After having pampered Genocidal Bibi and praised the IDF in the Knesset, Trump went to the 2025 Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh. But what I found concerning is his shifting stance on the trade war with China.

❶ Truth Social, Take One

• October 10, 2025 @ 10:57 AM ET

Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the World, that they want to impose Export Controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China. Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would “clog” the Markets, and make life difficult for virtually every Country in the World, especially for China. We have been contacted by other Countries who are extremely angry at this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere. Our relationship with China over the past six months has been a very good one, thereby making this move on Trade an even more surprising one. I have always felt that they’ve been lying in wait, and now, as usual, I have been proven right! There is no way that China should be allowed to hold the World “captive,” but that seems to have been their plan for quite some time, starting with the “Magnets” and, other Elements that they have quietly amassed into somewhat of a Monopoly position, a rather sinister and hostile move, to say the least. But the U.S. has Monopoly positions also, much stronger and more far reaching than China’s. I have just not chosen to use them, there was never a reason for me to do so — UNTIL NOW! The letter they sent is many pages long, and details, with great specificity, each and every Element that they want to withhold from other Nations. Things that were routine are no longer routine at all. I have not spoken to President Xi because there was no reason to do so. This was a real surprise, not only to me, but to all the Leaders of the Free World. I was to meet President Xi in two weeks, at APEC, in South Korea, but now there seems to be no reason to do so. The Chinese letters were especially inappropriate in that this was the Day that, after three thousand years of bedlam and fighting, there is PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. I wonder if that timing was coincidental? Dependent on what China says about the hostile “order” that they have just put out, I will be forced, as President of the United States of America, to financially counter their move. For every Element that they have been able to monopolize, we have two. I never thought it would come to this but perhaps, as with all things, the time has come. Ultimately, though potentially painful, it will be a very good thing, in the end, for the U.S.A. One of the Policies that we are calculating at this moment is a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States of America. There are many other countermeasures that are, likewise, under serious consideration. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

❷ Truth Social, Take Two

• October 10, 2025 @ 4:50 PM ET

It has just been learned that China has taken an extraordinarily aggressive position on Trade in sending an extremely hostile letter to the World, stating that they were going to, effective November 1st, 2025, impose large scale Export Controls on virtually every product they make, and some not even made by them. This affects ALL Countries, without exception, and was obviously a plan devised by them years ago. It is absolutely unheard of in International Trade, and a moral disgrace in dealing with other Nations.

Based on the fact that China has taken this unprecedented position, and speaking only for the U.S.A., and not other Nations who were similarly threatened, starting November 1st, 2025 (or sooner, depending on any further actions or changes taken by China), the United States of America will impose a Tariff of 100% on China, over and above any Tariff that they are currently paying. Also on November 1st, we will impose Export Controls on any and all critical software.

It is impossible to believe that China would have taken such an action, but they have, and the rest is History. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

❸ Truth Social, Take Three

• October 12, 2025 @ 12:43 PM ET

Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!! President DJT

❹ The Markets

Oh, “this great Trade hostility, which came out of nowhere.” He must be thinking of his “great Trade hostility” against everyone, including the allies of the United States! The fucktard.

What happened, in sequence.

The Hill: Trump threatens countermeasures after China tightens grip on rare earths, says ‘no reason’ to meet Xi. Not much right away.

The Hill: Trump announces 100 percent tariff on China in response to rare earth controls. Guess what?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 876 points on the day, closing with a loss of 1.9 percent. The S&P 500 fell 2.7 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite plunged 3.6 percent before the closing bell.

The Guardian: China warns US of retaliation over Trump’s 100% tariffs threat.

China’s commerce ministry blamed Washington for raising trade tensions between the two countries after Trump announced on Friday that he would impose the additional tariffs on China’s exports to the US, along with new controls on critical software, by 1 November.

“Wilful threats of high tariffs are not the right way to get along with China,” a spokesperson for the commerce ministry said on Sunday, according to the state news agency Xinhua. “China’s position on the trade war is consistent. We do not want it, but we are not afraid of it.

“If the United States insists on going the wrong way, China will surely take resolute measures to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”

Trump and senior US administration officials opened a door to a China trade deal on Sunday as market futures showed another US stock market drop.

“Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

The message came after JD Vance called on Beijing to “choose the path of reason” in the latest spiralling trade fight between the world’s two leading economies that has shaken stock markets.

Dow futures showed a drop of 887 points ahead of the stock markets’ open on Monday. The index dropped sharply lower on Friday after reignited fears of a trade war with China when threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese imports after China said it would restrict rare earth exports. The Dow fell 879 points, or 1.9%.

“It’s going to be a delicate dance, and a lot of it is going to depend on how the Chinese respond,” Vance said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. “If they respond in a highly aggressive manner, I guarantee you, the president of the United States has far more cards than the People’s Republic of China. If, however, they’re willing to be reasonable,” he said, then the US would, too.

The US president shocked the financial markets on Friday when he accused China of “very hostile” moves to restrict exports of rare-earth materials needed by US industry.

It prompted heavy falls on Wall Street, where about $2tn (£1.5tn) was wiped off the value of the US stocks.
…
The UK’s FTSE 100 share index fell almost 1% on Friday as Trump’s threat sparked a late selloff. The futures market indicates there could be further losses in London and New York on Monday, although there could also be relief that Beijing has not yet retaliated.

Bitcoin, which had tumbled 8% after Trump’s post on Truth Social, rose by 4% on Sunday after China refrained from retaliating.

Quartz: Trump says ‘don’t worry about China’ — and stocks surge.

S&P 500 futures rose as much as 1.6% in pre-market trading Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq also made significant gains. Cryptocurrencies, which were also hammered by last week’s threats, made a partial recovery, with Bitcoin having tumbled as low as $105,000 last week. But it remained well below a fresh record of $125,000 set just days before.

What’s next?

❺ Meanwhile, in Europe…

☭ Not quite a nationalization, but almost one, as per the BBC:

The 🇳🇱 Dutch government has taken control of Nexperia, a 🇨🇳 Chinese-owned chipmaker based in the Netherlands, in a bid to safeguard the European supply of semiconductors for cars and other electronic goods and protect Europe’s economic security.

…

The Goods Availability Act is designed to allow the Hague to intervene in companies under exceptional circumstances. These include threats to the country’s economic security and to ensure the supply of critical goods.

Under the order, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs, Vincent Karremans, could reverse or block Nexperia’s decisions if they were potentially harmful to the company’s interests, to its future as a business in the Netherlands or Europe, or to ensure supply remains available in an emergency.

The Dutch government added the company’s production can continue as normal.

“This measure is intended to mitigate that risk,” the ministry said.

Shanghai-listed shares in Nexperia’s parent company Wingtech fell by 10% on Monday morning.

For fuck’s sake! C’est la guerre.

❻ Random fact:

🇨🇳 China builds over 1,000 commercial 🚢 ships per year. The 🇺🇸 United States builds fewer than 10 🚢 annually.