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Donald Trump is demonstrating that bullying is a good strategy on the international stage, especially with your friends.

The European Union accepted 15% tariffs on exports to the US under the deal struck with the US president yesterday after he threatened to slap the bloc with duties as high as 50%. The accord averted a damaging trade war, though many EU officials complain that Brussels effectively capitulated.

It comes on the back of NATO’s agreement to the biggest increase in military spending since the Cold War ended, with alliance members fearful Trump would otherwise abandon the treaty that’s been the cornerstone of US defense policy in Europe for 76 years.

That’s as Vladimir Putin threatens European security in Ukraine daily in the continent’s biggest conflict since World War II. Other than occasionally expressing displeasure, Trump has refrained from retaliating against the Russian president for rejecting his calls for a ceasefire.

Trump has now effectively outsourced US military aid to Ukraine by declaring that Europe will pay for the weapons he sends to Kyiv to defend itself against Russia.

The Privoz market in Odesa following a Russian drone attack on July 24. Photographer: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP/Getty Images

Canada, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, all have faced pressure from Trump as key US partners in strategically important parts of the world.

Advocates of Trump’s “America First” foreign policy say he’s asserting US leadership while rebalancing relations that harmed American interests. Europe should pay more for defense, trade ties were unfair, and Trump’s simply negotiating hard before striking good deals, they argue.

Around the world, though, countries that counted on the US to take the lead are rethinking that strategy, concluding that dependence on Washington, whether for aid, trade or anything else, has made them vulnerable.

In the long term, that will likely come at a cost to the US even as Trump celebrates his current victories. — Tony Halpin

Global Must Reads

News just in…Thai and Cambodian leaders agreed to halt hostilities in their deadliest border conflict in more than a decade, after a push by the US and regional powers for a diplomatic resolution. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who hosted the talks in his role as the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the sides agreed to a ceasefire as of midnight. 

US and Chinese officials are due to meet in Sweden today to extend their tariff detente beyond a mid-August deadline and discuss other ways to further defuse trade tensions. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meanwhile meet Trump in Scotland today in a bid to remove the remaining obstacles to their trade deal, and to press for his intervention for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israel increased some aid distribution to Gaza yesterday amid a growing international outcry, with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying the EU is pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to help speed humanitarian and financial assistance to Palestinians. Houthi militants pledged to target ships of any company that deals with Israeli ports, escalating their military operations in a bid to increase pressure on Israel to further ease restrictions on the hunger-ravaged Gaza Strip.

Iran is deporting Afghan nationals due to accusations that non-documented migrants from the country spied for Israel and helped it launch airstrikes in June. The claims were made by the state broadcaster, while Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that several Afghanistan nationals had been arrested on espionage charges and for possessing manuals for making drones and bombs.

An Iranian bus drops off Afghan refugees on the Iran-Afghanistan border at Islam Qala, Iran, on July 22. Photographer: Mohsen Karimi/Getty Images

Thousands of Malaysians rallied in Kuala Lumpur at the weekend demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over alleged unfulfilled promises and recent controversies surrounding his administration.

China will spearhead the creation of an international organization to jointly develop AI, the country’s premier said, reflecting concerns in Beijing and beyond that the US is moving ahead to dominate the world-changing technology.

A failed campaign in Taiwan to unseat lawmakers has handed Beijing and the island’s opposition new ammunition against President Lai Ching-te, potentially deepening a political deadlock that prevents his government from strengthening defenses against China.

Ecuador’s decision to deport hundreds of Colombian prisoners is stoking tensions with its neighbor over rising crime, with each side trading accusations over the weekend.

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Chart of the Day

The US president’s preliminary deals with the EU, Japan and a handful of other countries raising tariff rates is a step change in the barrier that he’s erecting around America, with trade and investment patterns worldwide already being reshaped as a result. The overall US tariff level is now the highest since the 1930s and about six times what it was when Trump took office. Even if financial markets seem to have decided they can live with it, the damage to the global economy from Trump’s protectionism is becoming increasingly evident. 

And Finally

Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan’s decision to shoot some scenes of The Odyssey in a long-disputed North African territory has incurred the anger of a rebel group fighting for independence. Nolan chose to film in the desert landscape near Dakhla, an Atlantic city in Western Sahara — an area recognized by the US as coming under Moroccan rule in 2020. But it is also claimed by the Polisario Front, an armed group based in Algeria that says it’s the legitimate representative of the indigenous people. It accuses the makers of the $250 million epic starring Matt Damon as the Greek hero Odysseus of whitewashing colonialism.

The Atlantic coast in Western Sahara near Dakhla. Source: iStockphoto/Getty Images

Thanks to the 84 people who answered Friday’s quiz and congratulations to Keith Moh, who was the first to correctly name Josef Stalin as the communist-era dictator whose image is being rehabilitated to portray him as a victorious leader rather than someone responsible for the deaths of millions of citizens.

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