Signs of economic doubt emerge in the US
As US President Donald Trump charges ahead with his tariff plans and aggressive cost-cutting mission in Washington, signs of pessimism are quietly arising among economists, global investors, and US consumers.
Stocks in the US and Asia fell Tuesday after Trump vowed to go ahead with tariffs against Mexico and Canada next week, while bitcoin, seen as a favorable 'Trump trade,' also fell after months of historic gains.
Experts had warned that Trump's tariff agenda could raise prices for American consumers — but his first month in office was largely well-received by Wall Street. Now, some analysts are sounding the alarm that the market is overvalued. 'Whisper it, but signs are starting to emerge… that the weight of Donald Trump's multi-pronged policy agenda is becoming a bit too much to bear,' Bloomberg's Markets Daily newsletter wrote. Beyond stocks, consumers worried about inflation also grew more pessimistic about the economic outlook this month, according to a leading consumer confidence index, which recorded its largest monthly decline since 2021. 'For good or bad, depending on your politics, we're back to the chaos presidency,' a prominent hedge fund manager told Politico.
Donald Trump's effort to axe government spending through the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency could have spiraling economic ramifications, analysts warned. The mass firings or buyouts of federal workers may amount to the largest job cut in US history, experts told CNBC. 'The economic consequences of layoffs are like a domino effect that spread across local economies to businesses that seem to have no connection whatsoever to the federal government,' a Yale University Budget Lab official said. But while the DOGE cuts could upend livelihoods and local communities, many economists are confident they won't devastate the national economy, CNN reported. 'It's not going to tip the economy into recession by itself,' one expert said.
Trump's embrace of cryptocurrency helped supercharge the digital tokens to new highs after his victory. 'Holding bitcoin is cool again,' the Financial Times declared just two weeks ago; the currency surpassed $100,000 in January. But bitcoin has been falling over the last few days, amid a crypto market decline. Broader economic concerns around tariffs' impact sparked the de-risking selloff, Coin Central wrote, showing an alignment between digital assets and stock markets: 'The days when cryptocurrency moved independently from mainstream financial assets appear to be fading.' A major hack at Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit also dented investor confidence.
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Newsweek
31 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Approval Rating Falls to Lowest Point
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Fast Company
31 minutes ago
- Fast Company
Trump's Iran-Israel ceasefire is holding. Why hopes for lasting peace are uncertain
The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding on Wednesday after a rocky start, giving rise to cautious hope that it could lead to a long-term peace agreement even as Tehran insists it will not give up its nuclear program. The ceasefire took hold on Tuesday, the 12th day of the war between Israel and Iran, with each side initially accusing the other of violating it until the missiles, drones and bombs finally stopped. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump, who helped negotiate the ceasefire, told reporters at a NATO summit in the Netherlands that it was going 'very well.' 'They're not going to have a bomb and they're not going to enrich,' Trump said about Iran. Iran has insisted, however, that it will not give up its nuclear program and in a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, Iranian parliament agreed to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Vienna-based U.N. watchdog that has been monitoring the Iranian nuclear program for years. Ahead of the vote, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf criticized the IAEA for having 'refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities' that were carried out by the United States on Sunday. 'For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran will suspend cooperation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran's peaceful nuclear program will move forward at a faster pace,' Qalibaf told lawmakers. In Vienna, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he had already written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of their nuclear facilities. Among other things, Iran claims to have moved its highly enriched uranium ahead of the American strikes and Grossi said his inspectors needed to re-assess the country's stockpiles. 'We need to return,' he said. 'We need to engage.' Questions over effectiveness of the US strikes The American strikes hit three Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump said had 'completely and fully obliterated' the country's nuclear program. From Tehran, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed Sunday's strikes by American B-2 bombers using bunker-buster bombs had caused significant damage. 'Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,' he told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, while refusing to go into detail. He seemed to suggest Iran might not shut out IAEA inspectors for good, however, noting the bill before parliament only talks of suspending work with the agency, not ending it. But he also insisted Iran has the right to pursue a nuclear energy program. 