To Whom it May Concern: Trump's tariff letters cause a stir among world leaders
So Trump repackaged his plan to slap tariffs on almost every nation in a series of unusual presidential letters to foreign leaders that set new thresholds not just for trade negotiations — but also for diplomatic style, tone and delivery. Most are fill-in-the-blank form letters that include leaders' names and a tariff rate. Words are capitalized using Trump's distinct social media style. A few typos and formatting issues appear throughout.
They generally include an opening flourish of salutation, a grievance, the threat of a big jump in tariffs, a new deadline and an escape ramp allowing that 'we will, perhaps, consider an adjustment to this letter' if certain conditions are met. Rather than typical diplomatic talk of things like enduring mutual respect, Trump closes with, 'Thank you for your attention to this matter!' and 'Best wishes,' followed by his signature of three long strokes linked by and about 14 short ones.
He appears to have paid special attention to his letters to Canada, with which he's been fighting and taunting for months, and Brazil, which he singled out for 50% tariffs apparently based on a personal grudge rather than economics.
A negotiation tactic
The good news for the leaders of foreign countries, Trump suggested, is that if he sent you a letter, he wants to negotiate.
'A letter means a deal,' he said during a Cabinet meeting. 'We can't meet with 200 countries.'
But he's also managed to make his erratic trade policy baffling for American trading partners eager to negotiate a way to dodge his wrath. The president escalated a conflict he started with America's second-biggest trading partner and longstanding ally, raising the tariff -- effectively a tax — on many Canadian imports to 35% effective Aug. 1. On Saturday, Trump announced more tariffs still, this time on two of the United States' biggest trade partners: the European Union and Mexico, at 30% each.
And it's far from clear that these tariffs would benefit Americans' bottom lines. Trump's threat to boost import taxes by 50% on Brazilian goods could drive up the cost of breakfast in the United States by making staples of the American diet, such as coffee and orange juice, more expensive.
Reception has been ... spotty
The response to the letters, which the White House says will also be mailed, has been mixed.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney 's office issued a mild statement acknowledging the new Aug. 1 deadline and suggesting he would stay the course 'steadfastly defend(ing) our workers and businesses.'
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, meanwhile, vowed retaliatory tariffs and ordered his diplomats to return Trump's letter if it ever physically arrives at the presidential palace in Brasilia.
' Respect is good," Lula told TV Record. 'I like to offer mine, and I like to receive it.'
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New Statesman
25 minutes ago
- New Statesman
Trump is serious about getting tough on Putin. No, really.
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Daily Mail
30 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
MAGA mutiny takes intriguing twist after FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino threatened to quit over Epstein files
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Megyn Kelly stuns guest with astonishing claim on Trump's secret role in Epstein 'cover-up'
Megyn Kelly has suggested that Donald Trump may have 'blessed' a cover-up of the Jeffrey Epstein files. While the podcaster stopped short of directly accusing Trump of wrongdoing, she openly questioned his defense of Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel - both of whom had previously pledged that explosive names and evidence tied to Epstein would be released. Kelly said: 'There is something there, and it's being covered up, and the president blessed it,' she suggested during Monday's episode of The Megyn Kelly Show. 'I didn't say, "There's a child sex ring that he's actively covering up"… but I think there's some middle ground.' In a pivot from her previous public defenses of the president, her declaration stunned her guest, conservative commentator and host Ben Shapiro, whose eyebrows visibly rose in surprise. Her statement comes amid a widening rift within the pro-Trump conservative movement, which has been roiled by unfulfilled promises of explosive revelations relating to Epstein's notorious sex trafficking network. Many of Trump's loyalists including high-profile voices like Laura Loomer, Steve Bannon and Elon Musk have accused the administration of hiding critical information. Many of Trump's loyalists including high-profile voices like Laura Loomer, Steve Bannon and Elon Musk have accused the administration of hiding critical information Epstein's death was ruled a suicide – and a new memo from the Justice Department and FBI confirms that their findings are in line with that finding Over the weekend Trump took to his Truth Social platform to plead with his followers to 'move on' - but Kelly is refusing to let it go. 'Many people, including me, do not believe that they've released everything that's releasable in Epstein,' she said. 