Trump insists Iran strike damage 'severe' despite inconclusive intel
His comments followed reports by Reuters and other media outlets on Tuesday revealing that the US Defence Intelligence Agency had assessed that the strikes had set back Iran's nuclear program by just a few months, despite administration officials saying the program had been obliterated.
"The intelligence was very inconclusive," Trump told reporters before joining a Nato summit in The Hague. "The intelligence says we don't know. It could've been very severe. That's what the intelligence suggests."
Later, during the same round of comments, Trump argued that Iran's nuclear deal had been set back "basically decades, because I don't think they'll ever do it again."
Trump was sitting alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who both also cast doubt on the reliability of the DIA assessment.
Rubio said the US was opening an investigation into the leak of the DIA report. He also suggested the report's contents had been misrepresented in the media.--REUTERS
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Malay Mail
5 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
Vietnam's trade windfall is a warning: The transshipment risk remains — Phar Kim Beng and Lutfy Hamzah
JULY 14 — Vietnam's booming trade surplus with the United States, recently reported to have reached a record high in the first half of this year, appears at first glance to be a cause for national celebration. The scale of the surplus paints a picture of a country reaping the benefits of economic resilience and shrewd positioning in the global supply chain. But beneath this glittering headline lies a dangerous vulnerability: Vietnam's growing exposure to being labelled a transshipment hub for Chinese goods. This risk is not theoretical. It is fast becoming the central lens through which Vietnam's trade relations with the US are being assessed. In an environment where President Donald Trump's administration has reintroduced the blunt instrument of tariffs to achieve both political and economic aims, Vietnam's trade performance — no matter how impressive — has become a potential liability. JULY 14 — Vietnam's booming trade surplus with the United States, recently reported to have reached a record high in the first half of this year, appears at first glance to be a cause for national celebration. The scale of the surplus paints a picture of a country reaping the benefits of economic resilience and shrewd positioning in the global supply chain. But beneath this glittering headline lies a dangerous vulnerability: Vietnam's growing exposure to being labelled a transshipment hub for Chinese goods. Much of Vietnam's manufacturing capacity has surged in recent years due to the strategic relocation of production from China, driven by firms hoping to avoid the fallout of US-China decoupling. But with many of these manufacturers continuing to rely heavily on Chinese inputs — whether semiconductors, electronics components, or raw textiles — Washington is beginning to suspect that Vietnam's exports are merely rebranded Chinese goods making a stopover before heading to US ports. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Vietnam's Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son during the 58th Asean Foreign Ministers' meeting and related meetings at the Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur on July 11, 2025. — Reuters pic The Trump administration has now formalised this suspicion into policy. Following tense negotiations, Vietnam managed to avoid the full force of a punitive tariff hike. But the agreement is fragile. While most Vietnamese exports will be taxed at a reduced rate, a separate, sharply higher tariff awaits any product deemed to be insufficiently transformed from its Chinese origin. The question now revolves around how the US defines 'substantial transformation' and how aggressively it enforces this threshold. Vietnam's supply chain remains deeply entangled with China. The challenge is not simply about tariffs but about verification. The US demands hard proof that goods exported from Vietnam are genuinely the product of Vietnamese labour, materials, and innovation — not just lightly assembled or relabelled Chinese components. This demand places immense pressure on Vietnamese exporters, many of whom lack the robust documentation and transparency systems needed to meet the expected compliance standards. Hanoi, in turn, finds itself in a precarious diplomatic position. On the one hand, it must satisfy American demands for transparency, inspection, and enforcement. On the other, it cannot afford to antagonise China, its largest trading partner and essential source of manufacturing inputs. This delicate balancing act is made more perilous by Trump's unpredictable and transactional foreign policy. His administration's rhetoric casts South-east Asian economies not as partners, but as intermediaries enabling Chinese evasion. Vietnam now risks being the poster child of such accusations. Even as Vietnamese officials work to tighten origin certification and increase domestic value-added production, the broader danger persists. Trump's tariff logic is not rooted in economic precision but political calculation. Tariffs are deployed not only to correct trade imbalances but to generate state revenue, rally political support, and project strength. Trump's team has