Donald Trump

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Risk-on sentiment continued to dominate global market trends during Monday’s Asian session after officials from the US and China signalled “substantial progress” following two days of trade negotiations in Switzerland over the weekend.

China’s Vice Premier, He Lifeng, described the meeting as “an important first step” towards resolving differences, with both sides agreeing to establish a mechanism for further discussions. However, no specific details were provided regarding the points of agreement or the timeline for subsequent meetings. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that more information would be shared on Monday, while he noted that a joint statement would be released.

Risk-on prevails

Optimism toward a potential de-escalation in trade tensions between the US and China fuelled risk-on sentiment, with stock markets rallying and safe-haven assets declining.

As of 5:30 am CEST, US stock futures had surged, with the Dow up 1.12%, the S&P 500 rising 1.46%, and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1.93%. European equities were also poised for a higher open. Among major stock futures, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.85%, reaching a fresh high; the Euro Stoxx 600 rose 0.8%; and the UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.36%.

Asian equity markets also posted gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.9%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.1%, the ASX 200 gained 0.28%, and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.7%.

Conversely, gold prices declined sharply as demand for safe-haven assets eased. Spot gold fell 1.4% to $3,279 per ounce, marking its lowest level since 5 May.

Meanwhile, haven currencies, including the euro, the Japanese yen, and the Swiss franc, weakened further against the US dollar, falling to their lowest levels since 10 April.

Markets await details of trade talks

Uncertainty remains as investors await further information regarding the trade discussions between the world’s two largest economies.

“Greater clarity on these matters, to provide firm backing to the apparent more conciliatory tone of rhetoric seen from both sides, will be needed to give markets additional confidence that the peak of trade uncertainty and tit-for-tat tariffs is indeed in the rear-view mirror, and to unlock the door to a more durable and sustainable firming in risk appetite,” wrote Michael Brown, a senior research strategist at Pepperstone Group in London.

“For the time being, however, given the prevailing uncertainty, I’m inclined to fade this strength in the dollar and equities — at least in the short term,” he added.

The S&P 500 has rebounded nearly 10% since US President Donald Trump indicated a substantial cut to tariffs on China in late April. Nonetheless, the benchmark index remains negative year-to-date, down 3.8%. Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) has dropped more than 7% this year, despite the recent rebound.

According to Bloomberg, the US is considering reducing tariffs on Chinese goods to below 60% as a first step, while seeking to negotiate the removal of Chinese restrictions on rare earth exports to the US. In early April, Beijing announced export restrictions on a wide range of critical minerals — including germanium, gallium, antimony, and magnets — potentially disrupting production in American electric vehicles and other electronic devices.

May 12 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday night said he will sign an executive order to reduce drug prices in the United States by between 30% and 80% with the aim of equalizing global prices.

No details of the executive order, which Trump said he’d sign Monday morning, were released, and it was not immediately clear how exactly the order would work.

He made the announcement in a post to his Truth Social platform, calling the executive order “one of the most consequential … in our Country’s history.”

“Prescription Drug and Pharmaceutical prices will be REDUCED, almost immediately, by 30% to 80%. They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA!”

In the statement, Trump said he would be instituting a “MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price.”

He said the executive order would be signed 9 a.m. EDT Monday at the White House.

Trump had tried during his first term to institute a Most Favored Nation policy via executive order to tie U.S. prescription drug prices for Medicare to the world’s cheapest price tags but was met with successful legal challenges from the pharmaceutical industry.

PhRMA, a pharmaceutical trade group, criticized the original version of the plan from Trump’s first term as “bad policy,” stating it will limit seniors’ access to existing medicine and hamper development of new drugs.

Dr. Houman David Hemmati, a California physician and critic of California’ s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, said the policy is “a strong step toward fairness” but does present risks.

On X, he said it could limit patient access to drugs in those countries where the drugs’ prices are cheapest, as drug makers might pull out of those markets. It could also affect development, especially of generic drugs, which could also be pulled from shelves.

“A generic priced very low abroad might disappear if the U.S. demands that price, impacting access to essentials like insulin,” he said, adding that countries reliant on low prices might face drug access issues, and the United States might see delays in new drug launches.

According to a January 2024 report from the Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the prices across all drugs in the United States were at least 2.78 times higher than in comparison countries and at least 3.22 times as high for brand drugs.

In his Sunday night statement, Trump said that with his new policy, “Our Country will finally be treated fairly and our citizens Healthcare Costs will be reduced by numbers never even thought of before.”

He said the United States will save trillions of dollars.

In April, Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to standardize Medicare payments to reduce the price of prescription drugs.

Those Trumps never miss the chance to sell their merchandise.

