Tag Archives: Europe

Associated Press: May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda

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Hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world rallied Thursday in May Day protests that united many in anger over President Donald Trump’s agenda from aggressive tariffs that are stoking fears of global economic turmoil to his administration’s immigration crackdowns.

In the United States, organizers framed this year’s International Workers’ Day protests as a pushback against what they see as the administration’s sweeping assault on labor protections, diversity initiatives and federal employees. Protesters lined streets in many cities from New York to Philadelphia to Los Angeles and held a boisterous rally outside the White House in Washington.

May Day demonstrations in US and around the globe protest Trump agenda

Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in U.S. cities and around the globe for International Workers’ Day or May Day, with the focus this year on President Donald Trump’s agenda.

https://apnews.com/article/may-day-workers-labor-unions-rallies-marches-trump-46de8196d7f01d7458c3d77ccd5e0e54

Financial Times: Danes boycotting Coca-Cola, says Carlsberg

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Danish consumers are boycotting Coca-Cola, according to Carlsberg, which bottles the US brand in the country, as shoppers protest against Donald Trump’s foreign policy. 

“Our Coca-Cola volumes are slightly down in Denmark,” said Carlsberg’s chief executive Jacob Aarup-Andersen. “There is a level of consumer boycott around the US brands . . . and it’s the only market where we’re seeing that to a large extent.”

The repeated threats by the US president to take the Danish territory of Greenland, potentially by force, have angered many Danes as has his administration’s criticism of Copenhagen. 

https://archive.is/6cdJZ

CNN World: Why Trump’s Crimea proposal would tear down a decades-old pillar of the global order

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US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine should recognize Russia’s control over Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow annexed more than a decade ago, is threatening to upend international law and order.

…

Is this legal?

No. If the Trump administration was to somehow recognize Russian sovereignty over Crimea, it would be breaching international law as well as multiple declarations and agreements made by the United States, including by the first Trump White House.

“In terms of international law, such a pronouncement would be null and void,” said Sergey Vasiliev, an international law expert and professor at the Open University in the Netherlands.

“That territorial acquisitions that result from the use of force shall not be recognized as legal is basically one of the bedrock principles of international law,” Vasiliev told CNN.

Recognizing Crimea as part of Russia would put the Trump administration in breach of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which the US made a commitment to respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders, in exchange for Kyiv giving up its nuclear weapons.

In 2018, during the first Trump administration, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement reaffirming the US’ refusal to recognize the Kremlin’s claims of sovereignty over Crimea.

Why Trump’s Crimea proposal would tear down a decades-old pillar of the global order | CNN

President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Ukraine should recognize Russia’s control over Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula Moscow siezed by force more than a decade ago, is threatening to upend international law and order.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/25/world/trump-ukraine-crimea-explainer-intl

Telegraph: Trump’s attempt to upend the global order has already been defeated

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America has emerged from the trade war as an international laughing stock

Characterised by screeching handbrake turns, made-up policy on the hoof and mixed-messaging on steroids, it’s been another week of chaos in Washington.

If anyone knows what on Earth it is that the US is trying to achieve on trade, and much else besides, then I’d like to hear from them, because having come to the US capital in the hope of garnering some insights, I’m none the wiser.

What’s now increasingly obvious, however, is that Trump is in ragged retreat; he’s compromising all over the shop, such that if the plan was to upend the established global order, one can almost definitely say that, beyond the rhetoric, it is already over.

Rank lack of professionalism and organisation has defined the endeavour all along, and now it’s coming apart at the seams. Sensing an administration on the run, no one is any longer hurrying to do a trade deal with the US. From Britain to Canada and beyond, getting the right deal rather than a quick one has become the new mantra.

Trump has in the meantime made himself – and the US – into an international laughing stock, never mind the damage that policy uncertainty is inflicting on the global economy. You’d be forgiven for thinking that chaos is itself the policy goal.

Repeatedly forced to row back on its demands and aspirations, the White House has been left looking back-footed and ridiculous.