already indicated its intent to use tariff penalties to generate significant sums for the federal treasury this year. Vietnam's status as a top trading partner makes it an attractive target. To navigate this volatile environment, Vietnam must move decisively. It must reform its rules-of-origin systems to become more transparent, digitised, and verifiable. This means not only overhauling customs procedures but ensuring that every export can be traced back to a clearly documented and Vietnamese-based supply chain. Without such a system, even legitimate exporters may find their goods penalised under ambiguous classifications. Moreover, the country must begin to diversify its input sources. This will not be easy. China's scale and price competitiveness are difficult to match. But a reliance on Chinese materials, in the eyes of US policymakers, now equates to strategic vulnerability. Vietnam must develop alternative supply arrangements, particularly with partners in Japan, South Korea, the European Union, and even India. This diversification is not just about economic resilience but geopolitical survival. Diplomatically, Vietnam must also intensify its multilateral engagement. Bilateral negotiations with the US are insufficient. Hanoi should work with Asean, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and other regional blocs to push back against arbitrary and unilateral trade restrictions. By framing the conversation within a multilateral rules-based system, Vietnam can gain leverage and legitimacy. The broader lesson is sobering. Vietnam's economic success has been built on its integration into global supply chains. But in an era where geopolitical rivalry has corrupted the logic of free trade, that very integration can become a liability. Trump's tariffs, while ostensibly targeted at China, are being implemented in ways that harm America's allies and partners. The goal is less about fair trade and more about dominance and extraction. South-east Asia is watching closely. Vietnam may be the current target, but the logic extends across the region. Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia — all of whom play key roles in the regional manufacturing ecosystem — may soon face similar accusations. The United States, under Trump's leadership, is reshaping global commerce into a series of loyalty tests: comply with our tariffs, rewrite your laws, reconfigure your supply chains—or be punished. In this climate, Vietnam's record-breaking trade surplus is no guarantee of security. In fact, it may be the very reason why more scrutiny is coming. The challenge for Hanoi is not simply to weather this storm, but to reposition itself for a new era where trade success is judged less by volume and more by provenance. In a world where every shipping manifest is now a political document, and every export can become a diplomatic flashpoint, Vietnam must become more than a manufacturing hub. It must become a rules-enforcer, a supply chain innovator, and a standard-bearer of economic credibility. Otherwise, its hard-earned surplus may prove ephemeral outshined by the enduring burden of suspicion. * Phar Kim Beng is Professor of Asean Studies and Director of the Institute of Internationalization and Asean Studies (IINTAS), International Islamic University Malaysia. ** Luthfy Hamzah is a research fellow at IINTAS *** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail
The Star
10 minutes ago
- The Star
Kremlin says weapons and ammunition deliveries to Ukraine from U.S. are continuing
FILE PHOTO: Servicemen from the mobile air defence unit of the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fire a ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft cannon towards a Russian drone during an overnight shift, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine June 2, 2025. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova/File Photo MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Monday that the big picture of U.S. President Donald Trump remarks about supplying Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine was that U.S. arms and ammunition deliveries to Kyiv have continued and are still continuing. Trump did not say how many Patriots he plans to send to Ukraine, but he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union. "Now it seems that these supplies will be paid for by Europe, some will be paid for, some will not," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Trump's words. "The fact remains that the supply of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment from the United States continued and continues to Ukraine." Trump is expected to announce a new plan to arm Ukraine with offensive weapons in a sharp departure from his earlier stance, Axios reported on Sunday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Peskov said that Kyiv was obviously in no hurry on the third round of peace talks, adding that Russia was ready for them and awaiting clarity on the timing from Ukraine. (Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
The Star
25 minutes ago
- The Star
Crypto bills set to advance this week take industry closer to mainstream