Friday morning, on the heels of her well-received speech at the Republican National Convention, prospective first daughter Ivanka Trump showed just how much she takes after her father: Her official Twitter account tweeted, “Shop Ivanka’s look from her #RNC speech” to her 1.97 million followers, and a link to a Macy’s page that featured the polyester-and-spandex “sleeveless studded sheath dress” from her eponymous fashion line.

The tweet must have worked; the $158 dress, which was made abroad, sold out.

First lady Michelle Obama, another fashion plate, also has the power to move merchandise. Known for her eclectic tastes — from unsung American designers to J. Crew — she does not personally profit from the trends she sparks.

It’s different with the Trumps.

Over the course of his campaign, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has introduced us to Trump ties and Trump steaks, Trump wine and Trump vodka. Donald Trump promotes his real estate holdings by scheduling news conferences at his various properties: Trump Tower, Trump International Golf Links in Scotland (where he opined that Brexit would be good for business. Well, his business.)

Last March, at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., he showed reporters a table piled high with what one journalist called “a veritable Trump-ucopia” of Trump merchandise. “I mean, what’s wrong with selling?” asked Trump.

Indeed.

The merchandising of the Trump name would probably not even be all that remarkable, given that the billionaire developer/reality TV star has been on a lifelong mission to plaster his name on as much stuff as possible.

But he has left himself open to charges of hypocrisy because a good deal of his clothing line is manufactured overseas.

On the campaign trail, he has promised repeatedly that he will restore American manufacturing to its glory days by curtailing outsourcing to foreign countries, especially China. He has frequently accused China of manipulating its currency to make its exports more attractive, which has, in Trump’s view, undermined American manufacturing.

Turns out much of Ivanka’s line is also made overseas, including the convention dress, described on the Macy’s website as “imported,” but it’s not clear where. Macy’s has not yet answered my query.

Last March, in a column on the PBS website, Harvard economic Robert Lawrence wrote that he had analyzed the Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump fashion lines, which were available on the official Trump website. Lawrence determined that “of the 838 Ivanka products advertised through the site, none appear to be made exclusively in the U.S.; 628 are said to be imported and 354 made specifically in China.”

(Links on Ivanka’s current style website redirect customers to Macy’s for purchases.)

Lawrence was moved to investigate after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio tweaked Trump during a debate for his foreign-made ties.

Turned out that Trump’s sports coats, cufflinks and eyeglass frames were also made in China. Some of his shirts were made in Bangladesh.

Lawrence, like most economists, was unbothered; international trade is good for the U.S., and Americans want to spend less on things.

“But how,” he asked, “do you reconcile a business model based on importing with professions of deep belief that manufacturing should be brought back to America?”

As a former fashion editor, I hope you will indulge me for a moment. Ivanka’s dress was pretty, but it did not look especially well made, or expensive. She is a former fashion model, and can carry off just about any look. But under the glare of the lights, one could see that the side seams pulled, and the dress was looser in the bodice than a tailored dress would be.

By contrast, Melania Trump’s body-skimming white dress, which also immediately sold out on the upscale fashion website Net-a-Porter, fit the way a $2,200 garment should.

Then again, Melania wasn’t selling anything but her husband.

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May 11 (UPI) — A fourth round of nuclear talks between the United States and Oman have produced encouraging results for the Trump administration, a senior official told reporters Sunday.

White House envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian foreign ministries Accas Araghchi for three hours Sunday in Muscat. The talks were mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi.

“The discussions were again both direct and indirect,” Axios reported the official said.

The news comes just days before President Donald Trump‘s scheduled trip to the Middle East this week.

The two sides are reportedly working through the technical elements of a potential nuclear pact.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the talks as “difficult but useful.” Both sides were guarded in their comments.

“We are encouraged by today’s outcome and look forward to our next meeting, which will happen in the near future,” the United States official said.

El-Busaidi said on X that the two sides discussed “useful and original ideas reflecting a shared wish to reach an honorable agreement.”

There is some question over how enforceable the current deal being discussed would be as Araghachi said before the meeting that civilian enrichment of uranium would not be subject to the new rules.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called on Iran to import enriched uranium instead, but Iranian officials pushed back and said the country’s investment in creating it runs deep.

“Enrichment is one of the achievements and honors of the Iranian nation,” Araghchi has said. “We have paid a heavy price for enrichment. The blood of out nuclear scientists has been spilled for this achievement.”

He was referring to Iranian scientists who have been killed during the course of the country’s enrichment program.

May 11 (UPI) — The United States was added to an international human rights watchlist on Sunday over Trump administration attacks targeting civic freedoms.