'Iran is determined to preserve that right under any circumstances,' he said. Trump's special envoy to the Mideast, Steve Witkoff, said on Fox News late on Tuesday that Israel and the U.S. had now achieved their objective of 'the total destruction of the enrichment capacity' in Iran, and Iran's prerequisite for talks — that Israel end its campaign — had also been fulfilled. 'The proof is in the pudding,' he said. 'No one's shooting at each other. It's over.' At the NATO summit, when asked about a U.S. intelligence report that found Iran's nuclear program has been set back only a few months, Trump scoffed and said it would at least take 'years' to rebuild. Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Wednesday his country's assessment was also that Iran's nuclear facilities had been 'significantly damaged' and its nuclear program 'set it back by years.' Grossi said he could not speculate on how bad the damage was but that Iran's nuclear capabilities were well known. 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However, Baghaei, the Iranian spokesman, said Washington had 'torpedoed diplomacy' with its attacks on Iran's nuclear sites, and that while Iran in principle was always open to talks, the country's national security was the priority. 'We have to make sure whether the other parties are really serious when they're talking about diplomacy, or is it again part of their tactics to make more problems for the region and for my country,' he said. China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and close Iranian partner, also weighed in on Wednesday, saying it hoped a 'lasting and effective ceasefire can be achieved so as to promote' peace and stability in the region. China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and has long supported its government politically, blaming Israel for starting the latest conflict and destabilizing the region. 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New York Post
36 minutes ago
- New York Post
Inside 'Pickaxe Mountain': Iran's underground fortress — that may be stashing uranium
An under construction hidden fortress in Iran — known as 'Pickaxe Mountain' — may potentially be housing any uranium stockpiles that Tehran managed to smuggle out before the US bombed its nuclear sites. The deeply buried installation, which is just minutes from the Natanz nuclear facility — one of the three sites struck over the weekend, has been quietly reinforced in recent years. Multiple reports have now suggested that Pickaxe could be the perfect hiding place for uranium — as speculation mounted that Iran may have been able to remove its cache before the attacks unfolded over the weekend. Advertisement 3 Satellite image of the Natanz uranium enrichment site construction area in Iran. DigitalGlobe/Getty Images Open-source satellite images taken Thursday and Friday showed scores of cargo-style trucks lined up outside of Fordow, arousing suspicion that the theocratic regime could have moved its stockpile of enriched uranium. Almost 900 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% purity has been unaccounted for since the Israeli airstrikes began on June 13. Meanwhile, Iran has been cagey about the Pickaxe Mountain site after satellite imagery emerged earlier this year showing a new deeply buried tunnel and security perimeter close to the existing Natanz site. Advertisement The director general of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency asked Tehran in April about what was going on there — but got a blunt response. 'Since it is obvious it is in a place where numerous and important activities related to the program are taking place, we're asking them, what is this for? They are telling us, it's none of your business,' Rafael Grossi, the director general, said at the time. He added that it 'cannot be excluded' the tunnels would store undeclared material but said he didn't want to speculate on intentions. Advertisement 3 Images released by US defense contractor Maxar Technologies showed more than a dozen trucks lined up outside Iran's Fordow nuclear facility just days before the US carried out its large-scale airstrikes. Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies/AFP via Getty Images 'I've been raising this issue repeatedly, and I will continue to do so,' Grossi said. It wasn't immediately clear if Pickaxe suffered any damage during the latest strikes that targeted Natanz, as well as the Fordow and Isfahan nuclear facilities. President Trump, for his part, has insisted Iran wouldn't have been able to remove any uranium being enriched at the sites before the attacks. Advertisement 3 The deeply buried installation is just minutes from the Natanz nuclear facility. DigitalGlobe/Getty Images 'They didn't have a chance to get anything out because we acted fast,' Trump said Wednesday. 'It would have taken two weeks, maybe. But it's very hard to remove that kind of material, very hard and very dangerous for them to remove it.' Trump, too, has insisted his attacks 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program and the White House has dismissed a leaked preliminary intelligence assessment suggesting Tehran could salvage it within months.
