HAMISH MCRAE: Big business will survive Donald Trump
Maybe the financial markets are right about Donald Trump's tariff war not being too damaging to the global economy – and the naysayers warning of a collapse are going to be proved wrong.
The big equity markets have recovered the ground they lost in the days after the US President's 'liberation day' on April 2. America's S&P 500 index has risen 14 per cent from its April lows, though it is still down on the year.
The Footsie is now up 15 days on the trot, 4 per cent higher than on January 2, while the German Dax has recovered to within a couple of per cent of its all-time high.
There are two messages here. One is that big American businesses are showing themselves to be extraordinarily resilient.
The other is that it looks like quiet negotiations between the various players will ensure the most important elements of world trade are preserved – and maybe, just maybe, we will end up with a more durable form of globalisation than we had before.
There are all sorts of examples of big tech resilience. One came from Apple. It is moving most of the assembly of its iPhones from China to India. Clear message there for the Chinese authorities.
Another was from Microsoft, which reported better-than-expected profits, and whose market capitalisation shot up 10 per cent.
Meta Platforms – Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and so on – also saw its shares recover.
As for the moves to stop tariffs destroying global trade, the most significant one was the news that China had quietly dropped its retaliatory tariffs on a quarter of its imports from the US, including pharmaceuticals, aerospace equipment and semi-conductors.
The politicians will go on posturing but the grown-ups are winning the argument.
After all, anyone at the top of a global corporation is used to dealing with difficult governments. These entrepreneurs and executives know they will be there, or at least their companies will still be operating, long after the politicians of the day have been ousted.
There was a spat between Jeff Bezos and Trump the other day after a report that Amazon was thinking of including a separate item for the cost of tariffs on its posted prices. Cue White House fury, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it was a hostile, political act. Amazon denied it was a serious proposition.
A phone call took place between Bezos and Trump, after which the President said that the head of Amazon was 'a good guy'.
So Amazon bowed to pressure? Look, Bezos is 61 and worth $212 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Donald Trump is 78, and doesn't even make the cut. His wealth is estimated by Forbes at $5.1 billion – huge of course, but not in the top 500 on the global wealth count. And which of the two will be around in ten years' time?
As far as tariffs go, trade will continue. World trade needed reform, because many countries, including China and, let's not forget, the members of the European Union, have twisted a supposedly free trade system to gain advantage for their own producers.
Is this blitz of tariffs by the US the best way of getting reform? Probably not, because smaller enterprises and countries get hurt in ways that can't be predicted and will inevitably be unfair.
For Jaguar Land Rover, trying to sell cars to California, it's rough. It has had to pause exports to the US. But its parent, India's Tata Group, may end up being a net beneficiary from the tariff war if, for example, it has better access to the US for software exports. There had to be reform and this one way of getting it.
Disruption is never good for an economy, and there is plenty of that here in the UK right now. On top of the trade stuff have come all the regulations and tax rises from this Government.
But what is happening is nothing on the scale of the disaster that swept across the world as a result of the pandemic and the shut-down in response to that.
Businesses, large and small, managed to cope. The markets are saying they will cope now.
If they are right, there will indeed be some sort of mid-cycle slowdown, but a more robust world economy at the end of it.