CIVICUS, an international human rights monitor, said it added the United States due to “the Trump administration’s assault on democratic norms and global cooperation.”

As reason, it listed President Donald Trump‘s “unprecedented executive orders designed to unravel democratic institutions, rule of law and global cooperation” as well as its slashing of federal funding for organizations supporting those in need, the dismantling of USAID and reversals on justice, inclusion and diversity.

It also highlighted the Trump administration’s crackdown on pro-Palestine protests through arbitrary arrests and student visa cancelations

“This is an unparalleled attack on the rule of law in the United States, not seen since the days of McCarthyism in the 20th century,” Mandeep Tiwana, interim co-secretary general of CIVICUS, said in a statement.

“Restrictive orders, unjustifiable institutional cutbacks and intimidation tactics through threatening pronouncements by senior officials in the administration are creating an atmosphere to chill democratic dissent, a cherished American ideal.”

The United States being added to the watchlist comes as the Trump administration has come under mounting criticism over its attacks on American democratic institutions.

It has been accused of ignoring due process rights in arresting and shipping hundreds of migrants to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador and has been condemned for its repeated attacks of the judicial system — from calling for judges who rule against it to be impeached to arresting another on allegations of impeding an immigration-related arrest.

CIVICUS also highlight the Trump administration’s attacks on press freedom as reason for its inclusion the list.

It pointed to the White House now determining which media outlets have access to presidential briefings and banning reporters covering political sensitive topics as proof.

“The Trump administration seems hellbent on dismantling the system of checks and balances, which are the pillars of a democratic society,” Tiwana said.

May 11 (UPI) — The Qatari Royal Family has planned to gift a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to President Donald Trump to be used for Air Force One and for his own private use when his presidency ends, reports said Sunday.

News of the major gift was first reported by ABC News, citing anonymous sources, and later confirmed by The New York Times and NBC News. United Press International has reached out to Qatar’s Government Communications Office for confirmation.

The gift is expected to be formally announced when Trump visits Qatar next week, according to the reports. Trump toured the plane when it was parked at the West Palm Beach International Airport in February.

A Qatari representative, however, told Axios that while reports of Trump being gifted a jet were “inaccurate,” Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense are discussing the possible temporary use of an aircraft as Air Force One.

If it is gifted, the jet could become the most valuable gift ever from a foreign government to the United States, ABC News reported. Its $400 million estimated price tag surpasses the estimated $250,000 cost of constructing the Statue of Liberty — which was gifted to the United States from France.

But the expected acceptance of the gift by Trump raises questions of its legality, raising the possibility that the president could face scrutiny for bribery or violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The Emoluments Clause prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts, payments or other benefits from foreign governments without the consent of Congress but there is debate as to whether it applies to elected officials. According to Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, the interpretation of the clause has never been litigated before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the White House reportedly expect accepting the gift to draw scrutiny and have drafted an analysis for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which concludes that it is legal for the U.S. Defense Department to accept the gift and then to later hand it over to Trump’s presidential library for his private use when he leaves office.

The Trump administration is looking to the precedent set by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in handling the ethical considerations of accepting a retired presidential aircraft.

The Reagan Library boasts a 90,000-square-foot exhibit hangar that permanently displays a Boeing VC-137C aircraft with the tail letters SAM 27000, which entered service as Air Force One under President Richard Nixon.

Though the plane was used by each president until George W. Bush, it is best known in relation to Reagan and was gifted to his library when it was decommissioned in 2001. Reagan died in 2004.

The difference between the use of the two gifts that could pose a challenge for Trump is that the Reagan Library immediately installed it for permanent display while Trump is reported to be planning to continue using it for personal travel.

Trump currently owns a Boeing 757 that dates to the early 1990s. The jet was originally operated by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen before Trump purchased it in 2011.

Two new Air Force One planes have been in the works since at least 2018 when the Air Force awarded a $3.9 billion contract for two modified Boeing 747-8 planes that were expected for delivery by 2024.

Trump told ABC News in 2019 that he wanted to change up the traditional baby blue and white pattern chosen by former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy in the 1960s to a new color scheme that resembled that of his private jet.

Boeing started modifying the first of the two aircraft in February 2020 and the second in June 2020. According to a 2022 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the company had completed major structural modifications on the first aircraft and is now preparing it for wiring installations.

However, at the time, Boeing struggled to find workers to complete the modifications because of a “competitive labor market” and “lower-than-planned security clearance approval rates.” The Air Force later lowered security clearance standards to make it easier to find workers.

Last week, Defense One reported that Boeing has told the Air Force it can deliver the new jets by 2027 if the government loosens some requirements.