Politics
(Washington)
In what must be seen as nothing other than a major diplomatic breakthrough, reports are out that the head of the US’ CIA, Mike Pompeo, had a face to face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The meeting comes in advance of President Trump’s planned meeting with Un. The meeting apparently took place over Easter weekend and was a way to lay the groundwork for the president’s meeting. Reports of the meeting were first covered by the Washington Post, and the White House confirmed it had been having meetings at “very high levels”.
FINSUM: We are not sure why Un is talking to the US after decades of diplomatic silence, but we certainly see the dialogue as good news.
(New York)
There is a lot of excitement and anxiety about the investigation into Michael Cohen, president Trump’s personal lawyer. Many fear that investigators may get him to spill all details about his dealings with Trump. The media has been hyping the idea, with magazines like Esquire saying “We can safely speculate that Cohen knows everything: the money, the scams, the women, the Russians. All of it”. However, Bloomberg reports that Cohen is not the biggest fish investigators could catch and that there are many close to Trump who know much more about his affairs than Cohen. In reality, another lawyer named Jason Greenblatt, who worked as in-house counsel for the Trump organization for almost 20 years, probably knows much more.
FINSUM: He may not know the most, but it seems like Cohen probably knows enough to get Trump in even hotter water.
(Washington)
The public spat between the president and the former director of the FBI went very public yesterday as a Comey interview about his firing was aired on national television last night. In the interview, Comey called Trump morally unfit to be president and said that Russia may be holding something over Trump that is affecting his behavior. Comey would not say whether he thought Trump firing him amounted to obstruction of justice, saying that would be up to investigators to decide. Trump fired back at Comey through a series of tweets.
FINSUM: Hard to say if this spat will amount to anything, but one thing is clear—it will not lessen the pressure Trump is under in regards to this investigation.
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(Washington)
The standoff between the president and special counsel Robert Mueller is heating up once again. On Monday, federal agents raided the offices of Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, which Trump vehemently protested in the media. This has led to speculation Trump may now move to fire Mueller. In response, the White House officially said yesterday that they felt doing so was within the president’s authority. GOP lawmakers have warned Trump not to do so, but say they will not protect Mueller.
FINSUM: Whether or not Trump is allowed to fire Mueller, we think it would cause an unprecedented political firestorm if he were to do so. Just look at what happened to Nixon after he fired a special counsel.
(Beijing)
The US and China are currently in a hot-under-the-collar spat over trade. Each side is proposing to raise tariffs in response to the other, and there is no end in sight. Well, China may be changing gears and adding a new weapon—Yuan devaluation. Beijing is reportedly exploring how to use devaluation as a tool in a trade war. Weakening the Yuan would make Chinese goods cheaper to buy overseas and could be a tool to boost exports. At the same time, it makes it harder for Chinese companies to buy overseas goods.
FINSUM: While on paper it sounds promising, intentionally weakening the currency would give weight to claims (most loudly by Trump) that China is a currency manipulator, which could turn favor against Beijing.
(Washington)
The back and forth on the burgeoning trade war with China is getting exhausting and confusing. Only a day after US officials tried to clam down the situation by saying that a trade war would be avoided, President Trump announced a further $100bn of proposed tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump explained his response to China’s hike in tariffs on US goods this way, saying “Rather than remedy its misconduct, China has chosen to harm our farmers and manufacturers … In light of China’s unfair retaliation, I have instructed the [US Trade Representative] to consider whether $100bn of additional tariffs would be appropriate . . . and, if so, to identify the products upon which to impose such tariffs”.
FINSUM: So we understand why the US wants to raise tariffs, but at the same time, it is hard to root for a trade war which seems like it will hurt all involved.