HONG KONG: Oil prices surged and stocks sank Monday after US-Iran peace talks fell apart and Donald Trump announced a blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, adding to fears of energy supplies from the Middle East. Negotiations in Islamabad at the weekend fell apart with the US delegation led by Vice President JD Vance blaming Iran&#39;s refusal to give up its nuclear program and Tehran hitting out at &quot;maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade&quot;. The news dealt a blow to hopes for an end to the six-week conflict, which has sent crude prices soaring, pushing inflation up and sending shivers through the global economy. Oil prices which tumbled last week after the United States and Iran agreed to a ceasefire jumped around eight percent Monday, with both contracts topping $100 a barrel. Equities fell across Asia, with Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul off at least one percent, while Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Jakarta were also down. In a lengthy social media post, US President Donald Trump said his goal was to clear the strait of mines and reopen it to all shipping. But he said that Iran must not be allowed to profit from controlling the waterway through which a fifth of global oil and gas usually passes. &quot;Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,&quot; Trump wrote on Truth Social. &quot;Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!&quot; He said the blockade would only apply to vessels travelling to or from Iranian ports. The US military said Sunday it will blockade all Iranian Gulf ports on Monday at 1400 GMT, effectively seizing control of maritime traffic. Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards said its security forces had full control over the strait and warned enemies would be trapped in a &quot;deadly vortex&quot; in case of any &quot;wrong move&quot;. Iran&#39;s navy chief Shahram Irani called Trump&#39;s threat &quot;ridiculous and funny&quot;, according to state TV. After the talks the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution Vance said Washington had made Tehran its &quot;final and best offer,&quot; adding: &quot;We&#39;ll see if the Iranians accept it.&quot; Iran&#39;s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the rivals had been &quot;inches away&quot; from a deal, writing on X that &quot;Iran engaged with US in good faith to end war&quot;. But he added &quot;we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade&quot;. Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at the Center for International Research at Sciences Po in Paris, warned that a US blockade was &quot;not a minor coercive signal&quot; but would rather be considered an effective resumption of the war. Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at <a data-fr-linked="true" href="//Forex.com" id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 115, 230);">Forex.com</a> said: &quot;The fundamental issue remains trust or rather, the lack of it between two long-standing adversaries who still appear some distance from common ground.&quot; Investors are also keeping an eye on attempts to resolve the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said he was pushing to ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces. &quot;We will continue to work to stop this war, to ensure the Israeli withdrawal from all our lands, the return of all the prisoners, to rebuild our destroyed villages and towns, and the safe return of the displaced,&quot; Salam said. The prospect of the Middle East crisis continuing for the foreseeable future ramped up inflation fears and weighed on gold amid expectations interest rates would be kept elevated. Data Friday highlighted the impact of the conflict on prices, with the US consumer price index spiking at 3.3% in March, its highest since May last year. Key figures at around 0230 GMT West Texas Intermediate: UP 8.0% at $104.33 a barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 6.9% at $101.73 a barrel Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.0% at 56,357.40 (break) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.0% at 25,627.75 Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1% at 3,981.08 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1686 from $1.1728 on Friday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3401 from $1.3463 Dollar/yen: UP at 159.67 yen from 159.19 yen Euro/pound: UP at 87.20 pence from 87.11 pence

A stockbroker walks past share prices on a digital board during a trading session at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in Karachi

Business

Oil prices jumped and global markets fell after Donald Trump announced a Strait of Hormuz blockade following the collapse of US–Iran talks.