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Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
'These animals proudly carry other countries' flags but only burn the American flag': Trump condemns 'foreign invasion' as he prepares full anti-immigration assault on five US cities and LA enters lockdown
Donald Trump told army soldiers at Fort Bragg yesterday that Los Angeles has been invaded by 'animals burning the American flag' as he defended his decision to deploy thousands of National Guard troops to quell protests against ICE arrests. The US President was at the North Carolina military base to recognise the 250th anniversary of the US Army, but spent much of the speech railing against 'foreign enemies' trying to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents from detaining immigrants. 'What you're witnessing in California is a full blown assault on peace, on public order and national sovereignty... with the aim of continuing a foreign invasion of our country. We're not gonna let that happen,' he said. 'We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That's what they are. 'These are animals, but they proudly carry the flags of other countries, but they don't carry the American flag. They only burn it.' The president went on to call LA 'a trash heap' with 'entire neighborhoods under control' of criminals, adding the government would 'use every asset at our disposal to quell the violence and restore law and order.' 'We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again,' Trump said. The ICE raids have sparked protests that brought Los Angeles to its knees, leading the mayor to introduce a lockdown from 8pm to 6am. But Trump is now set to deploy yet more ICE agents to five Democrat-run cities for sweeping arrests. The military-style units are set to storm New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and northern Virginia, MSNBC reported. Four of those five are heavily blue cities, while northern Virginia contains the Democrat enclave of Alexandria. The reports came as California governor Gavin Newsom last night delivered a harrowing prediction for the rest of the country as he blasted Trump's deployment of troops to LA in a nationally televised address. 'Look, this isn't just about protests here in Los Angeles, when Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard. He made that order apply to every state in this nation,' Newsom said, as he teared up. 'This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes, this moment we have feared has arrived.' US President Donald Trump addresses a crowd of servicemen and women during a celebration open to the public in honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army on June 10, 2025 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina Donald Trump is set to deploy ICE tactical units to five Democrat-run areas after the riots in Los Angeles have put the city on lockdown Newsom accused Trump of 'taking a wrecking ball to our founding fathers' historic project' of three co-equal branches of government. He blamed the federal government for the ongoing crisis in LA and issued a chilling warning that chaos could soon engulf other states too. 'Authoritarian regimes begin by targeting people who are least able to defend themselves, but they do not stop there,' Newsom warned. 'This is a president who in just over 140 days, has fired government watchdogs that could hold him accountable, accountable for corruption and fraud. He's declared a war, a war on culture, on history, on science, on knowledge itself. Databases, quite literally, are vanishing.' reached out to the White House for a response. Some of what has happened in Los Angeles has spread to the rest of the country. In New York, at least 45 people were arrested Tuesday as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets near Foley Square in Manhattan, The New York Post reported. The NYPD ordered a level three authorization against the marchers, many of whom also carried Palestinian flags in addition to signs calling for the abolishment of ICE. Police pepper sprayed some of the demonstrators, while they threw water bottles at officers. The city's Public Advocate Jumaane Williams - second in line to the mayor's office - spoke in favor of peaceful demonstrations. Demonstrators smash the windshield of a vehicle next to a burning Waymo vehicle as protesters clash with law enforcement in the streets surrounding the federal building during a protest following federal immigration operations in Los Angeles, California Thousands of protesters also took to the streets of downtown Chicago, vandalizing cars and clashing with police on Tuesday. A driver plowed into a group of protesters in the Loop, striking at least one pedestrian, as thousands marched through downtown Chicago protesting the Trump administration's ongoing immigration raids. The driver was stuck between police vehicles on State Street. Officers wanted to guide her away from the crowd and asked her to turn right on Monroe Street, but she ignored their orders and turned left, speeding into the crowd. No information was available at the driver and its not clear the extent of any injuries suffered, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. In Portland, a small group of protesters set up camp outside an ICE facility and said they weren't leaving until their claims were addressed, KGW reported. Tons of marchers were also seen in the liberal city of Austin in deep red Texas. And in Atlanta, video showed protesters throwing fireworks at police officers as tear gas was seen being deployed. Newsom did briefly chastise protesters, whom he warned will be put in jail, during the speech trashing Trump as the state's biggest city goes on lockdown. The riot-ravaged Downtown area will be a no-go zone from 8pm to 6am on Tuesday and will continue indefinitely after violent demonstrators set fire to cars, looted buildings and attacked officers with rocks, fireworks and cement bricks in harrowing scenes of destruction. LAPD squads in riot gear began storming the streets immediately surrounding the Federal Building on Los Angeles St. in downtown Los Angeles shortly after Mayor Karen Bass's 8pm curfew went into effect. Police cars blocked off streets and uniformed officers