This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Subscribers can sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get the newsletter delivered every weekday morning. Explore all of our newsletters here
Today’s agenda: US-China trade truce; UK vehicle production hits 76-year low; how Starmer averted a “civil war” with Labour; and Iranian nationalism reawakened
Good morning. We’ll start today with a wide-ranging interview with the US president’s son Eric Trump. The co-executive vice-president of the Trump Organization talked to Alex Rogers about, among other things, the prospect of having another Trump seek office after his father leaves the White House.
Opening the door to a family dynasty: Asked whether 2024 will be the last election with a Trump on the ballot, the 41-year-old said: “I don’t know . . . Time will tell.” But if someone in the family decides to run, “the political path would be an easy one, meaning, I think I could do it”, he said, adding that “other members of our family could do it too”.
He also hit back at criticism that the family is seeking to profit from the presidency, saying “if there’s one family that hasn’t profited off politics, it’s the Trump family”.
On crypto: According to Eric Trump, the family embraced crypto after being shunned by traditional finance. He now describes it as a “very profitable venture” and a “perfect hedge” for their real estate portfolio.
The president’s son, who has launched a crypto mining company called American Bitcoin, called bitcoin the “gold asset in the modern era”, saying the cryptocurrency is “better than gold” — “tradeable 24/7”, “transportable”, “digital”, “immediate” and in limited supply.
Here’s the rest of the interview, in which he also discussed his real estate dealings around the world and echoed many of Donald Trump’s claims about political persecution.
Here’s what else we’re keeping tabs on today and through the weekend:
-
Central banks: The Bank for International Settlements holds its annual conference in Basel, while the US Federal Reserve publishes results from its annual bank stress test today.
-
EU: A two-day European summit concludes today in Brussels, where leaders are expected to discuss a potential trade deal with the US and their response to the Israel-Iran conflict. Meanwhile, the European Council on Foreign Relations begins its two-day annual council meeting in Warsaw. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is facing a no-confidence vote linked to a Covid-19 pandemic scandal.
-
Tesla: The electric-car maker’s Robotaxi is expected to take its first driverless test on Saturday from the company’s factory in Austin, Texas.
How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz.
Five more top stories
1. Exclusive: Centrica is set to take a 15 per cent stake in the UK’s Sizewell C nuclear project after years of delay and months of drawn-out negotiations. According to people familiar with the discussions, all sides are keen to reach a final investment decision on the project before parliament’s recess on July 21. Here’s what we know.
2. The US Treasury has called on Congress to scrap the foreign revenge tax provision in Trump’s flagship budget bill, reversing a plan that had spooked Wall Street. Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said that the measure was no longer needed because he had secured concessions for US companies to the new OECD global minimum tax regime. Read the full report.
3. Exclusive: The Bank of England is facing growing calls to scale back its bond-selling programme later this year, as investors warn it risks pushing up borrowing costs further and adding to pressure on a weakening UK economy. Critics of the BoE’s so-called quantitative tightening effort say active sales of bonds could “reignite” a sell-off.
4. UK vehicle production collapsed in May to the lowest level since 1949 after Trump’s tariff war forced British carmakers to halt their shipments to the US. Output declined for the fifth consecutive month, marking the worst monthly performance in 76 years, excluding when factories were shut down during the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020. But industry representatives see “some optimism for the future”.
5. The six largest UK accounting firms fail to track how automated tools and artificial intelligence affect the quality of their audits, the Financial Reporting Council has found. The watchdog said that, while AI is rapidly transforming the audit sector, it could also present “risks and challenges” including ethical issues and the potential for bias in tools’ outputs. Here’s more on the FRC’s findings.
The Big Read
Turkey’s economy, once tipped to repeat the success of South Korea’s transformation, is in a rut. The country’s economic crisis has drained President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s popular support, jeopardising his geopolitical aspirations and plans to remain in power.
We’re also reading . . .
Chart of the day
Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.
Few investors today pay much attention to the UK’s FT30 index, if indeed they know about it at all. But Britain’s oldest continuous stock index has quite a story to tell.
Take a break from the news
Do queues in coffee shops feel longer nowadays? Increasingly, chains are turning to mobile ordering through a new wave of apps to ensure people can skip the line for their caffeine shot. But is it worth it? Claer Barrett examines the trade-offs to downloading coffee apps.
