Trump’s Scattershot Week, and a Stock Market Record

Kate's a surveyor. She loves her business, but not the admin. Luckily, her Monzo Business Bank account takes some of the strain, like expensing with real-time visibility and spend limits all managed in one app. So that sound you're hearing isn't Kate crunching the numbers, it's her crushing the admin. Make the switch and join over 800,000 other UK businesses already banking with us. Search Monzo Business today. Team plan starts from £25 a month. UK sole traders are limited company directors only. Tease and seize apply. From The New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, April 16th. Here's what we're covering. Is this war over? I think it's close to over here. I mean, I view it as very close to over. Over the course of 12 hours this week, President Trump promised the war with Iran was ending soon. But he also doubled down on his fight with the Pope on social media, threatened to fire the chair of the Federal Reserve, and posted an image of himself receiving a hug from Jesus Christ, which was not his first Jesus meme of the week. On top of that, the White House revealed new renderings for the giant arch that Trump wants to build outside DC. It's so tall at 250 feet, even the architectural expert who proposed it says it's way too much. For Trump, this stretch has been one of the most vivid examples of his scattershot, what will he do next, style. When he's under pressure on an issue, in this case, the war in Iran that's taken longer than he originally thought it would, Trump shifts public attention elsewhere. One of his former press secretaries from his first term, Stephanie Grisham, told the Times, quote, he'll double down, lie more, and say that everything's perfectly fine and great, and then do all his bonkers postings. But she added that this week, he's being erratic even for him. Inside the White House, some of Trump's current advisors have privately acknowledged that his attacks on the Pope were not productive, and they're hoping he can shift the attention to tax season, where many Americans may see bigger refunds under the tax cuts that Trump pushed. The Republican Party more broadly is hoping for that too. With the midterms coming up, they want to keep the focus on economic issues that they hope will play well with voters. Even before this week, some of Trump's recent extreme rhetoric, including threatening Iran that a whole civilization will die tonight, had revived questions about Trump's mental fitness. Some of his former allies turned critics have questioned whether he's grown increasingly unbalanced. And recently, one of his former White House lawyers, Tai Cobb, said Trump is, quote, clearly insane. In response to questions from the Times, a White House spokesman pointed to what he said was President Trump's sharpness and unmatched energy. In the Middle East. I've spent the last few weeks reporting from Dubai and the International Airport, which is normally one of the busiest airports in the world. When I flew in and out of there, it was nearly empty. Even all restaurants and cafes were closed. Five-star hotel lobbies are nearly empty. Restaurants are struggling already. So you can definitely see the impact on the ground. My colleague Rajah Abdul Rahim has been covering how Iran's retaliation against the U.S. and its allies has taken a toll on countries across the Persian Gulf. For example, since the conflict started, Iran has fired thousands of drones and missiles at the United Arab Emirates. While the country has largely fended off the attacks, they have shattered the sense of security there and undermined its reputation as a global tourism destination. Ex-bats have fled. People have canceled trips. And Rajah says that's dealt a huge blow to the millions of migrant workers in the UAE who are the backbone of the hospitality sector. We talked to some people who had been put on forced leave initially for a month, and now it's been extended. Some people have actually been repatriated home without pay. These are people who are living quite precarious financial lives anyways. They're often living paycheck to paycheck. They come to the UAE because they can make more money there. And across the board, they all send money home. I spoke to one woman. She works at a clothing store in an outlet mall, and she's been so far put on six weeks of leave without pay. Luckily, her husband still works, but they also have a one-year-old back home in the Philippines. So she told me that she's doing manicures and pedicures for friends, trying to make a few dollars here and there. But already she and her husband have cut back on meals. They eat only one meal a day. I talked to other workers as well, a man from Sri Lanka, who said that he'd basically cut out all meat and was living off of lentils and rice in order to send money back home to his three children and his wife and his in-laws in Sri Lanka. And so this is impacting not just them, but also their families back home. Now, three quick business updates. First. The S&P 500 hit a record high yesterday. It has erased all of the losses from when stocks plunged at the start of the war and then some. Investors seem to be optimistic that the White House's efforts to negotiate with Iran could bring an end to the fighting soon. One analyst told The Times that investors are, quote, assuming we have seen the worst of the conflict. Still, some market watchers are a little puzzled by the rally, since oil prices remain high, which has fed into rising inflation in the U.S. and warnings from economists about a possible global recession. Also, yesterday, after a seven-week trial, a federal jury found that Live Nation, the concert giant that owns Ticketmaster, is a monopoly. It's been accused of stifling competition, threatening venues, and driving up ticket prices for millions of fans. The verdict is a major win for the dozens of states that brought the lawsuit, but music fans expecting an immediate change may be disappointed. It could still take months or even years for the judge in the case to decide on what penalties Live Nation will face. The most extreme option would be ordering the company to break up into smaller parts, but that hasn't happened in the U.S. in decades. And last update. The Times has learned that the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, which has poured tens of billions of dollars into projects around the world, is about to pull out of one of its most high-profile ventures, Live Golf, according to one person familiar with the plan. The league launched in 2022 and garnered tons of attention and controversy for using massive paydays to lure some of golf's biggest stars. But the Sovereign Wealth Fund is now facing mounting financial pressures after years of pouring money into a range of investments, including Uber and a Premier League soccer team, but also more struggling ventures like a vast sci-fi-inspired mega-city they've been trying to build in the desert that's running over costs. Yesterday, the oil-rich country announced a new strategy for its fund, saying it's now focused on the efficiency of its investments. For Live Golf, its future is now in question. And finally, they look polished and chic while still feeling incredibly cozy. Remember Allbirds? There was that time when people were talking about wool sneakers? They were going to be the future. Tech Bros. loved them for sure. Official shoe of the Bay Area. Ring a bell? Okay. So they've decided they're not a shoe company anymore. Instead, they're pivoting to AI. Yeah, shoes to artificial intelligence. It's a dramatic, somewhat head-scratching turn for a company that has had a few rough years. At one point, Allbirds was valued at $4 billion, but people's appetite for woolly footwear turned out to be limited. Last month, the company agreed to sell all of its assets for 1% of that, about $40 million. And now it's dropping sneakers altogether, and it's going to be known as Newbird AI. It's the latest company to go all in on AI, though the other companies have generally had some connection to tech rather than shoes. One executive in the AI industry said at first, the announcement seemed like an April Fool's joke, but that quote, given the craziness of this industry right now, maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, more on the confrontation between President Trump and the Pope. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday news quiz.