(Reuters) -The crypto industry will take a step closer to going mainstream this week as a series of industry-friendly bills progress through Congress, paving the way for digital assets to potentially be further integrated into traditional finance. The House of Representatives is set to pass a series of crypto-related bills in a week which the Republican majority has dubbed "crypto week." The most notable is a bill that would establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins and is likely to advance to President Donald Trump's desk. That bill -- and another the House is considering that would define when a crypto token is a commodity -- is a huge win for the crypto industry, which has been pushing for federal legislation for years and poured money into last year's elections in order to promote pro-crypto candidates. "Historically, when lawmakers advance industry-backed frameworks, institutional sentiment strengthens. We expect capital that was previously sidelined due to regulatory uncertainty to re-enter," said Jag Kooner, head of derivatives at crypto exchange Bitfinex. "Crypto week" also comes as bitcoin has scaled record highs in recent days as investors dive back into risk assets on the back of tariff-related news, as well as expectations that legislation could potentially unlock capital in the crypto space. The big ticket item the House is set to vote on this week is a bill that would create a set of federal requirements for stablecoins. Stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a constant value, usually a 1:1 dollar peg, are commonly used by crypto traders to move funds between tokens. Their use has grown rapidly in recent years, and proponents say they could be used to send payments instantly. The bill, dubbed the GENIUS Act, received bipartisan support in the Senate, with several Democrats joining most Republicans to back the proposed federal rules. It is expected to pass the House and would then head to Trump, who has said he will sign it into law. The bill would require tokens to be backed by liquid assets - such as U.S. dollars and short-term Treasury bills - and for issuers to disclose publicly the composition of their reserves on a monthly basis. Crypto proponents say those rules could legitimize stablecoins, making banks, retailers and consumers more comfortable with using them to transfer funds. Ahead of the bill's final passage, many companies across sectors are already considering how they might incorporate stablecoins into their business, said Julia Demidova, head of digital currencies product and strategy at FIS, a financial technology solutions provider. "I think everyone is realizing, look, this is moving forward and they need to have a stablecoin strategy," she said. "They need to think how banks themselves will position against some of these novel, new, emerging fintech-issued stablecoins as well." Still, many Democrats have argued that the GENIUS Act would not prevent big tech companies from issuing their own private stablecoins, and have called for stronger anti-money laundering protections and prohibitions on foreign stablecoin issuers. Many Democrats fiercely oppose both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, arguing that they have too few consumer protections and would be a giveaway to Trump's own personal crypto ventures by enabling softer-touch regulation. Democratic members are expected to offer several amendments to both the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act on the House floor next week, according to a source familiar with the matter, but it is unclear whether any of them will be considered. The House will also vote next week on a bill that would prohibit the U.S. from issuing a central bank digital currency, which Republicans say violate Americans' privacy. The bill has not been considered in the Senate and the Federal Reserve has not indicated a desire to develop a central bank digital currency. MARKET STRUCTURE The House this week is also expected to pass a bill that aims to develop a regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies and would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's oversight of the digital asset industry and is backed by the industry. If signed into law, the bill would define when a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity and clarify the Securities and Exchange Commission's jurisdiction over the sector, something crypto companies heavily disputed during the Biden administration. That could help crypto companies avoid the oversight of the SEC, which under the Biden administration sued a number of crypto exchanges for flouting its rules. Crypto companies have argued that most crypto tokens should be classified as commodities, rather than securities, which would enable platforms to more easily offer those tokens to their customers. That bill, called the CLARITY Act, has yet to be considered in the Senate, where it would need to pass before heading to Trump for final approval. Trump has sought to overhaul U.S. cryptocurrency policies after courting cash from the industry during his presidential campaign. The sector spent more than $119 million backing pro-crypto congressional candidates in last year's elections. Trump's crypto ventures include a meme coin called $TRUMP, launched in January, and a business called World Liberty Financial, a crypto company owned partly by the president. The White House has said there are no conflicts of interest and that Trump's assets are in a trust managed by his children. (Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; Editing by Megan Davies and Daniel Wallis)
