Paul Krugman: “On Tuesday Donald Trump went on CNBC to explain why the European Union is facing a tariff of ‘only’ 15 percent. But what he said was simply delusional — and the delusion should be even more concerning than the tariffs.”

“The Europeans, Trump asserted, had agreed to cough up $600 billion, which he described as a ‘gift,’ not a loan. And he emphasized that this is ‘$600 billion to invest in anything I want. Anything. I can do anything I want with it.’”

“So Trump apparently believes that the European Union has agreed to provide him with a personal $600 billion slush fund.”

“In fact, as I pointed out after the ‘deal’ was announced, the EU agreed to no such thing. In fact, it literally couldn’t have made such an agreement. European nations aren’t command economies in which government can tell the private sector where to invest, and in any case the European Commission, which negotiated with Trump, can’t tell the governments of member states what to do.”

“So think of it as the emperor’s new trade deal: Trump is strutting around, feeling very impressed with himself, but in substantive terms he’s stark naked.”

An in-person meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been agreed,” according to a Kremlin official and “and it could possibly take place next week at a venue that has been decided ‘in principle,’” the AP reports.

A top Putin aide said the potential venue will be announced “a little later.”

“Donald Trump’s global tariffs took effect at 12.01am in Washington on Thursday, pushing American import duties to their highest level in a century as the US president launched a new era of trade rivalry,” the Financial Times reports.

“The increases were implemented despite frantic lobbying by foreign capitals to escape the levies driving Trump’s economic agenda, as a seven-day grace period from the president’s announcement last week of the latest version of the regime elapsed.”

New York Times: “The double-digit tariffs that the president is rolling out on nearly 100 countries represent a momentous change from the trading order that the United States has helped to build since World War II.”

“U.S. trading partners are lobbying the White House for exemptions to sweeping new tariffs that went into force on Thursday, as countries seek ways to muffle the impact on their economies of President Trump’s push to reorder global trade,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The diplomatic effort shows months of trade talks are far from over despite the run of agreements trumpeted by the White House in the past month.”

“Key details of many of the pacts agreed so far are still not finalized, or in some cases are being interpreted differently by each side. … Trade talks are far from over despite the run of agreements trumpeted by the White House in the past month.”

Politico: Mexico was the only country to get a 90-day tariff reprieve from Trump. Here’s why.

“Leaked drafts of the State Department’s long-delayed annual human rights reports indicate that the Trump administration intends to dramatically scale back U.S. government criticism of certain foreign nations with extensive records of abuse,” the Washington Post reports.

“The draft human rights reports for El Salvador, Israel and Russia are significantly shorter than the ones prepared last year by the Biden administration. They strike all references to LGBTQ+ individuals or crimes against them, and the descriptions of government abuses that do remain have been softened.”