President Donald Trump's fixation on Greenland offers an ice-cold reminder to leaders in Europe and abroad: No deal is ever final. Trump announced a 10% tariff, rising to 25% in June, on eight European nations, including Denmark, for saying they would undertake token NATO military exercises in Greenland in response to US saber-rattling. While the tariffs aren't certain to take effect, the threat was a brazen escalation and insult to close US allies, trampling over the US-EU trade deal reached only six months earlier at Trump's Turnberry resort in Scotland. Trump's targets in Europe pushed back quickly. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer blasted his tariff threat as "completely wrong," France's Emmanuel Macron called it "unacceptable" and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country wouldn't be "blackmailed." For more on how geopolitics is moving the markets, we heard from Julia Wang, North Asia Chief Investment Officer at Nomura. She spoke to Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and Avril Hong.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said President Donald Trump may well keep him in his current job, which would eliminate him from contention for the next Federal Reserve chair. Trump expressed reluctance about nominating Hassett as the successor to current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, saying "I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth." Hassett once was considered the frontrunner, along with Fed Governor Christopher Waller, former governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock Inc. executive Rick Rieder. It's now seen as a four-man race, while Rieder's candidacy has recently gained late momentum, according to people familiar with the matter, as some view him as potentially better placed to win US Senate confirmation. For more perspective, we heard from Bill Campbell, Global Bond Portfolio Manager at DoubleLine.
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