Trump’s attempt to upend the global order has already been defeated

America has emerged from the trade war as an international laughing stock

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/04/26/trumps-attempt-to-upend-the-global-order-defeated

Financial Times: Vance’s trolling audition to be Trump’s heir

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The many contradictions of the vice-president should not distract from his ambition

It was inevitable that memes about JD Vance would surface the moment Pope Francis passed away. “It’s good to see you in better health,” the US vice-president told the pope on Sunday. The pontiff died on Monday.

As Donald Trump’s chief attack dog — though not yet his heir apparent — Vance is a prime target of ridicule on liberal social media. But he is also a master troller himself. Vance knows that the surest path to Maga hearts and Trump’s approval is to enrage liberals. The question is whether he means anything by it.

And this:

The answer is unclear. Vance has gone from being a never-Trumper who saw Trump as “America’s Hitler” to an arch-Trumper who sees his boss as part of God’s plan. That is as dramatic a political conversion as can happen. Rather than search for an intellectual key, Vance’s shift can be put down to ambition. The better question is whether there are any limits to his ambition. Judging by his performance so far, the answer is not really.

What this last paragraph indicates is that we can’t trust J.D. Dunce to be the person that he pretends to be. He’s an opportunist, a weasel, pure and simple!

https://archive.is/fyhWg

Kyiv Independent: Trump officials ‘fed up’ with Europe’s efforts to strengthen Ukraine, Economist reports

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Some Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries’ ongoing support for Ukraine, underscoring the growing rift between Washington and Europe, the Economist reported on April 15, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.

Kyiv’s European partners have sought to present a united front on Ukraine, pledging additional assistance and preparing a “reassurance force” of troops to monitor a potential ceasefire.

As Trump’s Amerika slides into international irrelevance …

Trump officials ‘fed up’ with Europe’s efforts to strengthen Ukraine, Economist reports

Some Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries’ ongoing support for Ukraine, underscoring the growing rift between Washington and Europe, the Economist reported on April 15, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources. Kyiv’s European partners have sought to present a united front on Ukraine, pledging additional assistance a…

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-officials-fed-up-with-europe-s-efforts-to-strengthen-ukraine-economist-reports/ar-AA1D2afd

CNBC: Trump tariffs on China will soon bring ‘irreversible’ damage to many American businesses

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  • On Saturday, the Trump administration said it would exempt technology products like the iPhone, PCs and chips from much of the recently imposed Chinese tariffs.
  • But for most businesses in the U.S., orders from China are being canceled and Chinese freight being shipped could be abandoned.
  • Without a wider pause in the trade war with China, the damage will soon be “irreversible” for U.S. businesses, according to a retail expert, including furniture, toys, apparel, footwear, and sports equipment.

Apple’s iPhone and other technology hardware, from chips to PCs, received a China tariff reprieve from President Trump on Saturday, but for much of the U.S. economy and small business owners, the damage will soon be irreversible from the 145% tariffs being imposed on Chinese imports.

Canceled freight orders and abandoned freight from China are quickly becoming the norm in the trade war between the U.S. and China, according to supply chain executives, as businesses across U.S. industries put a full stop on container exports, with the tariffs hitting like a ton of bricks.

“Furniture producers in China have seen a complete halt in orders from U.S. importers, and we’re hearing the same across toys, apparel, footwear, and sports equipment,” said Alan Murphy, founder and CEO of Sea-Intelligence.

“We had the same across Southeast Asia, but after the 90-day reprieve those bookings have restarted,” said Brian Bourke, chief commercial officer for SEKO Logistics, while the cancelled bookings for containers out of China continue. 

“Almost everything is on hold as it relates to China business,” said Alan Baer, CEO of OL USA.

“Trump’s 145% total tariff on Chinese imports would stop most trade between the U.S. and China,” economist Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation’s Center for Federal Tax Policy, said on Thursday on CNBC’s “The Exchange.”

