Trump Ends His Relationship With Elon Musk After Musk Attacked His Tax Bill

Economic

Summary:

Donald Trump said on Thursday that he’s done with Elon Musk. Speaking from the White House, the president said Elon had been attacking his tax bill out of personal frustration.

Trump claimed the Tesla CEO was angry over the removal of electric vehicle tax credits and because his preferred NASA nominee, Jared Isaacman, got blocked by the administration. Trump’s announcement followed a full week of Elon hammering the bill on X and calling it a “disgusting abomination.”

Trump said Elon “knew” the bill would scrap the EV tax breaks. “He knew it… a long time ago,” Trump told reporters, referring to the removal of incentives that had pumped billions into Elon’s business. “Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate, which was a lot of money for electric vehicles,” Trump continued.

“And you know, they’re having a hard time, the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy.” Trump also said, “You know, I’ve always liked Elon. I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible.” He defended the bill, calling it his “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” while dismissing Elon’s criticism as political.

Elon says he made Trump president as Tesla stock plunges

Elon responded in real time using his social platform, posting just one word: “Whatever.” But the billionaire didn’t stop there. He followed it up with another post attacking the bill’s content. “Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” Elon wrote.

Then he mocked Trump’s branding of the legislation, adding: “In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that is both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.”

Elon also pushed back against Trump’s claim that he had prior knowledge of the EV credit cuts. “False,” he wrote. “This bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!”

But just when we thought it was over, Elon went even lower, saying, “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude.”

These public attacks coincided with Tesla’s stock dropping by about 4% on Thursday, erasing part of its 22% rally in May. Tesla shares are now down over 20% for the year, far from their $488.54 peak hit on December 18.

Trump allies blocked Elon’s NASA pick, says biographer

Walter Isaacson, who published a biography on Elon last year, said on Thursday that there was another key reason behind Elon’s fallout with Trump’s inner circle. Elon had pushed for his friend Jared Isaacman to take over as NASA administrator.

But that proposal was reportedly blocked by Trump officials. “That, to Musk, was just infuriating,” Isaacson said. “Because they were going after Jared Isaacman… to get at Musk.” The biographer said Elon took it as a personal betrayal and added that the move was meant to limit his influence.

The breakdown in their relationship comes just months after Elon was Trump’s single largest campaign donor, pouring more than $250 million into the 2024 reelection effort. At the time, Elon had not only given money but also taken on a temporary advisory position.

Source: CryptoSlate

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Adam

Bond

Treasury yields climbed Thursday as a selloff in European government bonds overshadowed weakening US labor market data.

The price action highlighted the monetary-policy divergence between the regions. Euro-zone yields rose after the European Central Bank, which cut interest rates as expected, indicated it may not do so again, prompting traders to reposition.

US yields rebounded from session lows reached after an unexpected increase in new jobless claims caused traders to briefly price in an earlier start to Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts — in September versus October.

With more comprehensive May employment data to be released Friday, the claims figures highlighted the prospect that the Fed will act to prevent further labor-market erosion, even as short-term inflation expectations have picked up based on the Trump administration’s tariff’s agenda.

“Market pricing now shows a big gap between ECB and Fed rate-cut expectations for 2025,” said Hussain Mehdi, director of investment strategy at HSBC Asset Management. “The Fed remains hamstrung by inflation amid the supply shock that is higher tariffs,” which likely “keeps US yields sticky.”

Treasury yields were mostly higher at midday in New York, after erasing declines. The two-year note’s yield, more sensitive than longer-dated yields to shifting expectations for Fed policy, was higher by about four basis points after erasing a similar-magnitude decline. Swap contracts ceased to fully price in a September rate cut, while continuing to price in at least two quarter-point cuts by year-end.

Most euro-zone two-year yields ended higher by at least five basis points, after ECB President Christine Lagarde said the central bank was approaching the end of its monetary policy cycle and may revise its growth forecast higher in the future.

Bond-market momentum also was sapped after reports US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first official phone call since Trump took office in January. Trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies have caused bouts of risk aversion and capital flows from stocks into bonds.

The Treasury market rally sparked by the jobless claims data followed its biggest daily advance in two months on Wednesday, also in response to a weak job-market indicator.

“The economy is slowing,” Krishna Memani, chief investment officer for Lafayette College, said on Bloomberg Television. “The hard data is softening. There is a substantial trend for slowing in the economy” that “gives the Fed the path to cut rates, not today, but in the later half of the year.”

As measured by the Bloomberg Treasury Index, Wednesday’s gain — sparked by a sub-par gauge of private-sector job growth — was the biggest since April 3. Futures open-interest data released after the close indicated new long positions were set, and the 10-year note contract’s price reached a level that was likely to cause shorts to cover, interest-rate strategists at Citigroup said.

That may have amplified the market’s reaction to the jobless claims data.

