Is the levy dry? Why Trump blinked before imposing his 'beautiful' tariffs

Donald Trump was in his element last week. Asked if he would really unleash a trade war on the US's closest neighbours, the president talked tough in the Oval Office.

- Callum Jones

By his telling, powerful economies were scrambling to bend to his will. Mexico had just announced a series of measures to shore up its border, prompting the White House to hastily postpone the imposition of 25% tariffs on all its goods; Canada would announce similar measures, and receive the same reprieve, later that day.

Yet, one reporter had the temerity to ask whether Trump had blinked. "There was no blinking," he shot back, claiming that illegal immigrants and fentanyl were "not going to come from Mexico anymore" as a result of initiatives cobbled together by its government that morning.

There was, in fact, some blinking. Tariffs are a "beautiful" means of reviving the US economy, according to Trump. But when push has come to shove, he has repeatedly pulled back from the brink.