Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s feud erupts over tax bill

Good morning, blissful Friday and welcome again to FirstFT Asia. In right this moment’s e-newsletter:

• The Trump-Musk alliance collapses

• US and China conform to new commerce talks

• Contained in the rise of Akio Toyoda

Donald Trump has attacked Elon Musk as “loopy” and threatened to tear up his authorities contracts. Right here’s what to know in regards to the feud between two of the world’s strongest males.

Disagreement: Talking within the Oval Workplace yesterday, Trump mentioned he was “very upset” within the Tesla boss for criticising his signature tax invoice, and recommended he was making an attempt to defend his enterprise pursuits. “I took away his EV Mandate . . . and he simply went CRAZY!” Trump wrote on Fact Social. Because the row deepened, Musk insinuated in a put up on X that Trump was related to the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, including: “Have a pleasant day, DJT!” Read the full story.

Market response: Tesla’s market worth suffered its biggest one-day drop on record yesterday, after Trump signalled he may terminate US authorities contracts with Musk’s corporations. The Tesla sell-off reverberated via US inventory markets, with the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ending the session down 0.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.

Right here’s what else we’re holding tabs on right this moment:

• Financial information: Vietnam and Thailand report Could CPI inflation figures.

• India financial coverage: The Reserve Financial institution of India is broadly anticipated to cut rates right this moment. (Reuters).

How effectively did you retain up with the information this week? Take our quiz.

5 extra prime tales

1. Trump agreed with Xi Jinping to launch a brand new spherical of high-level commerce talks between the US and China because the leaders of the 2 nations sought to ease business tensions which were rattling the worldwide economic system. Trump and Xi spoke on the phone yesterday, of their first recognized dialog for the reason that US president returned to the White Home.

2. Citigroup has laid off 3,500 know-how employees in mainland China as a part of the financial institution’s push to chop prices and streamline its international operations amid a broader turnaround effort. Here are the divisions affected.

3. EU companies are lobbying Beijing to arrange a particular channel to fast-track Chinese language approval of uncommon earth export licences for “dependable” corporations, as China’s strict controls on shipments of the important minerals threaten provide chains worldwide. European officers have warned that their factories are at risk of shutdowns owing to the Chinese language measures.

4. Bangladesh’s Muhammad Yunus has vowed to remain in energy till as late as mid-2026, regardless of rising political turmoil and calls from opponents and components of the army handy the reins to an elected authorities sooner. The Nobel laureate, who heads an interim authorities named after final yr’s overthrow of Sheikh Hasina, is now himself facing accusations of clinging to power.

5. Indonesia has launched $1.5bn of stimulus measures to spice up shopper spending, hoping to counter slowing development as falling commodity costs and commerce considerations hit south-east Asia’s largest economic system. Jakarta started providing discounts on transport fares yesterday and wage subsidies for tens of millions of households for 2 months.

FT Journal

There’s no company chief fairly like Akio Toyoda. Greater than 20 individuals who know the scion of Toyota’s founding household, spoke to FT Journal on his rise — and the strains in his reign over an unlimited empire.

We’re additionally studying . . . 

• Nicotine pouches: Business leaders hope the rising recognition of merchandise similar to Zyn will increase revenues. However can it save Big Tobacco?

• Why Maga world hates Europe: Trump’s crew is taking its US tradition warfare across the Atlantic with implications for the western alliance.

• Builder.ai collapse: The likes of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and Microsoft are realising they could have backed a enterprise that largely reported artificial revenues.

Chart of the day

Take a look at your information of how Trump’s commerce warfare has really affected import duties. These charts are all incomplete — they kind an interactive test of the Trump Taco theory. How precisely are you able to fill them in?

Take a break from the information

A 120-year-old Japanese stationery firm has launched a self-declared “micromotivation” gadget — a gizmo that attaches to your pen or pencil to measure how a lot handwriting you could have executed (and pit your progress towards everybody else). Leo Lewis explains the way it works, and what it says about our obsession with self-quantification.