“There may still be some things without any substitutes that companies just have to foot the bill, but for the most part, that cuts it off,” York said.

How can Americans possibly benefit from this?

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/12/trump-tariffs-on-china-mean-irreversible-damage-for-most-businesses.html

Mediaite: The Wall Street Journal Torches Trump for ‘Hurting His Own Cause and Country’ Instead of China: ‘Making It Up as He Goes’

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The Wall Street Journal continued its assault on President Donald Trump’s trade policy in a new editorial questioning if he even has a “China trade strategy.”

“It’s all going according to plan, says the White House, and you almost have to smile at this spin in trying to sell President Trump’s partial tariff reversal this week as a triumph,” began the Journal in its opening salvo. “The reality is that Mr. Trump is making it up as he goes, and it would help if he had an actual strategy to deal with China in particular.”

After noting that Trump has escalated his trade war with China, it went on to submit that it isn’t clear whether the administration seeks “complete decoupling” or a “trade deal” with the Chinese.

The Wall Street Journal Torches Trump for ‘Hurting His Own Cause and Country’ Instead of China: ‘Making It Up as He Goes’

The Wall Street Journal continued its assault on Donald Trump’s trade policy in a new editorial questioning if Trump even has a “China trade strategy.”
The Wall Street Journal Torches Trump for ‘Hurting His Own Cause and Country’ Instead of China: ‘Making It Up as He Goes’

CNBC: Delta CEO says Trump tariffs are hurting bookings as airline pulls 2025 forecast

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  • Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian called President Donald Trump’s tariffs “the wrong approach.”
  • The airline cut its growth plans and said it can’t reaffirm its 2025 financial guidance.
  • Delta last month lowered its first-quarter forecast due to disappointing bookings.

Delta CEO says Trump tariffs are hurting bookings as airline pulls 2025 forecast

Delta said it couldn’t reaffirm its 2025 financial guidance.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/09/delta-air-lines-dal-1q-2025-earnings.html

Americans Are Behaving As If They’re Going Into a Recession, Delta CEO Says

Corporate and domestic leisure travel has stalled since late February, according to Delta, the first major airline to release earnings since widespread tariffs were announced.

https://www.investopedia.com/americans-are-behaving-as-if-theyre-going-into-a-recession-delta-ceo-says-11711319

Delta warns of ‘economic uncertainty’ and ‘stalled growth’ in new recession alarm bell | CNN Business

Delta Air Lines warned that revenue could fall in the current quarter and that “growth has largely stalled,” forcing it to drop plans to offer more seats to passengers, in another warning sign about a possible recession hitting even businesses not directly impacted by recent tariffs.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/09/business/delta-earnings-economic-warning/index.html

Deccan Herald: The world suddenly has a plausible alternative to US treasuries

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Bond traders will be trying to gauge who blinks first, will it be the Fed or President Trump? If both stick to their current stance every Treasury auction is a landmine which investors will fear stepping in to.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury have tumbled about 40 basis points this year, briefly pushed below 4% Monday by President Donald Trump’s barrage of tariffs that economists say raise the risk of a recession.

In contrast, comparable rates in both Europe and Japan have gone up. In Germany, the 10-year bund at 2.61% reflects the prospect of a flood of bond issuance as the government ramps up defense spending. Meanwhile, the rate on 10-year Japanese bonds has soared after spending years around zero and is now around 1.25% as investors brace for tighter monetary policy there.

While both are still well below Treasury yields, they’re at levels that makes them look more attractive than Treasuries to European and Japanese investors who hedge their dollar exposure when buying US securities. That might entice investors to shift allocations to their home markets, where the policy outlook appears more stable.

Global Finance Shift: Emerging Alternative to US Treasuries

Global Finance Update: Explore the new viable alternative to US treasuries that’s capturing global attention.

https://www.deccanherald.com/world/the-world-suddenly-has-a-plausible-alternative-to-us-treasuries-3483968