Oil surges, stocks fall as Trump says to blockade Strait of Hormuz

HONGKONG: Oil prices rose Tuesday while equities edged up tentatively as investors assessed Donald Trump&#39;s latest deadline for Iran to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz or be &quot;decimated&quot;. As the US-Israel war on Iran entered its sixth week, the US president warned Tehran that its civilian infrastructure would be destroyed if it did not let ships through the waterway, through which a fifth of global crude and gas passes. The remarks came as he and the Islamic republic said a proposal touted by international mediators for a 45-day ceasefire was not yet ready. Trump told a news conference that &quot;the entire country&quot; of Iran &quot;could be taken out in one night and that night might be tomorrow night&quot;, if his ultimatum to reopen the Strait by 0000 GMT Wednesday was not met. &quot;We have a plan where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o&#39;clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business, burning, exploding and never to be used again,&quot; Trump said, brushing aside accusations that such a move would be a war crime. &quot;I mean complete demolition by 12 o&#39;clock, and it&#39;ll happen over a period of four hours if we wanted to.&quot; The threat came after a profanity-laced social media post on Easter Sunday in which he vowed Iran would be &quot;living in Hell&quot; if it didn&#39;t reopen the Strait. Tehran said that if such an attack went ahead, it would retaliate by striking energy infrastructure in the Gulf, which could deal a further blow to already thin oil supplies and hammer the global economy. Both main oil contracts rose Tuesday, with West Texas Intermediate around $115 its highest in a month and Brent sitting above $111. Equity markets fluctuated, with Tokyo flat, while Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Taipei, Wellington, Manila and Bangkok rose along with London, Paris and Frankfurt. Singapore, Mumbai and Jakarta fell. Hong Kong was closed for a holiday. That followed a positive start to the week on Wall Street. &quot;Financial markets are oscillating in a narrow, uneasy range as traders sized up the countdown to Donald Trump&#39;s Iran deadline,&quot; wrote Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. &quot;Tentative ceasefire optics (were) offering brief relief but never fully offsetting the lingering risk of escalation,&quot; he added. &quot;For now, the rhetoric has tightened, the threats sharpened, and yet the market is not capitulating, conditioned by repetition to expect de-escalation just before the edge. &quot;Traders are no longer reacting to what is said, but to when it is usually walked back.&quot; The hit to fuel supplies from the Middle East has forced governments around the world to unveil economic support measures amid fears of another spike in inflation. On Tuesday, the Philippines said inflation jumped to a forecast-topping 4.1% in March, its highest level in nearly two years. US figures last week showed growth in the country&#39;s services activity cooled last month as companies monitored the higher energy prices and braced for supply chain disruptions. In company news, Samsung rallied around one percent after estimating first-quarter profit soared 755% to an all-time high of $37.9 billion thanks to strong sales of chips crucial for artificial intelligence. It also said sales were expected to surge 68% on-year to hit $88 billion in January-March. Key figures at around 0715 GMT West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.2%&nbsp;at $114.92 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.4% at $111.35 per barrel Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 53,429.56 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3% at 3,890.16 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2% at 10,460.62 Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for holiday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1544 from $1.1543 on Monday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3245 from $1.3236 Dollar/yen: UP at 159.80 yen from 159.68 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.15 pence from 87.27 pence New York - Dow: UP 0.4% at 46,669.88 (close)

Cargo ships and containers are seen at the container terminal of the port in Qingdao, in China’s eastern Shandong province on April 2, 2026.

As the US-Israel war on Iran enters its sixth week, the US president warns Tehran that its civilian infrastructure will be destroyed if it do not let ships through the waterway, through which a fifth of global crude and gas passes.

