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The stockmarket rout caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs continued. Futures of the S&P index, which allow out-of-hours trading, were down by 3.3% on Monday morning compared with the index’s closing price on Friday. Futures of the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by 3.2%, while those of the tech-heavy NASDAQ plummeted by 3.7%.
Mr Trump sounded unconcerned by the sell-offs, saying “sometimes
Sign up here to receive “The US in brief” as a newsletter, each weekday, in your inbox.
The stockmarket rout caused by Donald Trump’s tariffs continued. Futures of the S&P index, which allow out-of-hours trading, were down by 3.3% on Monday morning compared with the index’s closing price on Friday. Futures of the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by 3.2%, while those of the tech-heavy NASDAQ plummeted by 3.7%.
Mr Trump sounded unconcerned by the sell-offs, saying “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.” Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, claimed that more than 50 countries had approached the White House offering to stop manipulating their currencies and to lower tariffs and non-tariff trade barriers. Mr Bessent said he was unworried about inflation caused by the tariffs because they were a “one-time price adjustment”. Bill Ackman, a hedge-fund billionaire, said that Mr Trump’s threat of “economic nuclear war” risked “destroying confidence in our country”.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, struck a deal with Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican congresswoman who led a rebellion over proxy voting last week. The agreement will allow representatives unable to vote, such as new mothers, to formally ask a congressman on the other side of the aisle to abstain from voting. Mr Johnson had halted all House votes because of the uprising.
Senate Republicans passed a budget-resolution bill over the weekend, setting up a showdown with Republicans in the House. It funds much more spending than fiscal conservatives in the lower chamber say they will accept. Both houses must pass versions of the bill, which they must then reconcile. Making progress will be a top priority for House Republicans this week.
Robert F. Kennedy junior said that vaccines are the “most effective” way to prevent the spread of measles. He made the remark while visiting the family of an eight-year-old girl who had died from the disease. Her death is the second from measles this year; the previous one was in 2015. Mr Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic, has often called the vaccination of children a matter of conscience.
Paula Xinis, a federal judge, gave the administration until noon on Monday to bring back to America Kilmar Armando Abrego Garciato, a Venezuelan man whom it accidentally deported to El Salvador. Under court order he should not have been deported. The government claims that he is a gang member; Ms Xinis said that the only evidence of this is his “Chicago Bulls hat and hoodie”. The government has said that it cannot bring back Mr Abrego Garcia.
KAL flashback
Every Monday we republish a cartoon by KAL from our archive. When Mr Trump first became president in 2017 he threatened to take a wrecking ball to NAFTA, a free-trade agreement among America, Canada and Mexico. After much bluster it was replaced with the USMCA, a deal just different enough that Mr Trump could claim a victory. Now Mr Trump is aiming a wrecking ball at most of America’s trade partners. It is unclear whether they can dissuade him by tweaking their trade policies.
A view from elsewhere
“Instead of lamenting the turbulence” caused by Mr Trump, we should “lay the foundations for a new multilateralism” that “addresses the challenges of the coming decades”, wrote Laurence Tubiana and Luiz Awazu Pereira da Silva in Le Monde, a French newspaper. It must bring together “well-intentioned countries, aware of the global risks and determined to act collectively”. We have an opportunity, they say. “How can we not seize it?”
Figure of the day
At least 36,000, the number of disabled workers in a programme that allows employers to pay less than minimum wage. Read our story about “sheltered workshops”.
From Monday to Thursday we quiz you on all things American. Last week Mr Trump raised tariffs to their highest levels in nearly a century. This week’s quiz is on their more bizarre aspects. (Readers who don’t fancy playing can read all about them in our story on Mr Trump’s five craziest duties.)
Monday: The exports of two countries were subjected to tariff rates of 50%, the highest of any country. Name one of them.
See how to take part in the quiz at the bottom of this page.
If you enjoyed this week’s questions, play Dateline, The Economist’s history game.
Heard on CBS
“Russia and China today are laughing at us.”
—Don Bacon, a Republican congressman on the House Armed Services Committee, criticises Mr Trump’s decision to fire the head of the National Security Agency.
How to take part in the quiz: From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on America. Email all your answers with your name and where you are from to usib@economist.com before 5pm New York time (10pm London time) on a Thursday. The weekly winner, chosen at random from those who give all the right answers, will be announced on this page on Fridays.
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