Politico: “When it comes to the regime in Tehran, the Trump administration appears to still be in the early learning stages.”

“A clear sign of this is administration assertions that Iran’s regime is splintered or so divided that it can’t even effectively negotiate. At times, President Donald Trump and his aides, including those who’ve negotiated with Iranian officials, seem frustrated or outright surprised by such dynamics.”

Paul Krugman: “To an important extent the economy’s resilience has depended on the widespread belief by investors and businesses that the Trump shocks are one-time events. Businesses can live with 10 or 15 percent tariffs, if that’s the new normal. The world economy can even manage in the face of significantly reduced flows of oil from the Persian Gulf.”

“But it’s much harder to deal with a trade war in which Trump keeps finding new enemies — with a spiraling conflict with Canada, of all places, a nation whose auto industry, in particular, is so integrated with U.S. manufacturing that separating them is almost impossible to manage.”

“The Iran War has been a disaster, but markets were beginning to believe that the worst was over — until Trump began bombing Iran again with no clear objective beyond the visceral desire to reach out and hurt someone, doing so despite overwhelming evidence that the U.S. military is desperately short of munitions and that Hegseth has pushed out many of its competent leaders.”

“Nearly every session at the Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Asheville, N.C. this week began with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent extolling the state of the U.S. economy under President Trump and urging other countries to be more like America,” the New York Times reports.

“America’s allies were not always receptive. At several points, representatives from Europe, Canada and other nations friendly to the United States criticized the administration for moves that they say have hurt their economies.”