Trump and Greenland: What to know as Trump backs down from tariffs

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Welcome to The Logoff: Donald Trump is as soon as once more transferring markets — and being moved by them in flip.

What occurred? On Wednesday afternoon, the president mentioned in a social media publish that he was backing away from new tariffs on Europe after reaching a “framework of a future take care of respect to Greenland,” doubtlessly involving US sovereignty over new US navy bases there. The Dow and different US inventory indices jumped in response, after struggling a nasty day on Tuesday due to Trump’s persevering with threats.

It’s the most recent instance of one of many extra dependable patterns to emerge from Trump’s first 12 months again in workplace: TACO, or “Trump at all times chickens out.”

Why TACO? The time period comes from a Financial Times column in Could breaking down the market response to Trump backing down on his “Liberation Day” tariffs. As my colleague Andrew Prokop explained on the time, the short-lived tariffs pushed the market to the verge of disaster, and Trump blinked. TACO postulates Trump at all times handles market dips the identical means: As soon as the harm will get unhealthy sufficient, he'll relent.

What’s the context? Till Wednesday, Trump had been all-in on buying Greenland, logic and decades-old US alliances be damned. Over the weekend, he introduced escalating tariffs on eight European international locations over their opposition to the plan, and threatened Norway’s prime minister.

What’s the large image? TACO is, in some methods, excellent news — a built-in circuit breaker for a few of Trump’s extra damaging impulses. However as Arin Dube, a College of Massachusetts economics professor, points out , it’s not a everlasting answer. As markets develop accustomed to Trump backing down, they’re much less more likely to get jittery within the first place; in the event that they don’t fall, Trump additionally doesn’t get the sign to cease touching the range.

The consequence may very well be an ever-elongating TACO cycle the place Trump tiptoes nearer to the brink of a significantly damaging determination — and possibly over it — earlier than the markets ship a sign he ought to rethink.

And with that, it’s time to sign off…

Final month, my colleague Benji Jones traveled to Australia to report on “ the largest effort ever mounted to keep the Great Barrier Reef alive .” The Australian authorities’s almost $300 million Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program is deliberate as a multi-decade effort to bolster the dying reefs, together with by spawning new corals in a lab. You'll be able to learn his wonderful reporting here , together with some great pictures of the reefs. Take pleasure in, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!