Market Watch (September 6)
“The U.S.’s status as a financial safe haven has begun to clash with President Trump’s growing barrage of economic and military threats to advance his agenda.” There seems be a common fear behind the Netherland’s recent withdrawal of reserve gold from the U.S., the drawdowns of France and Germany’s U.S.-based reserves, and a current plan in Norway to cut Treasury holdings. Basically, what’s to stop Trump from simply seizing their assets? His “sweeping tariff fight shocked the world last year. Then came the capture in January of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, February’s launch of the U.S.-Iran war, and plans in late August to control of more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil. In between, there’s been taunting of European and NATO allies, a campaign to takeover over Greenland and its natural resources and, lately, an escalating U.S.-Canada trade war.” So even if seizure sounds far-fetched, it is a legitimate risk for central banks to mitigate.
Tags: Allies, Assets, Barrage, Canada, Capture, Clash, Economic, Escalating, Europe, Fear, France, Germany, Gold, Greenland, Iran war, Maduro, Military threats, Nato, Netherlands, Norway, Reserves, Risk, Safe haven, Seizing, Seizure, Tariff, Taunting, Trade war, Treasury, Trump, U.S., Venezuela, Venezuelan oil, Withdrawal
Wall Street Journal (May 16)
By one measure, President Trump’s Beijing summit “was a success. It didn’t achieve much, but it also didn’t appear to give away anything notable.” The caveat is that “we can’t be sure based on the few details leaking out from the parties,” some of which sound incredible. “Mr. Trump boasted about ‘fantastic’ Chinese purchases to come of U.S. soybeans and aircraft. But China didn’t confirm the sales, and by our count this is the second time China has bought the same American soybeans. Or is it the third?” In addition, Mr. Trump “also didn’t appear to bend to Mr. Xi’s threats on Taiwan, at least not so far.” If, however, Trump gives into China and “stops arming Taiwan, Mr. Xi will have won the veto over U.S. sales that the Chinese leader has long sought. It will send a message of weakness to our allies in the region.” Details like this, should they out, would make it a misnomer to call this “The Good-News-Is-No-News Summit.”
Tags: Aircraft, Allies, Arming, Beijing summit, Caveat. Leaking. Incredible. Fantastic, China, Misnomer, Purchases, Sales, Soybeans, Success, Taiwan, Threats, Trump, U.S., Veto, Weakness, Xi
New York Times (March 21)
“From his first announcement of the attack on Iran on Feb. 28, President Trump has issued a stream of falsehoods about the war.” It’s well documented that “lying is standard behavior for Mr. Trump,” but “lying about war is uniquely corrosive. When a president signals that the truth does not matter in wartime, he …. makes it harder to win by hiding the realities of conflict and by making allies wary of joining the fight. Ultimately, he undermines American values and interests.”
Tags: Allies, Attack, Conflict, Corrosive, Documented, Falsehoods, Iran, Lying, Realities, Signals, Standard behavior, Trump, Truth, Undermines, Values, War, Wartime, Wary
Washington Post (January 25)
“The open split that emerged last week between the United States and some of its closest allies highlights the seismic changes that are in store for the global economy amid the transition from full-blown U.S.-led globalization to an unruly new order.”
Tags: Allies, Global economy, Globalization, New order, Open split, Seismic changes, Transition, U.S., Unruly
Financial Times (January 19)
“Trump’s bizarre designs on Greenland and his willingness to inflict financial pain on allies” mean that “the U.S. has squandered its most valuable financial asset: trust. It risks paying a heavy price for this for decades to come.” The U.S. remains the only market “big enough to absorb” giant capital flows so this “is not about ‘sell America.’” Europe is not going to sell its $8 trillion worth of Treasuries overnight. Rather, Trump’s latest move provides “a big incentive for investors to buy more bonds and stocks from elsewhere over time…. to spread things a little more globally.”
Tags: $8 trillion, Allies, Asset, Bizarre, Bonds, Capital flows, Europe, Financial pain, Greenland, Heavy price, Incentive, Investors, Risks, Sell America, Squandered, Stocks, Treasuries, Trump, Trust, U.S., Valuable
Fortune (January 18)
“The greenback dropped while precious metals rallied Sunday as financial markets started reacting to President Donald Trump’s new tariff threats.” On Saturday, Trump announced 8 European allies would face “a 10% tariff starting on Feb. 1 that will rise to 25% on June 1, until a ‘Deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.’” His latest threat revived smoldering fears centering on “U.S. debt and reserve currency status.”
Tags: 10%, 25%, Allies, Debt, Fears, Financial markets, Greenback, Greenland, Precious metals, Rallied, Reserve currency, Tariff, Threats, Trump
New York Times (December 28)
“Breaking China’s dominance will require creativity and patience…. The United States and its allies must solve their rare earth problem. The world’s democracies cannot depend on the most powerful authoritarian state — and an increasingly aggressive one — for critical minerals. The potential costs, to prosperity and freedom, are too great.”
Tags: Aggressive, Allies, Authoritarian, China, Costs, Creativity, Critical minerals, Democracies, Dominance, Patience, Prosperity, Rare earth, U.S.
The Times (December 14)
“Time is running short for Europe to stand together. The worst-case scenario is that America walks away from its commitments entirely. Ukraine’s allies cannot afford to project weakness.” The “crunch point” has come for Europe. “Can it act in a confident, bold, unified manner? Or will it be riven by internal disagreements and petty rivalries?”
Tags: Allies, Bold, Commitments, Confident, Crunch point, Europe, Internal disagreements, Petty rivalries, U.S., Ukraine, Unified, Walks away, Weakness, Worst-case
Men’s Journal (July 1)
“For years, the U.S. has issued cautionary travel advisories to citizens heading overseas. But in a surprising twist, the roles have flipped. Several countries, including longtime allies like Australia, Canada, and the U.K., are now warning their citizens about traveling to the United States.” The warnings cite violence, mass shootings, detention, and other items. “Germany, France, Denmark, and Finland all issued warnings about new U.S. gender marker policies that may affect travelers who use ‘X’ or nonbinary identifiers.” Due in part to these warnings, the World Travel & Tourism Council is projecting a “$12.5 billion decline in international tourism revenue to the U.S. in 2025.”
Tags: $12.5 billion, Allies, Australia, Canada, Citizens, Denmark, Detention, Finland, France, Gender, Germany, Mass shootings, Nonbinary, Overseas, Travel advisories, U.K., U.S., Violence, Warnings
New York Times (June 12)
“America’s closest allies are increasingly turning to each other to advance their interests, deepening their ties as the Trump administration challenges them with tariffs and other measures that are upending trade, diplomacy and defense.” Much of the proactive push involves Britain, France, Canada, Japan and other middle powers. Their efforts “to come closer together as the United States recalibrates its global role… will be on display over the next few days as the Group of 7 industrialized nations’ leaders meet in Alberta, Canada.”
Tags: Advance, Alberta, Allies, America, Britain, Canada, Challenges, Defense, Diplomacy, France, G7, Japan, Middle powers, Recalibrates, Tariffs, Ties, Trade, Trump, U.S., Upending
