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Taken from CNBC’s Daily Open, our international markets newsletter — Subscribe today
Developments from the White House are growing more exciting and unpredictable than those 1,000-episode Asian drama serials.
On Thursday, “So much for being Mr. NICE GUY” Donald Trump reverted to being a nice guy and had a “very good call,” in his words, with Chinese president Xi Jinping over trade issues. Following the call, Trump said that officials from both countries will meet to negotiate further. Trump had previously described the process of reaching an agreement with Xi as “extremely hard,” while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that talks between the U.S. and China are “a bit stalled,” which makes the positive outcome of the call even more of a breakthrough.
But Trump’s no longer playing nice with Elon Musk. Just last Friday, the U.S. president at a farewell ceremony to Musk’s role at DOGE called the latter “terrific” and said “he will, always, be with us.” Starting from the weekend, however, Musk began blasting Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which on Thursday culminated in a public spat between the former compatriots in the White House. Trump acknowledged Thursday that “Elon and I had a great relationship” — note the use of the past tense — but he doesn’t know “if we will anymore.”