fast marched to the location. Agitators were forced back half a block from the location but still swarmed the area. The intense tactical operation continued as officers, including mounted police, created so-called skirmish lines to push rioters away from other federal buildings on the same block. witnessed cars with their lights off pulling up a block away. Four agitators wearing matching black hoodies and face masks piled out of each vehicle and began moving towards the lines of police. Despite the curfew order having been called, some protestors - waving flags and yelling - defiantly stared down police who watched on and stood their ground rather than make arrests. One protestor, a man aged in his early 20s with a Mexican flag draped over his shoulders, told Daily Mail: 'I know my own rights and am willing to be arrested unjustly. I have a right to be here and protest.' People began chanting and cheering as motorcyclist performed donuts and burnouts in front of officers. White LAPD buses arrived on scene at 8:50pm as officers made plans to make arrests. A tipping point was reached at 9:05pm as police began making arrests outside the Federal Building. About a dozen people were arrested by cops and made to face a wall with their hands behind their backs and tied with zip ties before being marched on a white LAPD bus. Bizarrely, public buses still operated two blocks away from the dramatic scene. Bass said the curfew is expected to last several days and will encompass a square mile radius around the epicenter of the violence in Downtown LA. 'If you do not live or work in downtown LA avoid the area. Law enforcement will arrest individuals who break the curfew, and you will be prosecuted,' Bass said. For five days now, rioters have wreaked havoc on communities as they railed against Trump 's efforts to rid the city of illegal migrants. They were only further enraged when Trump gave orders to send 700 Marines and 4,100 National Guard troops in to take over policing efforts and assist the LAPD. Bass revealed at least 23 businesses have been looted during the ongoing violence and condemned some of the horrifying images which have emerged from the days of carnage. But Bass said the curfew was contained to where the violence was most apparent, noting: 'Some of the imagery of the protests and the violence gives the appearance as though this is a city wide crisis and is not.' She hopes that by imposing a curfew and declaring a local emergency, she can 'stop the vandalism, stop the looting.' 'A curfew has been in consideration for several days, but clearly after the violence that took place last night and just the extensive widespread nature of the vandalism, we reached a tipping point.' While Bass refrained from locking down the entire Downtown, the LAPD has this week repeatedly issued alerts listing Downtown Los Angeles as 'unlawful assembly' zones in an effort to rid the area of any and all protesters. The regions impacted by the lockdown span from the five freeway to the 110 freeway, and from the 10 freeway to the point where the 110 and the five merge. The development comes as Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to stop the LA rioters, which authorizes the president to deploy military forces inside the United States to suppress rebellion or domestic violence or to enforce the law in certain situations. 'If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you, last night was terrible. The night before that was terrible,' Trump said. He repeatedly referred to 'bad, sick people' and 'agitators' he said were paid to wreak havoc. 'There are certainly areas of Los Angeles you could have called it an insurrection,' Trump said. It was terrible.' A curfew is the natural next step in efforts toward regaining control of the city, as the LAPD ramps up arrests and cracks down on protesters breaching unlawful assembly orders. Hordes of protesters were zip-tied and forced onto LAPD buses en masse as authorities sought to bring an end to days of chaos and destruction. LAPD chief Jim McDonnell said protests had grown more violent as the week progressed. There were just 27 arrests on Sunday, with 40 on Sunday, 114 on Monday and nearly 200 by 6pm on Tuesday. He said public safety personnel, journalists and homeless people would be exempt from the order. The arrival of Trump's military reinforcements brought its own set of challenges on Tuesday, with furious Governor Newsom filing an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order. 'I just filed an emergency motion to block Trump's illegal deployment of Marines and National Guard in Los Angeles,' he said on X. 'Trump is turning the U.S. military against American citizens. The courts must immediately block these illegal actions.' The state said the order would 'prevent the use of federalized National Guard and active duty Marines for law enforcement purposes on the streets of a civilian city.' 'Federal antagonization, through the presence of soldiers in the streets, has already caused real and irreparable damage to the City of Los Angeles, the people who live there, and the State of California,' the filing stated. 'They must be stopped, immediately.' A judge denied the motion and instead granted the Trump administration an extension of time to respond to Newsom's filing. The federal government now has until 2pm on Wednesday to file its response. Newsom will then have an opportunity to file its opposition ahead of a hearing at 1.30pm Thursday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers the deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles will cost at least $134 million and last 60 days. 'We stated very publicly that it's 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we're not going anywhere,' he said. 'Thankfully, unlike the previous administration, we've got a 13 percent increase in our defense budget, and we will have the capability to cover down on contingencies, which is something the National Guard and the Marines plan for. 'So we have the funding to cover down on contingencies, especially ones as important as maintaining law and order in a major American city. As far as training, all of the units on the ground have been fully trained in their capabilities of what they're executing on the ground.'