Oil prices rally, stocks edge up after Trump's latest Iran threat

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump will watch the US Supreme Court hear a landmark case Wednesday weighing the constitutionality of his contentious bid to end birthright citizenship an extraordinary and possibly unprecedented move for the nation&#39;s highest office. Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens. Lower courts blocked the move as unconstitutional, ruling that under the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment nearly everyone born on US soil is an American citizen. &quot;All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States,&quot; the amendment states. It does not apply to persons who are not subject to US jurisdiction foreign diplomats, for example, and sovereign Native American tribes. &quot;I&#39;m going,&quot; Trump told reporters Tuesday when asked about the Supreme Court hearing. He had attended the investiture ceremony of his first Supreme Court justice nominee, Neil Gorsuch, in 2017, months into Trump&#39;s first term. But it would be an exceptional milestone for a sitting president to be present for oral arguments in a case their administration is actively arguing. The Trump administration argues that the 14th Amendment, passed in the wake of the 1861-1865 Civil War, addresses the rights to citizenship of former slaves and not the children of undocumented migrants or temporary visitors. Trump&#39;s executive order is premised on the notion that anyone in the United States illegally, or on a visa, is not &quot;subject to the jurisdiction&quot; of the country and therefore excluded from automatic citizenship. The Supreme Court rejected such a narrow definition in an 1898 case involving a man named Wong Kim Ark, who was born in San Francisco in 1873 to parents who had come to the United States from China. After a visit to China, Wong Kim Ark was denied reentry into the United States in 1895 under the Chinese Exclusion Acts. The Supreme Court ruled, however, that he was a US citizen by virtue of being born in the United States. &#39;History and tradition&#39;&nbsp; Steven Schwinn, a law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said the court is likely to reject the challenge to birthright citizenship. &quot;This is a court that has looked to history and tradition as a significant guide in understanding the Constitution,&quot; Schwinn told AFP. &quot;And it would be a little surprising if, after 150 years, we suddenly discovered we were applying the Citizenship Clause all wrong.&quot; Conservatives have a 6-3 supermajority on the high court and three of the justices were appointed by Trump. Trump&#39;s solicitor general, John Sauer, said that in order to be eligible for citizenship &quot;a person must be both born &#39;in the United States&#39; and &#39;subject to the jurisdiction thereof.&#39;&quot; &quot;Children of temporarily present aliens or illegal aliens are not &#39;subject to&#39; the United States&#39; &#39;jurisdiction,&#39;&quot; Sauer said in a brief with the court. &quot;A person is subject to the United States&#39; &#39;jurisdiction&#39; only if he owes sufficient allegiance to, and may claim protection from, the United States.&quot; Automatic citizenship for children of undocumented migrants is a &quot;powerful incentive for illegal migration,&quot; Sauer said, claiming it encourages &quot;birth tourists.&quot; &#39;Dumb judges and justices&#39;&nbsp; If the Supreme Court does reject ending birthright citizenship, it would be the second major loss for Trump this term the justices struck down most of his global tariffs in February. Trump reacted furiously to that ruling and called birthright citizenship one of the &quot;great scams of our time&quot; on Tuesday, a day after he took to Truth Social to denounce &quot;dumb judges and justices.&quot; The American Civil Liberties Union, which is defending birthright citizenship before the court, said the Trump administration &quot;is asking for nothing less than a remaking of our Nation&#39;s constitutional foundations.&quot; &quot;The government&#39;s baseless arguments if accepted would cast a shadow over the citizenship of millions upon millions of Americans, going back generations.&quot; A decision in the case is expected by late June or early July.&nbsp;

Demonstrators holds up an anti-Trump sign outside the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2025.

Americas

Trump signed an executive order on his return to the White House decreeing that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become US citizens.

Trump to watch Supreme Court weigh challenge to birthright citizenship 

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that US military operations in Iran could conclude &ldquo;very soon,&rdquo; suggesting a possible timeline of two to three weeks.&nbsp;Speaking to reporters at the White House after signing an executive order, Trump said American forces were &ldquo;finishing the job&rdquo; in Iran.&nbsp;&ldquo;I think in two weeks, or maybe a few days longer, we&rsquo;ll do the job. We want to knock out everything they&rsquo;ve got,&rdquo; he said, referring to Iran&rsquo;s military capabilities.&nbsp;The US president reiterated earlier claims about significantly weakening Iran&rsquo;s capabilities, though he has previously offered mixed signals regarding Washington&rsquo;s objectives and timeline in the conflict.&nbsp;On economic concerns, Trump linked a potential&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/trump-ready-to-end-middle-east-war-with-hormuz-strait-still-closed" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">US withdrawal from Iran</a>&nbsp;to falling oil prices. &ldquo;All I have to do is leave Iran &ndash; and we&rsquo;ll be doing that very soon. Then prices will come tumbling down,&rdquo; he said.&nbsp;Addressing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit route, Trump said the United States would not be responsible for ensuring its security.&nbsp;&ldquo;That&rsquo;s not for us. That&rsquo;ll be for whoever&rsquo;s using the strait,&rdquo; he told reporters, adding that countries dependent on the waterway should take responsibility.&nbsp;He also criticized US allies for not doing enough to support Washington&rsquo;s efforts in the ongoing conflict with Iran.&nbsp;The remarks come amid heightened tensions in the region and continued uncertainty over the scope and duration of US military engagement.

