Trump calls tariff fallout a ‘war with the world’ and gloats over fellow leaders ‘kissing his a**’: Live – UK Times

Beijing’s finance ministry has announced it will impose 84 percent tariffs on all U.S. goods, up from the 34 percent previously announced, in response to Trump’s 104 percent tariffs on China.

We await his angry response.

Senior administration officials promised they would push through a roughly $1 trillion military budget for the coming year, even as the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project aims to drastically shrink federal spending.

“We’re going to be approving a budget, and I’m proud to say, actually, the biggest one we’ve ever done for the military,” Trump said Monday during a White House event with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“$1 trillion,” Trump said elsewhere during the meeting. “Nobody has seen anything like it.”

The president added that some of the funding to pay for the increase would come from savings under DOGE.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the president after the announcement and said Trump “is rebuilding our military – and FAST.”

The administration has been ordered to restore the Associated Press (AP)’s access to Trump in areas where other journalists are permitted, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Judge Trevor McFadden of the D.C. Circuit ruled in favor of AP, finding in a 41-page order that the government could not choose which reporters it permits access to based on “viewpoint” because it violates the First Amendment.

The White House now must “put the AP on an equal playing field” with the other journalists, McFadden said.

Here’s more from Ariana Baio.

U.S. government bonds, traditionally regarded a safe haven for investors in times of economic turmoil, are facing a sell-off this morning in response to the widespread market uncertainty sparked by Trump’s tariffs coming into effect, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The development is being seen as clear evidence of a growing lack of confidence in American assets and is likely to pile further pressure on the president to rethink his policy.

Trump made it a priority to lower yields on bond markets, a benchmark for government borrowing costs, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in February that he and the president “are focused on the 10-year Treasury and what is the yield of that”.

Calvin Yeoh, a portfolio manager at hedge fund Blue Edge Advisors, told the Telegraph that this morning’s development represents “a fire sale of Treasuries”, adding: “I haven’t seen moves or volatility of this size since the chaos of the pandemic in 2020.”

The yield on 30-year Treasuries reportedly surged as much as 0.25 percentage points overnight, a level last seen in November 2023.

Beijing has rebuked the U.S. vice president after he referred to the nation’s population as “Chinese peasants.”

Vance appeared on Fox News last week, where he defended the Trump administration’s widespread new tariffs by asking what the “globalist economy” has done for the U.S.

He said the U.S. was “incurring a huge amount of debt to buy things that other countries make” and added: “We borrow money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Lin Jian, fired back at a Tuesday press conference, saying that it was “surprising and sad to hear the vice president say such ignorant and impolite words.”

He also noted that “China’s position on Sino-U.S. economic and trade relations has been made very clear.”

Gustaf Kilander has more.

Signing an executive order encouraging fossil fuel extraction (climate be damned) at an “Unleashing American Energy” event at the White House yesterday, Trump championed hard-working miners by insisting that they undertake such dark, dangerous work simply because they love it, not out of financial necessity.

The poor men were then shoved in front of an aide’s phone camera to record their expressions of thanks to the president, reading their lines like hostages.

Countries around the world are being advised by U.S. diplomats and sources close to the White House that as they respond to the tariffs imposed by Trump that they should “think creatively” beyond the scope of trade, CNN reported last night.

“Their message to foreign counterparts seems simple: If they have a unique card to play, they should.

“Ideas being discussed run the gamut, and include possible action on securing the freedom of Americans wrongfully detained abroad, committing to working with U.S. artificial intelligence companies, buying more US energy or combatting global drug trafficking, according to five people familiar with the brainstorming sessions.

“After days of mixed signals over how willing the president would be to negotiate tariff relief, Tuesday’s message was far clearer: Trump is ready for opening bids.”

The administration has reportedly been inundated with calls from foreign governments as well as CEOs of large multinational corporations, who have been arguing to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that the tariff policy will harm the global economy and credibility of American business and government.

The FTSE 100 fell sharply on Wednesday morning after the new wave of Trump’s tariffs came into force, including that 104 percent levy on Chinese goods.

The index, which tracks the UK’s top 100 listed companies, fell 2.34 percent in early trades, or by 186 points, to reach 7,724.29 shortly after opening, wiping out most of the gains made on Tuesday.

France’s Cac 40 was down by 2.4 percent while Germany’s Dax index slumped by about 2.3 percent.

Earlier, Asian markets also tumbled in early morning trading.

The Nikkei 225 lost 3.9 percent to 31,714.03. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 0.4 percent to 20,041.03, while the Shanghai Composite index reversed early losses, gaining 0.9 percent to 3,173.56. Taiwan led losses in Asia, as its Taiex plunged 5.8 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.7 percent to 2,293.70.

The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia declined 1.8 percent to 7,375.00. Shares in New Zealand also fell.

In India, the Sensex declined 0.5 percent as the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate, while Bangkok’s SET shed 0.8 percent.

Investors remain on edge amid growing concerns that the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies could tip global markets into deeper volatility.

You can follow all the latest on the markets with Holly Evans below.

Also during his lengthy after-dinner remarks last night, the president improbably claimed to be a man of the people unafraid to stand up to Wall Street – while wearing a tuxedo.

He treated the whole occasion like a campaign rally, raving about rigged elections and going into a familiar riff about California Senator Adam Schiff.

Even Hannibal Lecter made a return, with Trump insisting during an extended bit that he was “not a fictional character”:

“They used to go crazy when I talked about Hannibal Lecter. The late, great Hannibal Lecter. Right? Silence of the Lambs. The fake news would say, ‘Why does he talk about that? He’s a fictional character.’ He’s not. We have many of them that came across the border. He’s actually not. But, when the people went to the voting booth, then we understood why he talked about that because they voted for us. They say, ‘We don’t want Hannibal Lecter in our country.’

“The great Hannibal Lecter. He was uh, he was a very important force. But the press would go absolutely crazy if I mentioned Hannibal Lecter’s name because they say he’s a fictional character. No, but it was making the point and the point is they’re emptying mental institutions and insane asylums. Not anymore they’re not.”

It was Tom Emmer, introducing Trump, who almost stole the show, however, with a Freudian slip for the ages as he welcomed onstage “President Cun… Trump.”

The president also promised Republicans last night that his economic brinkmanship would usher their party to a “monumental victory” in next year’s midterms, a promise it is surely far too early to make, particularly given the jittery market response to his policy.

Here’s more from Andrew Feinberg.