“The claims numbers are trending higher but it’s not in alarming territory,” said Gregory Faranello, head of US rates trading and strategy for AmeriVet Securities.

Friday’s employment data are expected to show nonfarm payrolls increased by 125,000 in May, following a 177,000 jump in April. Faranello said it would take an increase of less than 100,000 to spur Treasury yields to new weekly lows.

Earlier Thursday, Treasuries firmed after a sale of Japanese 30-year bonds drew better-than-expected demand. Still, US bonds continue to struggle with investor concern about the nation’s fiscal outlook.

The 30-year Treasury yield remains more than 20 basis points higher since the end of April. Catalysts included Moody’s Ratings stripping the nation of its last top-tier credit score and the US House of Representatives passing a multi-trillion dollar bill extending tax cuts.

“Fiscal concerns in the US will prevent any meaningful rally,” said Mohit Kumar, chief European strategist at Jefferies International. He expects 10-year yields to trade in a 4.25% to 4.75% range despite softening economic data. “If we rally toward 4.25% in 10s we would use that opportunity to reset a short position.”

source : Bloomberg

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Adam

Stocks

Trade Tensions Resurface After Trump-Xi Phone Call

U.S. equities pulled back Thursday as traders digested renewed trade developments between Washington and Beijing. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slipped 0.2%, while the Dow lost 135 points, or 0.3%. Chinese state media reported that Presidents Trump and Xi spoke via phone—a move initiated by Trump, according to China’s foreign ministry.

While this sparked a brief bump in equities, investor focus remained locked on the potential for further deterioration in U.S.-China relations.

Markets had rallied sharply in May, with the S&P 500 posting a 6% gain and reaching a post-tariff high of 5,970.81 on Wednesday. But escalating geopolitical risk and a mixed labor market backdrop are now testing that momentum.

Mixed Economic Data Raises Stakes for Friday’s Payrolls

A wave of U.S. economic releases on Thursday sent conflicting signals. Initial jobless claims rose to 247,000, surpassing expectations, while ADP private payrolls added just 37,000 jobs in May, missing the 110,000 forecast. Meanwhile, unit labor costs jumped 6.6% in Q1 and productivity fell more than expected, increasing pressure on corporate margins.

The May trade deficit narrowed sharply to $61.6 billion—the largest monthly drop on record—driven by a 16.3% plunge in imports as firms unwound inventory buildup from earlier tariff fears.

These figures paint a mixed picture: wage pressures remain elevated even as job growth softens and global trade cools. All eyes are now on Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report, with a print below the 125,000 consensus likely to revive rate-cut speculation.

Tech, Retail, and Software Stocks Lead Sector Movers

Despite broader market softness, pockets of strength emerged in tech and consumer names. MongoDB surged 17% after blowing past earnings expectations, while Verint Systems jumped 18% on strong revenue and margin performance.

Budget retailer Five Below climbed 7% after posting upbeat guidance and Q1 results, while Lands’ End added 8% after outlining strategies to offset tariff pressure.

Planet Labs soared 20% after posting positive free cash flow for the first time.

On the downside, Brown-Forman plunged 10% following a revenue miss, and PVH slid 8% after cutting Q2 EPS guidance due to tariff costs.

Outlook: Jobs Data Will Guide Fed Expectations and Equity Direction

While the Nasdaq leads weekly gains with a 1.7% advance, short-term sentiment hinges on Friday’s labor print. A weak report could reinforce expectations for a Fed pivot and support risk assets. But if wage pressures persist without corresponding job growth, margin concerns could resurface. Traders are watching closely—especially with equities sitting near recent highs.

Source : fxempire

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Adam

Cryptocurrency

Circle Internet's shares surged to open at more than double above their offer price on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, in what is the second-largest listing by a crypto company.

The stock opened for trading at $69 apiece, valuing the stablecoin issuer at nearly $18 billion, on a fully-diluted basis. That compared with its IPO price of $31.

The successful flotation is likely to encourage other crypto IPO hopefuls eyeing public markets. Surging interest in digital assets amid rising token prices and supportive regulatory developments is expected to spur more listings from the industry.

"The more crypto companies that go public, the easier it will be for future crypto companies," said Matt Kennedy, senior strategist at Renaissance Capital, a provider of IPO-focused research and ETFs.

"The number of deals is important, but so is the variety - having publicly-traded companies across the crypto ecosystem,"

The outlook for the digital asset industry has also brightened with the Trump administration adopting a lighter regulatory touch and moving to establish a crypto-friendly environment.

In recent months, a growing number of companies have also added cryptocurrencies to their balance sheets to capitalize on rising token prices.

Circle's flotation is the biggest crypto listing since Coinbase's 2021 debut and the first major IPO by a stablecoin issuer. It had earlier attempted to go public through a $9 billion blank-check deal, but the deal fell apart in 2022.

