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China has warned Donald Trump a new trade war “will leave no party unscathed” as the incoming US president’s new tariff threats provoke an angry reaction.

The response by the world’s second-largest economy to Mr Trump’s promise of additional 10% tariffs on all goods from China into the US, came via state media.

“There are no winners in tariff wars. If the US continues to politicise economic and trade issues by weaponising tariffs, it will leave no party unscathed,” the China Daily said in an editorial.

Money latest: UK pension scheme slammed over Bitcoin investment

Mr Trump announced late on Monday that he would also target neighbours Mexico and Canada.

He pledged 25% tariffs on goods coming from both nations due to excessive migration.

Mexico and China, however, are also in his sights for another reason.

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What Trump’s tariffs could mean for UK, EU, China and the world

Mr Trump has said both are responsible for “attacking” the US with fentanyl – a drug widely blamed for the opioid crisis in the country that has seen more than 100,000 people die from overdoses alone in recent years.

China, his camp has argued, is the dominant source of chemical precursors used by Mexican cartels to produce the deadly drug.

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Trump’s tariff plan explained

The China Daily editorial continued: “The excuse the president-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is farfetched.

“The world sees clearly that the root cause of the fentanyl crisis in the US lies with the US itself.”

Mr Trump wants both Mexico and China to clamp down on the drugs.

Mexico has long been in his sights over migration, with the volume of illegal border crossings prompting a crackdown during his first term in office.

That did, however, fall short of his 2016 threat of a “big, beautiful” border wall though the existing barrier was extended and bolstered in places.

Read more:
Trump’s tariff threat creates widespread unease

This is a big deal for both Canada and Mexico especially.

More than 83% of exports from Mexico went to the US in 2023 and 75% of Canadian exports go to the country.

Mexico has pledged to react to any US tariffs by responding in kind.

Canada’s government has spoken of working together but provincial leaders have voiced anger and shock.

Ontario’s premier, Doug Ford, expected retaliation against its closest trading partner.

He said of Mr Trump’s threat: “I found his comments unfair. I found them insulting. It’s like a family member stabbing you right in the heart.”

If tariffs were to be implemented, as Mr Trump has threatened, the aim would be to hurt exports in each of the countries’ targeted in a bid to shrink the US trade deficit.

The country imports far more than it sends abroad.

However, by raising the cost of imported goods, Mr Trump would risk raising US inflation; the pace of price increases in his own domestic economy as the cost is passed on down supply chains to consumers.

Analysis by Goldman Sachs estimated they would raise consumer prices inflation by 1%, if carried through.

They would also hurt profit margins for US companies, while raising the threat of retaliatory tariffs by other countries, the US bank projected.

The prospect of a trade war has not spooked financial markets, with European and Asian equities seeing only limited losses while the broad S&P 500 on Wall Street is at record levels.

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However, the spectre of a wider Trump-led crackdown on imports has been felt elsewhere, with shares of carmakers coming under pressure on Tuesday.

AJ Bell head of financial analysis, Danni Hewson, wrote: “Proving his love of tariffs wasn’t just a campaign stunt, Trump has pledged he will immediately target Mexico, Canada and China before the last bit of confetti has fallen on his inauguration.”

“For European car makers already struggling to make the shift to EVs profitable, it will have sounded an alarm and shares in Stellantis and Volkswagen both took a hit as did US automakers which import a large number of vehicles from both Canada and Mexico.”

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Who’s pictured in the newly released photos from Epstein files?

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Who's pictured in the newly released photos from Epstein files?

Donald Trump, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Bill Clinton are among high-profile figures pictured in a new selection of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, released by Democrats in Congress.

This article contains images of a sexual nature that some people may find offensive.

Sky News has identified all of the people whose faces have not been redacted in the images. They have been contacted for comment.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of those pictured and the context surrounding the 19 photos is not known.

Latest updates from Epstein files

In one image, the US president is seen with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve.

Donald Trump, Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Donald Trump, Belgian model Ingrid Seynhaeve and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems

Two further photos show Mr Trump with women whose faces are redacted.

One image is black and white and shows him with six women; three on either side of him. The other is out of focus, and shows him sitting alongside an unidentified woman.