US President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (Photo: AFP)

Middle East

Reiterates earlier claims about significantly weakening Iran’s capabilities, though he has previously offered mixed signals regarding Washington’s objectives and timeline in the conflict.

Trump says US may end Iran operations within ‘two to three weeks’

WASHINGTON: Democrats accused US President Donald Trump on Friday of weakening pressure on Russia by easing oil sanctions amid the conflict with Iran, saying the move risks boosting Moscow&#39;s war revenues while American troops face threats of their own in the Middle East. Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and two of his top lieutenants, Elizabeth Warren and Jeanne Shaheen, called for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to testify before Congress about the decision. The senators noted media reports&mdash;partially endorsed by Trump in an interview on Friday&mdash;saying Russia is providing Iran with intelligence that could be used to target US forces, even as the Trump administration loosens sanctions that constrained Moscow&#39;s oil sector. &quot;Russia is reportedly providing Iran intelligence to target and kill US service members, and the Trump administration&#39;s response has been to loosen pressure and help facilitate a windfall of $150 million each day for its war machine,&quot; the senators said in a joint statement. &quot;President Trump is offering more relief to the Kremlin than he is to American families, who are now paying more at the pump and for most other essentials because of this conflict,&quot; they wrote. Trump acknowledged in a radio interview that aired Friday he suspected Putin &quot;might be&quot; aiding Iran &quot;a little bit&quot; in the war. He announced earlier this week that Washington would waive some oil-related sanctions in order to boost global supply and bring down prices, as the US-Israeli war with Iran disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and sends energy markets into turmoil. The president did not specify which countries would benefit from the relief, but the move followed temporary steps allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil that had been stranded at sea under existing sanctions. The Democratic senators argued that relaxing sanctions on Russian energy companies and related traders would generate major profits for Moscow at a time when the Kremlin remains under Western pressure over its invasion of Ukraine. They also questioned whether the administration had complied with a US law requiring Congress to be notified before sanctions on Russia are eased. &quot;Secretary Bessent needs to testify because Congress and the American people deserve immediate answers,&quot; the lawmakers said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the sales authorizations, saying the White House was working to ease energy price pressures caused by disruptions linked to the Iran war by tapping oil already in global markets&mdash;while keeping sanctions policy toward Russia unchanged. &quot;(This) administration remains focused on American consumers and businesses while carrying out this critical mission to end Iran&#39;s ability to threaten Americans, its neighbors and global energy markets,&quot; he said in a statement on social media.

Senators notes media reports saying Russia is providing Iran with intelligence that could be used to target US forces, even as the Trump administration loosens sanctions that constrained Moscow's oil sector