MAINSTREAM ADOPTION

Circle's IPO is also a landmark moment for the stablecoin market, which has been a hot topic since the Trump administration took office.

The passage of the pending stablecoin bill could further accelerate the adoption of the digital tokens and make them more mainstream.

Apart from being used to trade cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are also increasingly used as a form of digital payment.

Wall Street expects stablecoins to become one of the biggest themes within finance in the coming years and the next multi-trillion-dollar market opportunity.

Founded in 2013 by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville, Circle issues the dollar-denominated USDC, the world's second-largest stablecoin by market cap after Tether. Besides USDC, Circle also issues the euro-denominated stablecoin EURC.

Allaire, 53, has led Circle since its inception. He previously served as the co-founder and CEO of streaming technology company Brightcove.

Source : Reuters

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Devin

Economic

U.S. President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz kicked off a White House meeting on Thursday with talks on Ukraine and trade but none of the fireworks that have characterized other Oval Office meetings with foreign leaders.

Trump described Merz as a good representative of Germany and also "difficult," which he suggested was a compliment. He said U.S. troops would remain in Germany and said it was positive that Berlin was spending more money on defence.

Merz said he was pleased to be there and preparing for a deeper relationship with the United States.

The two leaders met in the Oval Office, which has been the site of showdowns between Trump and visiting dignitaries including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Not so on Thursday. Trump and Merz, both conservatives, appeared to have a warm rapport from the start. Merz started with praise, thanking Trump for putting him up in the Blair House, a presidential guest dwelling across from the White House, and Trump thanked him for doing so.

But tensions over trade simmered under the surface of their encounter. The United States and the European Union are in talks to reach a trade deal, which would be critical for Germany's export-heavy economy, but Trump said he would be fine with an agreement or with tariffs.

"We'll end up hopefully with a trade deal," Trump said. "I'm ok with the tariffs or we make a deal with the trade."

Merz, who took office last month, told reporters ahead of the meeting that they would discuss Russia's war in Ukraine, U.S. tariffs and NATO in the meeting but said he was not expecting major breakthroughs.

Germany is the second largest military and financial backer of Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion, after the United States.

Trump has urged NATO countries to spend more on defence, though he suggested there might be some limits on how far Berlin should go given its World War II past.

TENSIONS UNDERNEATH

The meeting comes amid a broader fraying of ties between the U.S. and many European countries.

Trump's administration has intervened in domestic European politics in a break with past practice, aligning with right-wing political movements and challenging European policies on immigration and free speech.

Merz, 69, and his entourage have sought coaching from other leaders on how to deal with Trump to avoid conflict, according to a source briefed on the matter.

The meeting is taking place just weeks before a critical summit of the NATO Western military alliance, which has been strained by Trump's threats that the U.S. will not come to the aid of allies that do not increase their defence spending.

Such threats are of particular concern to Germany, which has relied on U.S. nuclear deterrence for its security since the end of World War Two.

Merz has already made some bold policy moves that he can highlight to appease Trump, analysts said. He has backed Trump's demand for NATO members to commit to a target of more than doubling defence spending to 5% of economic output in the future, earning praise last weekend from U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Merz, who has promised a more assertive foreign policy, also coordinated a visit by European leaders to Kyiv just days after taking office, two European diplomat sources said.

"This shows that Germany is willing to accept a greater responsibility for Ukraine and the European security order – these are all things that have been wished for in the United States over years and will be welcomed," said Sudha David-Wilp of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Merz and Trump could find some common ground given they share business backgrounds, membership in right-of-center political parties, a focus on fighting illegal immigration and a fondness for golf, said Steven Sokol, President and CEO of the American Council on Germany.

However, analysts noted frictions in the U.S.-German relationship. Merz was publicly critical of Trump shortly before the 2024 presidential election.

On the eve of his own party's election victory in February, Merz criticised the "ultimately outrageous" comments flowing from Washington during the campaign, comparing them to hostile interventions from Russia.

Source: Reuters

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Adam

Economic

For all the attention on U.S.-China competition in artificial intelligence, new studies point to China’s rapid rise in biotechnology, especially for drug and agricultural development.

Out of five critical tech sectors, “China has the most immediate opportunity to overtake the United States in biotechnology,” the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs said Thursday in its release of a “Critical and Emerging Technologies Index,” covering AI, biotech, semiconductors, space and quantum.

While the U.S. is still the leader in all five, “the narrow U.S.-China gap [in biotech] suggests that future developments could quickly shift the global balance of power,” the report said.

The assessment echoes growing concerns in Washington. In fact, the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology struck a more urgent tone in an April report, citing two years of research.

“There will be a ChatGPT moment for biotechnology, and if China gets there first, no matter how fast we run, we will never catch up,” the bipartisan Congressional commission said in the report, referring to the transformative chatbot released by U.S.-based OpenAI.

