries alike” to conform to his priorities. The reckless and arbitrary nature of the tariffs is deliberate: it emphasises how vulnerable everyone is to his whims. It all adds up to “the most naked display of American economic power” since Eisenhower strong-armed the British during the Suez Crisis by threatening to attack the pound. What Trump wants to do with this power – rebalance global trade, tear up Nato, or whatever else – is unclear. But the steps he is taking will undoubtedly establish his place in the history books. “For good or for ill, it will be huge.”

🏭😕 During Trump’s first term, says Tina Brown on Substack, the director of the National Economic Council, Gary Cohn, repeatedly tried to convince the president that his vision of “clanking steelworks busy with grateful blue-collar workers” was no longer applicable. “People don’t want to stand in front of a 2,000-degree blast furnace,” he said. “People don’t want to go into coal mines and get black lung.” Exasperated, Cohn asked his boss why he held these stubborn views. “I just do,” Trump replied. “I’ve had these views for 30 years.”