Articles 

The Mueller Investigation Widens: Bloomberg reported that the special counsel investigating potential Russia collusion had broadened the scope of his scrutiny to include the business dealings of Trump, Kushner and Manafort – going back years. This means, in...

The Wall: Trump threatened to shut down the US government if Congress refuses to provide funding for building the Mexican border barrier. The raising of the debt ceiling was going to be tough enough without such a veto threat. Relations between the White House and...

Revolving Door: the personnel turnover at the Trump White House has increased, with a new Chief of Staff (the Homeland Security Secretary, retired General Kelly) and the removal of Communications Director Scaramucci after just 10 days. This increased fears of creeping...

China, US: Trump tried to threaten all trade with any nation that trades with North Korea – i.e. China - but it seemed implausible. Speculation in the South China Morning Post suggested that China could cut oil supplies to North Korea just enough to cause harm...

Bannon Fired: the most notable change in White House personnel was the departure of Steve Bannon, senior strategist. This removes the main nationalist voice in favour of charting an ‘America First’ path, reducing the probability of a trade war and...

Natural Disasters: hurricane Irma devastated Caribbean islands and caused damage in Florida but much less than originally feared. Insurance estimates were brought down towards US$20-40bn, a relatively small sum after recent Texas flooding. An earthquake between Mexico...