Democrats accuse Trump of aiding Russia with sanctions relief

NEW YORK: First Lady Melania Trump presided over a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday, calling for cause of children affected by conflict as fighting continued in the US-Israeli war against Iran. Ambassadors from all of the Security Council&#39;s members, including Washington&#39;s rivals Russia and China, lined up to meet with Trump. Representing the United States as it assumed the monthly Security Council&rsquo;s rotating presidency.&nbsp; She opened the session with a ceremonial strike of the gavel, thanking the United Kingdom for its previous month-long presidency, and spoke again later apparently to honor US service members killed in the war on Iran. &ldquo;The US stands with all of the children throughout the world. I hope soon peace will be yours,&rdquo; she said, without directly referencing the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.Later, she paid tribute to American service members killed in the war on Iran. &ldquo;To the families who have lost their heroes who sacrifice their lives for freedom, their bravery and dedication will always be remembered,&rdquo; she told the packed chamber. She added that &ldquo;enduring peace will be achieved when knowledge and understanding are fully valued within all our societies.&rdquo; Ambassadors from all 15 Council members, including rivals Russia and China, attended the meeting and greeted the First Lady. Greece&rsquo;s ambassador Aglaia Balta addressed her as &ldquo;Madam President,&rdquo; while France&rsquo;s envoy drew comparisons to former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, a noted human rights advocate. Even Russia offered polite praise, steering clear of direct mention of Iran. Bahrain, a close US ally, was the only Council member to explicitly reference the conflict. However, criticism emerged from Iran. Its UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, called it &ldquo;deeply shameful and hypocritical that on the very first day of its presidency of the Security Council, the United States convened a high-level meeting on protecting children.&quot;&nbsp; Moments later the First Lady said &quot;the US stands with all of the children throughout the world. I hope soon peace will be yours&quot; &nbsp;without referring directly to the attacks across the Middle East. She was warmly received by the countries represented in the Council however, with Greece&#39;s ambassador Aglaia Balta saying &quot;thank you madam president,&quot; while France&#39;s envoy compared her to the celebrated former first lady and activist Eleanor Roosevelt.&nbsp; Even Russia joined the chorus of polite praise, avoiding any mention of Iran, which was mentioned only by Council member and Washington&#39;s staunch ally Bahrain. &quot;I wish you all strength and resolve to succeed in preserving peace and security throughout the world,&quot; Trump said as she closed the two-hour meeting.&nbsp; &nbsp;Financial, political tensions&nbsp;Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, confirmed that Trump&#39;s appearance was the first time a first lady or first gentleman had presided a Security Council meeting. The United States holds the Council&#39;s rotating presidency for March. President Donald Trump&#39;s third wife has dabbled in diplomacy before, notably to try to secure the release of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.&nbsp; Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, paid tribute to her &quot;for her work to give visibility to the issue of children in conflict, and particularly for her personal engagement to reunite Ukrainian children with their families.&quot; Political and financial tensions have mounted between the United States and the United Nations in recent years, with Washington chafing at its role as the main contributor to the body&#39;s cash-strapped budget.&nbsp; Many observers say the US president intends to bypass the Security Council with his new &quot;Board of Peace,&quot; which held its inaugural session in Washington last month, with several countries pledging funds and personnel to rebuild Gaza. At the meeting, Trump repeated his stance that the UN had failed in its mission. Since returning to the White House last year, he has withdrawn support from several major UN agencies, including the World Health Organization. The world body has recently launched a reform program, and a few days ago Washington paid $160 million into the organization&#39;s regular budget after paying nothing in 2025.&nbsp; But the United States is still $4 billion in arrears to the UN for its regular budget and its peacekeeping budget, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warning of imminent financial collapse.&nbsp;

US First Lady Melania Trump chairs a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York on March 2, 2026.

Ambassadors from all of the Security Council's members, including Washington's rivals Russia and China, lined up to meet with Trump. Representing the United States as it assumed the monthly Security Council’s rotating presidency. 

Melania Trump leads UN Security Council as Iran war rages

ISLAMABAD: The United States will host senior military leaders from across the Western Hemisphere next month for a high-level conference, aimed at strengthening regional security cooperation, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported on Saturday quoting Reuters.&nbsp;According to the report, defense chiefs and senior military representatives from 34 nations have been invited to attend the inaugural Western Hemisphere Chiefs of Defense Conference, scheduled for February 11.&nbsp;&nbsp;The meeting will be chaired by Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, ABC reported.&nbsp;The conference is intended to provide a platform for military leaders to exchange views on shared security concerns, enhance coordination, and reinforce partnerships across the region, it added.&nbsp;The US military said countries in the hemisphere are bound by longstanding historical connections and mutual interests that underscore the importance of regional stability.&nbsp;&ldquo;Chiefs of defense and senior military representatives from 34 nations will meet to build shared understanding of common security priorities and strengthen regional cooperation,&quot; ABC said.&nbsp;Military officials from countries outside the Americas but with territories in the region, including Denmark, the United Kingdom and France, are also among those invited to participate, according to US media reports.&nbsp;The conference comes amid heightened US military activity in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, where Washington has intensified operations targeting drug trafficking networks and transnational criminal organizations.&nbsp;The meeting is expected to align with the Trump administration&rsquo;s broader national security strategy, which places renewed emphasis on the Western Hemisphere and calls for governments in the region to work closely with the United States on counter-narcotics efforts, border security, and regional stability.&nbsp;This will mark the first time the Pentagon has convened defense leaders from across the entire Western Hemisphere under a single forum, US media said, describing the gathering as a milestone in regional military engagement.

The United States will host defense chiefs from 34 Western Hemisphere countries on February 11 to discuss shared security priorities, strengthen military cooperation, and address regional stability and transnational threats, the US military said.