'I think this is another piece of the problem, that we're left asking, why.' She referenced Mike Davis, a conservative legal analyst and frequent administration ally, who floated the idea that grand jury materials or sealed victim testimony might be legally withheld. 'That's all possible,' Kelly said, 'but Pam Bondi hasn't answered any of those questions. No one has. No one's explained that. Mike Davis, much as we love him, is not a spokesperson for the administration.' 'So we're still left in a position where at least I don't believe that everything that can be released has been released.' Last week the Justice Department issued a memo insisting there was no Epstein 'client list,' no evidence of murder, and attempt to end curiosity by concluding there's nothing more to release. The agency, helmed by Bondi and the FBI headed by Patel, two longtime Trump loyalists, declared the case closed. But the closing of the case has not quelled the outrage with Trump supporters responding with disbelief, calling the administration's handling of the files a betrayal. Reports emerged both FBI Director Kash Patel (right) and Dan Bongino (left) were considering stepping down over the review of the files – but it appears the weekend has cooled things off Trump-appointed FBI deputy Dan Bongino reportedly threatened to resign over the matter. Kelly leaned into that tension on Monday's show, alleging internal divisions while citing her own sources. 'Over the weekend, I will say, my own sources said there had been a softening, because the president got involved in some way,' she told Shapiro. 'And as of today… Bongino has not resigned, but we don't know exactly where it stands.' She accused Bondi of orchestrating press leaks to discredit Bongino. 'She's clearly fighting back too,' Kelly said. 'She's dropped – obviously this is my supposition – some hit pieces on him in various places, including Axios saying he's just having a hissy fit because he was behind the minute before midnight.' The 'minute before midnight' refers to a redacted moment missing from prison surveillance tapes near Epstein's cell - a key detail that has further fueled conspiracy theories. 'That's missing in the Epstein tapes from that cell block, which don't show his cell, but show an area near his cell,' Kelly explained. 'And that he was caught embarrassed because he didn't highlight that minute before midnight that was missing, but it soon came out, and now he's scrambling to sort of look like he's been tougher on this issue than he actually has been.' She also implied that Bondi, once hailed as the MAGA movement's truth-teller on Epstein, may have overpromised - or worse. 'Either Pam Bondi [has] royally screwed up… and the president is just forgiving her because she's a loyal soldier and he likes her, and he doesn't want to go through the messy confirmation process of getting somebody else in there,' Kelly speculated, 'or there is something there, and it's being covered up, and the president blessed it. 'Or there is something there… and it's something short of there's a massive pedophile ring that they're covering up, but it would have some names, those men would have to defend themselves. Maybe the administration doesn't think it's a fair position to put them in. 'Maybe there are questions about the accusers,' Kelly pondered. 'Maybe they're like half-hearted allegations… that a DOJ would not put out, but feels like it kind of might have to given all the promises Pam and prior to taking office, Kash and Dan, rattling about this. 'So I think there could be a middle ground.' Kelly emphasized that she wasn't suggesting Trump was involved in Epstein's crimes, but rather that the administration may be concealing information to protect reputations including its own. 'Maybe the administration doesn't think it's a fair position to put [these men] in,' she said. 'It would have some names, those men would have to defend themselves.' In another explosive aside, Kelly floated a conspiratorial twist, not implicating Trump, but rather suggesting that the Biden administration had deliberately left the files in a way that might politically damage him. 'This may be complete bulls***, but I've heard it from a few different people, so just big asterisks on it,' she cautioned. 'But some have speculated that the Biden DOJ may have left the Epstein files in such a manner that it like leads directly with an arrow toward Donald Trump, just as a middle finger toward Trump. Trump is standing by his AG and asking his base to accept the outcome of the Epstein files 'Not that he did anything whatsoever… just that they're b*****s, and they knew he was coming in, and they knew his people were interested in this story.' Trump has denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein, despite appearing in at least one video with the disgraced financier and attending social events with him in the past. Trump, in a post over the weekend, lashed out at his critics within the movement. 'We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening,' he wrote on Truth Social. 'Selfish people are trying to hurt it, all over a guy who never dies, Jeffrey Epstein … Let's not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.'
