If this ain't hardball
The US, Yemen, India, Pakistan, Myanmar, and public health.
The five things you need to know today:
UNITED STATES. Trump and Bessent get the yips.
YEMEN. The Houthis, not Signal, could unseat the Defense Secretary.
INDIA. PAKISTAN. Blame erupts after an attack in Kashmir.
MYANMAR. The junta extends a phony ceasefire.
PUBLIC HEALTH. US budget cuts are having a global impact.
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UNITED STATES. Bush league
Trump and Bessent get the yips.
Donald Trump said Tuesday he "won't play hardball" with China after Scott Bessent told a JP Morgan forum the trade war would de-escalate. Markets were also buoyed by Trump's remarks that he had "no intention" of firing Jerome Powell.
INTELLIGENCE. Trump has essentially admitted he was never serious about reshoring trade or forming an anti-China coalition, which begs the question: What was it for? The best guess is nothing. Trump tried something, got cold feet, and tarnished US credibility in the process. Countries seeking a deal ahead of their own 90-day reprieve will be wondering if it's worth following China and waiting it out rather than trying to rebut incoherence on its own terms.
FOR BUSINESS. The process could all be upended again (with further hits to US credibility), but for now, Trump's trade war seems to have joined Trump Steaks, Trump University, and other failed ventures. Yet this doesn't mean the US is out of the woods. Bond markets remain jittery. Bankruptcies are rising. And where the current earnings season has had good news, it's been for reasons like Elon Musk's announcement he will soon leave DOGE to refocus on Tesla.
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YEMEN. Hegseth and match
The Houthis, not Signal, could unseat the Defense Secretary.
A Houthi missile set off sirens across northern Israel Wednesday, but no casualties were reported. The Houthis claimed hits on two US aircraft carriers and that they had downed their 22nd US MQ-9 drone since 2023. US strikes continued.
INTELLIGENCE. Despite the surge in air attacks, the Trump administration seems no closer than its predecessor in