US to host all Western Hemisphere military leaders

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump returns to the Davos ski resort next week after unleashing yet another avalanche on the global order. But for the US president, his main audience is back home. Trump&rsquo;s first appearance in six years at the gathering of the world&rsquo;s political and global elite comes amid a spiraling crisis over his quest to acquire Greenland. Fellow leaders at the mountain retreat will also be eager to talk about other shocks from his first year back in power, from tariffs to Venezuela, Ukraine, Gaza and Iran. Yet for the Republican president, his keynote speech among the Swiss peaks will largely be aimed at the United States. US voters are angered by the cost of living despite Trump&rsquo;s promises of a &ldquo;golden age,&rdquo; and his party could be facing a kicking in crucial midterm elections in November. That means Trump will spend at least part of his time in luxurious Davos &mdash; a place where leaders can easily look out of touch with ordinary people &mdash; talking about US housing. A White House official told AFP that Trump would &ldquo;unveil initiatives to drive down housing costs&rdquo; and &ldquo;tout his economic agenda that has propelled the United States to lead the world in economic growth.&rdquo; The 79-year-old is expected to announce plans allowing prospective homebuyers to dip into their retirement accounts for down payments. Billionaire Trump is keenly aware that affordability has become his Achilles&rsquo; heel in his second term. A CNN poll last week found that 58 percent of Americans believe his first year back in the White House has been a failure, particularly on the economy. Trump&rsquo;s supporters are also increasingly uneasy about the &ldquo;America First&rdquo; president&rsquo;s seemingly relentless focus on foreign policy since his return to the Oval Office. But as he flies into the snowy retreat, Trump will find it impossible to avoid the global storm of events that he has stirred since January 20, 2025. Trump will be alongside many of the leaders of the same European NATO allies that he has just threatened with tariffs if they don&rsquo;t back his extraordinary quest to take control of Greenland from Denmark. Those threats have once again called into question the transatlantic alliance that has in many ways underpinned the Western economic order celebrated at Davos. &lsquo;Economic stagnation&rsquo; So have the broader tariffs Trump announced early in his second term, and he is set to add to the pressure on Europe in his speech. Trump will &ldquo;emphasize that the United States and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it,&rdquo; the White House official said. The Ukraine war will also be on the cards. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping for a meeting with Trump to sign new security guarantees for a hoped-for ceasefire deal with Russia, as are G7 leaders. But while the largest-ever US Davos delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have all played key roles on Ukraine, no meeting is assured. &ldquo;No bilateral meetings have been scheduled for Davos at this time,&rdquo; the White House told AFP. Trump is meanwhile reportedly considering a first meeting of the so-called &ldquo;Board of Peace&rdquo; for war-torn Gaza at Davos, after announcing its first members in recent days. Questions are also swirling about the future of oil-rich Venezuela following the US military operation to topple its leader, Nicolas Maduro, part of Trump&rsquo;s assertive new approach to his country&rsquo;s &ldquo;backyard.&rdquo; But Trump may also pause to enjoy his time in the scenic spot he called &ldquo;beautiful Davos&rdquo; in his video speech to the meeting a year ago. The forum has always been an odd fit for the former New York property tycoon and reality TV star, whose brand of populism has long scorned globalist elites. But at the same time, Trump relishes the company of the rich and successful. His first Davos appearance in 2018 met occasional boos, but he made a forceful return in 2020 when he dismissed the &ldquo;prophets of doom&rdquo; on climate and the economy. A year later, he was out of power. Now, Trump returns as a more powerful president than ever, at home and abroad.

A picture taken on January 20, 2025 shows the Alpine resort of Davos at sunrise during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting (AFP)

Donald Trump returns to the Davos ski resort next week after unleashing yet another avalanche on the global order. But for the US president, his main audience is back home.

