Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump are set to meet for the third time this year. Among the issues for discussion are Israel’s 21-month war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.
Trump has made clear that following the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, he would like to see the Gaza conflict end soon. The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu could give new urgency to a US ceasefire proposal being discussed by Israel and Hamas, but whether it leads to a deal that ends the war is unclear.
China says BRICS isn’t about targeting any specific countries
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson says that the “BRICS mechanism is an important platform for cooperation among emerging markets and developing countries.”
“It advocates openness, inclusiveness, and win-win cooperation and does not engage in bloc confrontation or target any specific country,” the spokesperson said Monday.
The comments come after Trump said, in a post on his social media platform late Sunday, that any country that aligns itself with what he termed “the Anti-American policies of BRICS” would be levied an added 10% tariff.
The second of the BRICS summit continues Monday in Rio de Janeiro.
Tesla shares tumbled 6.5 per cent overnight as the feud between CEO Elon Musk and Trump reignited over the weekend.
Musk, once a top donor and ally of Trump, announced that he was forming a third political party in protest over the Republican spending bill that passed late last week.
Trump followed by criticising Musk in a social media post, saying that the CEO had gone “off the rails” in recent weeks. Trump suggested Musk’s disappointment in the bill was over the termination of an “electric vehicle mandate,” which Trump says Musk knew was coming.
Investors fear that Musk’s companies, which receive significant subsidies from the federal government, could suffer further if his feud with Trump continues to fester.
Tesla shares have been extremely volatile since Musk went all-in for Trump in the run-up to last year’s election.
Rubio heads to Asia this week
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip to Asia this week to attend a regional security conference in Malaysia.
It comes as the Trump administration moves ahead with its intent to focus more heavily on the Indo-Pacific and blunting China’s increasing influence there.
The State Department announced Monday that Rubio, who also will be making his first solo trip abroad since taking on the added job of national security adviser, will travel to Kuala Lumpur for the annual Association of Southeast Nations Regional Forum from Tuesday until Friday.
He will take part in a series of bilateral and multilateral discussions expected to be dominated by defence, maritime safety and security and trade issues.
The Trump administration has vexed a number of allies with demands for increased defence spending and threats to impose massive tariffs on their exports to the US.
Treasury secretary says his mailbox is full with trade offers ahead of tariffs deadline
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Monday TV interview that the Trump administration would announce “several” trade frameworks over the next 48 hours.
“What President Trump is concerned about is the quality of the deals, not the quantity,” Bessent said on CNBC.
The treasury secretary said his “mailbox” was filled with new trade offers in response to the risk that countries could “boomerang” back to the higher tariff rates that President Donald Trump announced April 2.
A financial market selloff led to Trump imposing a 90-day negotiating period during which goods from most countries would be taxed at 10 per cent, a period that is set to end Wednesday.
The president plans to send out letters over the next few days with new tariff rates that would start being collected August 1.
AP