Scottish Sun
8 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
‘Son of Concorde' jet that could fly from London to NYC in 3.5 hours steps closer to reality as major ban is lifted
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) CONCORDE-STYLE flights capable of blasting passengers from London to New York City in 3.5 hours have edged closer to reality after a major ban was lifted. "Son of Concorde" maker Boom Technology has welcomed President Trump's executive order that effectively lifts the 52-year ban on civil supersonic flight over land in the US. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Boom managed its first supersonic flight in January Credit: Boom Supersonic 4 Company is now making supersonic airplanes for everyday passengers Credit: Boom Supersonic 4 Tight restrictions on supersonic flights have been in place due to the loud sonic boom created by the shock waves from a flying object travelling faster than the speed of sound. "America once led the world in supersonic aviation, but decades of stifling regulations grounded progress," the White House said. "This Order removes regulatory barriers so that U.S. companies can dominate supersonic flight once again." To hit supersonic speeds, an airplane needs to travel at 768 miles per hour. But Boom Technology has been working on a jet that has no audible sonic boom. The firm managed to make its XB-1 test jet fly faster than the speed of sound for the first time in January this year. Writing on X, the company welcomed the latest move, saying: "Thank you, President Trump, for unlocking the future of faster and quieter travel. "This presidential action comes after a bipartisan group of key Congressional leaders introduced the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act on May 14, 2025. "The legislation calls on the FAA to revise the regulation prohibiting supersonic flight over land." After finishing tests with XB-1 in January, Boom is now focused on building a plane suitable for passengers called Overture. Boom 'son of Concorde' flies supersonic for first time Some 130 aircraft pre-orders have already been made by the likes of American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. The executive order does come with a set of rules that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been directed to impose. An interim "noise-based certification standard" must be established that considers "community acceptability, economic reasonableness, and technological feasibility". Why did the Concorde fail? CONCORDE was the supersonic passenger jet considered the ultimate luxury in air travel. Air France and British Airways announced they would be retiring their fleet of Concorde planes on April 10, 2003. The plane had its first commercial flight on January 21, 1976, so was retired after 27 years of service and 50,000 flights. Several reasons led to the decision to retire Concorde. Air France and British Airways cited low passenger numbers and high maintenance costs. By the early noughties, the planes were outdated and expensive to run, despite being incredibly advanced when they were first introduced almost three decades previously. The 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 majorly impacted passenger numbers, as people opted not to fly. Passenger numbers also fell after an Air France Concorde crashed just minutes after taking off from Paris in July 2000. The disaster killed all 109 people on board and four others on the ground. The plane ran over a small piece of metal on the runway, which burst a tyre and caused an engine to ignite. It was also the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet that required a flight engineer. Image credit: Alamy Trump was presented with a miniature model of Overture earlier this year from Boom Technology's CEO. He suggested that Boom should manufacture Air Force One - the President's personal plane - and made a dig at China President Xi Jinping. "Air Fore Once should be supersonic. Xi [President of China] can keep his 747-8," he wrote. 4 Trump posed with a miniature model of Boom Technology's Overture jet Credit: x/bscholl
The Sun
8 minutes ago
- The Sun
‘Son of Concorde' jet that could fly from London to NYC in 3.5 hours steps closer to reality as major ban is lifted
