Breakingviews - Donald Trump erratically waves sword of Damocles

Gabriel Rubin - Reuters - 21/01
Donald Trump returned to the presidency swinging his pen wildly. Some 200 executive actions included efforts to end the U.S. offshore wind industry, roll back vehicle emission constraints, curb immigration and pardon 1,500 insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The first-day agenda, however, stopped short of firing the opening shots of a promised worldwide trade war, leaving the threat hanging over the country’s trading partners and investors.
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WASHINGTON, Jan 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Donald Trump returned to the presidency swinging his pen wildly. Some 200 executive actions included efforts to end the U.S. offshore wind industry, roll back vehicle emission constraints, curb immigration and pardon 1,500 insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The first-day agenda, however, stopped short of firing the opening shots of a promised worldwide trade war, leaving the threat hanging over the country’s trading partners and investors.
Initial relief weakened the dollar against affected currencies, but it then strengthened again following Trump’s remark that 25% levies on Mexican and Canadian goods would start Feb. 1. The stomach-churning volatility of his governance has returned, with the fate of economy-sustaining alliances and relationships subject to the mercurial leader’s whims.
The flood of new proclamations, many of which reverse Biden-era policies, are designed to overwhelm critics and, in Trump’s mind, enemies. While some legal groups immediately filed lawsuits, the administration has made clear it will not be thwart...
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