Mr Trump alongside six unidentified women Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Mr Trump alongside six unidentified women Pic: @OversightDems

Mr Trump with an unidentified woman. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Mr Trump with an unidentified woman. Pic: @OversightDems

Speaking after Epstein took his own life in jail in 2019, Mr Trump admitted knowing Epstein, but added: “I had a falling out with him. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you.”

In July, the White House also released a statement saying Epstein had been banned from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for acting like a “creep”.

Bill Clinton with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as Jimmy Buffett and Mr Buffett's wife Jane Slagsvol. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Bill Clinton with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as Jimmy Buffett and Mr Buffett’s wife Jane Slagsvol. Pic: @OversightDems


In another photo released by Democrats, Bill Clinton is seen with Epstein and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as singer Jimmy Buffett and Mr Buffett’s wife Jane Slagsvol.

In 2019, a spokesperson for the former US president said he had “not spoken to Epstein in well over a decade” and “knows nothing about the terrible crimes”.

Further images show Epstein with long-time Trump ally, Steve Bannon. In one he sits across from him at his desk, while in another the men are seen side-by-side taking a selfie in a mirror.

Jeffrey Epstein with long-time Trump ally Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems
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Jeffrey Epstein with long-time Trump ally Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems

Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems

Hollywood filmmaker Woody Allen appears in four of the photos; two of them taken with Epstein.

Woody Allen with Jeffrey Epstein and an unidentified woman. Pic: @OversightDems
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Woody Allen with Jeffrey Epstein and an unidentified woman. Pic: @OversightDems

Woody Allen and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Woody Allen and Jeffrey Epstein. Pic: @OversightDems

In another, Allen is photographed with Bannon, while one more shows him sat with Bill Clinton’s former treasury secretary, Larry Summers, and his wife Elisa New, seemingly on a private plane.

Woody Allen and Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Woody Allen and Steve Bannon. Pic: @OversightDems

Bill Clinton's former treasury secretary, Larry Summers, and his wife Elisa New. Pic: @OversightDems
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Bill Clinton’s former treasury secretary, Larry Summers, and his wife Elisa New. Pic: @OversightDems

Speaking to The Times in September, Allen said he had been to dinner at Epstein’s home, but suggested he was unaware of the nature of his crimes.

Allen said: “He told us he’d been in jail and that he had been – I can’t remember the word – but that he’d been falsely put in jail in some way.”

Meanwhile, Summers told the Harvard Crimson that his former association with Epstein was “a major error of judgement”.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then Prince Andrew, is seen just once, alongside tech billionaire Bill Gates. Epstein is not pictured. The original photo at a malaria summit also shows the then Prince Charles but he is cropped out of the version released by the Democrats. It is not clear why the picture has been included in the Epstein files.

Bill Gates with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then a prince. Pic: @OversightDems
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Bill Gates with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, then a prince. Pic: @OversightDems

Bill Gates talks to the then Prince Andrew and then Prince Charles during a malaria summit in London on April 18, 2018. Pic: Reuters
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Bill Gates talks to the then Prince Andrew and then Prince Charles during a malaria summit in London on April 18, 2018. Pic: Reuters

Andrew relinquished his titles in October amid continued controversy over his friendship with Epstein, but said at the time: “I vigorously deny the accusations against me”.

Gates himself appears twice more, once alongside Epstein’s long-time pilot, Larry Visoski, and once in a framed photo which appears in an image above a black cabinet.

Bill Gates and Epstein's longtime pilot, Larry Visoski. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Bill Gates and Epstein’s longtime pilot, Larry Visoski. Pic: @OversightDems

A photo released in the Epstein files shows Bills Gates's picture framed above a cabinet. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
A photo released in the Epstein files shows Bills Gates’s picture framed above a cabinet. Pic: @OversightDems

In 2021, the billionaire told the New York Times he had met Epstein to discuss philanthropy and Gates’s spokeswoman said he regretted ever meeting him.

A year later, Gates told the BBC: “I made a mistake ever meeting with Jeffrey Epstein.

“Any meeting I had with him could be viewed as almost condoning his evil behaviour. So, that was a mistake.”

Another photo shows British entrepreneur Richard Branson with Epstein and Dean Kamen, an American engineer, inventor, and businessman.