Trump heads into Davos storm, with an eye on home

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said in an interview published Thursday that his &quot;own morality&quot; was the only constraint on his power to order military actions around the world. Trump&#39;s comments to The New York Times came days after he launched a lightning operation to topple Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and threatened a host of other countries, plus the autonomous territory of Greenland. &quot;Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It&#39;s the only thing that can stop me,&quot; Trump told the newspaper when asked if there were any limits on his global powers. &quot;I don&#39;t need international law,&quot; he added. &quot;I&#39;m not looking to hurt people.&quot; The Republican president then added that &quot;I do&quot; need to abide by international law, but said &quot;it depends what your definition of international law is.&quot; The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which tries war criminals, and it has repeatedly rejected decisions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN&#39;s top court. Trump himself has had his own run-ins with domestic law, having been impeached twice, faced a slew of federal charges, including conspiring to overturn the 2020 election &mdash; which were eventually dropped after his re-election &mdash; and convicted for covering up a hush money payment to an adult movie star. While proclaiming himself as &quot;peace president&quot; and seeking the Nobel Prize, Trump has launched a series of military operations in his second presidential term. Trump ordered attacks on Iran&#39;s nuclear program in June and in the past year has also overseen strikes on Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and, most recently, on Venezuela. Since Maduro&#39;s capture, an emboldened Trump has threatened a string of other countries, including Colombia, as well as Greenland, which is administered by fellow NATO member Denmark. Asked whether his priority was preserving the NATO military alliance or acquiring Greenland, Trump told the Times: &quot;it may be a choice.&quot; Some members of Congress, including a handful of Republicans, are trying to check Trump&#39;s power. On Thursday, the Senate advanced a measure to rein in presidential military action in Venezuela. But even if it reaches his desk, Trump would likely veto it. Billionaire Trump, who made his fortune as a property developer, added that US ownership of Greenland is &quot;what I feel is psychologically needed for success.&quot; Trump said separately that he had no problem with his family conducting foreign business deals since his return to office. &quot;I prohibited them from doing business in my first term, and I got absolutely no credit for it,&quot; Trump told the Daily. &quot;I found out that nobody cared, and I&#39;m allowed to.&quot;

Republican president says "I do" need to abide by international law, but adds "it depends what your definition of international law is"; US is not a member of the ICC, which tries war criminals, and has repeatedly rejected decisions by the UN's top court.

Trump says 'my own morality' is only restraint on global power

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;President Donald Trump signed a sweeping defense policy bill into law Thursday that signaled strong bipartisan support for Europe and defied the US leader&#39;s increasingly hostile posture toward NATO and America&#39;s closest allies. The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), one the few remaining rituals of cross-party cooperation in Congress even as divisions sharpen elsewhere in Washington, sets out the country&#39;s national security and foreign policy priority areas for the coming year, according to lawmakers. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump signed into law a measure which raises pay for US troops, codifies the country&#39;s &quot;PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH agenda,&quot; and &quot;funds the Golden Dome&quot; air and missile defense system backed by Trump. The NDAA, at some $900 billion, also &quot;removes woke priorities&quot; like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs opposed by many conservatives, and &quot;requires promotions based on merit, not DEI,&quot; Kelly added. The Senate easily passed the NDAA measure on Wednesday following the House&#39;s green light last week. The success comes amid unease in European capitals over Trump&#39;s rhetoric, especially after the recent White House national security strategy painted Europe as over-regulated, culturally adrift and insufficiently committed to its own defense. The strategy questioned the continent&#39;s strategic value and openly echoed themes championed by far-right parties, fueling fears of a widening transatlantic rift. By contrast, the NDAA reflects lawmakers&#39; determination to anchor the United States firmly in Europe. The bill bars US troop levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days and restricts the removal of major military equipment, effectively tying the administration&#39;s hands on any rapid drawdown. It also boosts resources for frontline NATO states, particularly in the Baltic region, reinforcing the alliance&#39;s northeastern flank. The measure authorizes roughly $8 billion more than the administration requested, a signal of congressional assertiveness on defense priorities. Beyond Europe, the NDAA locks in $400 million in security assistance for Ukraine, aiming to preserve a baseline of support even as broader funding debates grind on, and places new limits on any reduction of the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. As ever, the NDAA drew fire from multiple directions -- from conservative critics of Ukraine aid to safety experts warning about aviation provisions rolling back critical air-safety requirements for military aircraft operating in Washington&#39;s restricted airspace. But none came close to derailing a package long seen as must-pass legislation.

Trump signed a $900 billion bipartisan defense bill boosting troop pay, funding missile defense, limiting NATO drawdowns, supporting Europe and Ukraine, removing DEI programs, and exceeding administration spending requests levels

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