CONCORDE-STYLE flights capable of blasting passengers from London to New York City in 3.5 hours have edged closer to reality after a major ban was lifted. "Son of Concorde" maker Boom Technology has welcomed President Trump 's executive order that effectively lifts the 52-year ban on civil supersonic flight over land in the US. 4 4 4 Tight restrictions on supersonic flights have been in place due to the loud sonic boom created by the shock waves from a flying object travelling faster than the speed of sound. "America once led the world in supersonic aviation, but decades of stifling regulations grounded progress," the White House said. "This Order removes regulatory barriers so that U.S. companies can dominate supersonic flight once again." To hit supersonic speeds, an airplane needs to travel at 768 miles per hour. But Boom Technology has been working on a jet that has no audible sonic boom. The firm managed to make its XB-1 test jet fly faster than the speed of sound for the first time in January this year. Writing on X, the company welcomed the latest move, saying: "Thank you, President Trump, for unlocking the future of faster and quieter travel. "This presidential action comes after a bipartisan group of key Congressional leaders introduced the Supersonic Aviation Modernization Act on May 14, 2025. "The legislation calls on the FAA to revise the regulation prohibiting supersonic flight over land." After finishing tests with XB-1 in January, Boom is now focused on building a plane suitable for passengers called Overture. Boom 'son of Concorde' flies supersonic for first time Some 130 aircraft pre-orders have already been made by the likes of American Airlines, United Airlines, and Japan Airlines. The executive order does come with a set of rules that the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been directed to impose. An interim "noise-based certification standard" must be established that considers "community acceptability, economic reasonableness, and technological feasibility". Why did the Concorde fail? CONCORDE was the supersonic passenger jet considered the ultimate luxury in air travel. Air France and British Airways announced they would be retiring their fleet of Concorde planes on April 10, 2003. The plane had its first commercial flight on January 21, 1976, so was retired after 27 years of service and 50,000 flights. Several reasons led to the decision to retire Concorde. Air France and British Airways cited low passenger numbers and high maintenance costs. By the early noughties, the planes were outdated and expensive to run, despite being incredibly advanced when they were first introduced almost three decades previously. The 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001 majorly impacted passenger numbers, as people opted not to fly. Passenger numbers also fell after an Air France Concorde crashed just minutes after taking off from Paris in July 2000. The disaster killed all 109 people on board and four others on the ground. The plane ran over a small piece of metal on the runway, which burst a tyre and caused an engine to ignite. It was also the only aircraft in the British Airways fleet that required a flight engineer. Image credit: Alamy Trump was presented with a miniature model of Overture earlier this year from Boom Technology's CEO. He suggested that Boom should manufacture Air Force One - the President's personal plane - and made a dig at China President Xi Jinping. "Air Fore Once should be supersonic. Xi [President of China] can keep his 747-8," he wrote. 4 Supersonic and Hypersonic Jets There are several types of hypersonic and supersonic jets. A breakdown of what's been happening in the industry and what's expected in the coming years. Talon-A Built by Stratolaunch Reported speeds of Mach 5 The first test flight conducted in 2024 X-59 Quesst Built by Nasa and Lockheed Martin Predicted max speeds of Mach 1.4 The first test flight in 2024 - but subject to delays Venus Stargazer M4 Built by Venus Aerospace and Velontra Predicted max speeds of Mach 6 First test flight in 2025 Quarterhorse MKII Built by Hermeus Predicted max speeds of Mach 2.5 First test flight in 2026 Halcyon Built by Hermeus Predicted max speeds of Mach 5 First test flight by 2030 Nanqiang No 1 Built by China's hypersonic plane programme Predicted max speeds of Mach 6 First test flight in 2025 DART Built by Hypersonix Launch Systems Predicted max speeds of Mach 7 First test flight in 2025