Richard Branson with Epstein and Dean Kamen. Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Richard Branson with Epstein and Dean Kamen. Pic: @OversightDems

Epstein is seen with his lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, in one more image.

Epstein with his lawyer, Alan Dershowitz. Pic: @OversightDems
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Epstein with his lawyer, Alan Dershowitz. Pic: @OversightDems

Dershowitz said he fell out with Epstein after making a plea deal for him in 2007, leading to his conviction.

He told the Harvard Crimson in November: “Jeffrey Epstein despised me after I had made the deal. Epstein and I did not get along personally after I represented him and helped get the deal.”

A number of images of a sexual nature also appear in the cache.

One shows a bowl of novelty condoms with a caricature of Trump’s face, each one bearing the phrase “I’m HUUUUGE!” A handwritten sign reads: “Trump condom $4.50.”

Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Pic: @OversightDems

Various sex toys are also featured in pictures, including a glove with ribbed fingers, and a safety notice from a “jawbreaker” gag warning of the risk of injury or death.

Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Pic: @OversightDems

Pic: @OversightDems
Image:
Pic: @OversightDems

The images were released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, which obtained them from the Epstein estate.

Democrats said the files included tens of thousands of photos and said more would be released in the coming days.

They were described as “images of the wealthy and powerful men who spent time with Jeffrey Epstein” and “photographs of women and Epstein properties”.

A spokesperson for the Republican-led House Oversight Committee accused the Democrats of “cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions” to create a “false narrative” about Donald Trump.

“Democrats’ hoax against President Trump has been completely debunked,” they added.

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Charlie Kirk shooting suspect makes first in-person court appearance

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Charlie Kirk shooting suspect makes first in-person court appearance

The man accused of killing right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk has appeared in person at court for the first time.

Tyler Robinson, 22, from Utah, is charged with aggravated murder in relation to the shooting of Kirk on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem.

Charlie Kirk pictured in December 2024. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Charlie Kirk pictured in December 2024. Pic: Reuters

Video of the incident showed Kirk, 31, and a staunch ally of Donald Trump, reaching up with his right hand after a gunshot was heard as blood came out from the left side of his neck. He died shortly after.

Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.

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How the Charlie Kirk shooting unfolded

On Wednesday’s appearance at Fourth District Court in Provo, Utah, Robinson arrived in court with restraints on his wrists and ankles and wearing a dress shirt, tie and slacks.

Read more: What we can learn about suspect from charging document

According to the Associated Press, he smiled at family members sitting in the front row of the courtroom, where his mother teared up and wiped her eyes with a tissue.

More on Charlie Kirk

He made previous court appearances via video or audio feed from jail.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

The shooting happened during Kirk’s “prove me wrong” series, which saw the father of two visit campuses and debate contentious subjects; in this case, he was discussing mass shootings.

Prosecutors say the bullet which struck Kirk’s neck “passed closely to several other individuals”, including the person questioning him as part of the event.

President Trump comforts Charlie Kirk's widow Erika at his memorial service in Arizona in September. Pic: Reuters
Image:
President Trump comforts Charlie Kirk’s widow Erika at his memorial service in Arizona in September. Pic: Reuters

A charging document about Robinson from September includes incriminating texts sent between the alleged shooter and his roommate after Kirk’s death.

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Analysis: The real reason for Trump’s Venezuela exploits
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Judge Tony Graf also heard arguments on Wednesday about whether cameras and media should be allowed in the courtroom, with Robinson’s lawyers and the Utah County Sheriff’s Office asking for them to be banned.

Mr Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, has called for full transparency and said “we deserve to have cameras in there”.

The judge has already made allowances to protect Robinson’s presumption of innocence before a trial, agreeing that the case has drawn “extraordinary” public attention

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Why is the United States about to invade Venezuela?

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Why is the United States about to invade Venezuela?

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A significant escalation in tensions between the US and Venezuela.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced that his military had seized an oil tanker off the coast of the South American country.

Then, a day later, the president says a land invasion is about to start.

On the podcast today, we’ll explain what’s happened, what could happen next, and answer why America is even interested in Venezuela.

Plus – Kilmar Abrego Garcia is released after months of detention, and how you can come a US citizen, for the small price of just one million dollars.

You can also watch all episodes on our YouTube channel.

Email us on trump100@sky.uk with your comments and questions.

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