At the White House on Wednesday, a hugely anticipated moment – the beginning of the transfer of power between two such fierce foes.
It was a moment of history, a moment of symbolism. It could have stoked bitterness and glee, but there was no sign of either.
However, it was not the biggest moment of the day. That came later.
For a second consecutive night, remarkable names have emerged for the people Donald Trump wants in his White House.
After Tuesday night’s news that Fox News host and former National Guard Major, Pete Hegseth, had been chosen by Mr Trump to be the next defence secretary, on Wednesday night came another Trump bombshell – and it sent establishment eyebrows beyond orbit.
‘A gonzo agent of chaos’
Firebrand, ultra-Maga loyalist Matt Gaetz has been announced as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, the country’s top law enforcement official.
This was entirely unexpected and sent Washington into an evening tailspin.
Veteran Democratic senator Chris Murphy declared the announcement to be “a red alert moment for our democracy”.
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Representative Jim Himes, who sits on the House Intelligence Committee, told CNN the role of attorney general requires “…care, prudency, a deep respect for the rule of law… Matt Gaetz is the opposite of all of those things, he is a gonzo agent of chaos”.
Gaetz, 42, has faced multiple allegations of wrongdoing, including a federal sex trafficking probe that ended without charges against him.
Image: Matt Gaetz. Pic: Reuters
A related House ethics inquiry is ongoing but would be dropped if he were to leave Congress because it only has jurisdiction in that forum.
He has never worked as a prosecutor and has only worked in law for a few years at local level.
His nomination requires the approval of Congress. Even with a Republican majority in both houses, Gaetz may struggle. He is not popular among more traditional Republican politicians.
For Donald Trump, the choice reflects precisely the vision he outlined for the Justice Department – a department that will do his bidding with no sense of independence or objectivity.
It is an intentionally provocative pick of a proud provocateur. On brand to a tee and it is the product of American democracy.
The White House transition
Earlier in the day, Donald Trump’s private jet touched down at Joint Base Andrews on the edge of Washington DC. The cameras caught it passing the parked presidential jets on the tarmac – the planes that will be flying him again soon.
Image: Donald Trump arrives prior to meeting with President Joe Biden. Pic: Reuters
The president-elect’s staff were framing this flight to Washington as a triumphant return. On social media, one senior adviser set the images of the landing to the sound of Kanye West’s Homecoming.
It was back to the future for the comeback president.
As he descended the steps of “Trump Force One”, I’d have given more than a penny for the inner thoughts of the man.
Surely, for him, this moment was a neat two fingers for the many who said he never would; that he never could.
But he did. Four years ago he was a busted flush in the eyes of the Washington establishment; a liability to them exiled to Mar-a-Lago. He had lost the White House and his party had failed to win either house of congress.
Four years on, he won back the White House, taking every one of America’s swing states, and his party has won both houses of Congress – a clean sweep. And he did it all despite the court cases, the warnings that he is a threat to the democracy of the nation.
Love him or loathe him, admire him or fear him, his return on Wednesday to the White House to begin the transition to be America’s 47th president is a stunning political turnaround.
Anticipating this moment of transition, this moment in history, the cameras of the world were there.
The incoming president was a few minutes late for his appointment with the outgoing president. They met in the Oval Office in front of a roaring fire that was, for sure, warmer than the vibe in the room.
A handshake and civility
For all the anticipation – what would it be like? The body language? The mood?
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3:04
Trump returns to White House
If Donald Trump was gleeful, he didn’t show it. If Joe Biden was bitter, he didn’t show it either.
Two men who have such starkly different visions shook hands. Two men who have exchanged such brutal words for each other over the course of many years now smiled and exchanged pleasantries.
“A danger to democracy,” Joe Biden has said of Donald Trump so many times. Well, now the process of democracy required this moment: a handshake and civility.
President Biden surely wanted to give Donald Trump what he never offered four years ago: a concession of defeat and a transition.
Remember, in 2020, there was no Oval Office moment. Instead, Donald Trump was denying he had lost the election.
It was the outgoing press secretary left to describe the details of the two-hour meeting.
“I can say that it was indeed very cordial, very gracious and substantive. And I mentioned at the top, national security was discussed, domestic policy issues were discussed.”
By nightfall, the White House had released the official photos of the meeting. They are images for the ages.
Image: Pic: White House
Image: Donald Trump with Joe and Jill Biden at the White House. Pic: White House
It is almost as if the last few years never happened.
A reset? No.
A pause for posterity, before the new world begins.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
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Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
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5:07
The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
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3:27
How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”
Tanking stock markets, collapsing world orders, devastating trade wars; economists with their hair ablaze are scrambling to keep up.
But as we try to make sense of Donald Trumps’s tariff tsunami, economic theory only goes so far. In the end this surely is about something more primal.
Power.
Understanding that may be crucial to how the world responds.
Yes, economics helps explain the impact. The world’s economy has after all shifted on its axis, the way it’s been run for decades turned on its head.
Instead of driving world trade, America is creating a trade war. We will all feel the impact.
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0:58
PM will ‘fight’ for deal with US
Donald Trump says he is settling scores, righting wrongs. America has been raped, looted and pillaged by the world trading system.
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But don’t be distracted by the hyperbole – and if you think this is about economics alone, you may be missing the point.
Above all, tariffs give Donald Trump power. They strike fear into allies and enemies, from governments to corporations.
This is a president who runs his presidency like a medieval emperor or mafia don.
It is one reason why since his election we have seen what one statesman called a conga line of sycophants make their way to the White House, from world leaders to titans of industry.
The conga line will grow longer as they now redouble their efforts hoping to special treatment from Trump’s tariffs. Sir Keir Starmer among them.
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President Trump’s using similar tactics at home, deploying presidential power to extract concessions and deter dissent in corporate America, academia and the US media. Those who offer favours are spared punishment.
His critics say he seeks a form power for the executive or presidential branch of government that the founding fathers deliberately sought to prevent.
Whether or not that is true, the same playbook of divide and rule through intimidation can now be applied internationally. Thanks to tariffs
Each country will seek exceptions but on Trump’s terms. Those who retaliate may meet escalation.
This is the unforgiving calculus for governments including our own plotting their next moves.
The temptation will be to give Trump whatever he wants to spare their economies, but there is a jeopardy that compounds the longer this goes on.
Image: Could America’s traditional allies turn to China? Pic: AP
Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian prime minister who coined the conga line comparison, put it this way: “Pretty much all the international leaders I have seen that have sucked up to Trump have been run over. The reality is if you suck up to bullies, whether it’s global affairs or in the playground, you just get more bullying.”
Trading partners may be able to mitigate the impact of these tariffs through negotiation, but that may only encourage this unorthodox president to demand ever more?
Ultimately the world will need a more reliable superpower than that.
In the hands of such a president, America cannot be counted on.
When it comes to security, stability and prosperity, allies will need to fend for themselves.
And they will need new friends. If Washington can’t be relied on, Beijing beckons.
America First will, more and more, mean America on its own.