What more proof do we need that we can't cosy up to Trump?

Alas: that the infantile wrecker in the White House has “blinked” may be some relief; but the damage he is wreaking on his own country and the rest of us persists.

- William Keegan

Amid the chaos, conspiracy theories abound. Is Trump a “useful idiot” of even darker forces? What has Putin got on a president who succeeds a long line of (mostly) admirable predecessors, who saw Russian leaders as enemies with whom they had to coexist, not as friends?

One conspiracy theory going the rounds is that “the tariffs are about manipulating share prices for him and his billionaire buddies to profit from fluctuations”. This theory was hardly dismissed out of hand when Trump stated “this is a great time to buy” after the stock market collapse.

True or not, the collapse of the bond market last Wednesday was something else, and precipitated a panic that almost took the smirk off Trump's face. Yes, he most certainly blinked, having childishly boasted that some 70 countries were crawling to him to negotiate.

Most economists agree that the tariff war Trump has initiated is far more extensive in its threatened consequences than the notorious Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930. There are now serious fears of a world recession, or even depression, as “beggar my neighbour” policies return after being abandoned in reaction to the economic and political damage they caused in the 1930s.