“Our window to act is closing. We need a two-track strategy: make America innovate faster, and slow China down,” the commission said. It recommends that the U.S. government spend at least $15 billion over the next five years to support the domestic biotech sector.

China’s biotech industry has evolved to the point that U.S. and European pharmaceutical giants in the last several months have spent billions to acquire China-developed drugs that could treat cancer if commercialized with regulatory approval. In March, British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced it will invest $2.5 billion in a research and development center in Beijing.

The Harvard Belfer Center pointed out that China’s biotech strengths stem from its “dominance in pharmaceutical production and manufacturing,” in addition to having more human talent than the U.S.

China also has a “more flexible regulatory regime and the ability to push things out faster,” Cynthia Y. Tong, one of the Harvard report’s authors, told CNBC in an interview Thursday. She noted that the U.S. tends to have a longer approval process, as well as more drawn out research and development period.

And just as China is developing its biotech sector, reports from the U.S. biotech hub of Cambridge and Boston are revealing layoffs and empty labs.

A big strategy

China has long used multi-year plans and preferential state policies to encourage the development of key technologies. Biotech is no different, gaining high-level support back in 2007.

“Currently, the U.S. government has no cohesive, intentional biotechnology strategy, while China is gaining ground thanks to its aggressive and carefully coordinated state-led initiatives,” the U.S. security commission said.

The worry is that just as Chinese restrictions on rare earths start to hit car manufacturers, Chinese dominance in biotech could become yet another form of leverage for Beijing over the U.S. and other countries.

“The likelihood there’s going to be cooperation [between the] U.S. and China on anything is very low, in some ways least likely on biotech and AI” because of the congressional report, said Eric Rosenbach, director of the defense, emerging technology, and strategy program at Harvard’s Belfer Center. He was chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Defense from 2015 to 2017.

He expects more U.S. pressure on China.

It remains to be seen what that would mean in practice for businesses — though some say the future of biotech development is inherently global.

Insilico Medicine, a startup using AI to cut drug discovery costs, relies on a global team spread across China, North America and the Middle East, according to its founder and CEO Alex Zhavoronkov. On Tuesday, the company announced with a paper in Nature Medicine that it was the first to see successful clinical testing with an AI-discovered drug.

While Insilico’s AI work typically happens in Canada and Abu Dhabi, the chemical testing and experiments are done in China, Zhavoronkov said, adding that the head of clinical development is in Boston. He declined to comment on a commercialization timeline in light of conversations with regulators.

Other data shows that China has surpassed the U.S. in the number of clinical trials conducted, seen significant patent growth and boasts the most life sciences construction activity in the world.

China-based Capital O venture partner Yang Fan, who previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry, said he expects the best biotech companies of the future will navigate different countries’ regulations and use resources across the globe, if not benefit from arbitrage opportunities given different requirements and cost of entry in various markets.

“The Chinese market is like a big supermarket for anything that can be commoditized, AI or biotechnology,” he said, adding that new startups in China have to be “really good” to stand out. As AI drives innovation costs down, Fan predicts that in biotech, “the real DeepSeek moment is probably going to happen in five years.”

Source: cnbc

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James Whitman

Central Bank

Economic

Federal Reserve Governor Adriana Kugler on Thursday said she supports keeping short-term U.S. borrowing costs at their current "moderately restrictive" level as long as tariffs continue to threaten to lift inflation.

"Disinflation has slowed, and we are already seeing the effects of higher tariffs, which I expect will continue to raise inflation over 2025," Kugler said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Economic Club of New York. "I see greater upside risks to inflation at this juncture and potential downside risks to employment and output growth down the road, and this leads me to continue to support maintaining the FOMC’s policy rate at its current setting if upside risks to inflation remain."

Kugler's remarks, among the last of public comments from Fed policymakers ahead of their June 17-18 meeting, indicate that she sees inflation as the more pressing worry for the Fed. The central bank is widely expected to leave the policy rate in its current 4.25%-4.50% range for the next couple of meetings.

While trade and other policy changes from the Trump administration may increase the jobless rate from its current 4.2% level, she said, so far the labor market looks stable. April spending data and many surveys -- including the Fed's own Beige Book, published on Wednesday -- show a softening in economic activity, she said, but "not yet a significant slowdown."

The inflationary effects of tariffs, on the other hand, are already evident in a reversal of core goods inflation, and research shows not only that tariffs have already added to overall price increases but are likely to continue to do so, and relatively quickly. Meanwhile short-term inflation expectations have increased, and though most readings of long-term inflation expectations have remained stable, she said she is closely monitoring the jump in the University of Michigan survey.

"I view our current stance of monetary policy as well-positioned for any changes in the macroeconomic environment," she said.