Stock markets are plummeting as major US tariffs loom. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been accused of “open authoritarianism” after he indicated he was seeking a third term in office – something that would go against the United States’ constitution.
Monday 31 March 2025 17:34, UK
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By James Sillars, Business and economics reporter
It is not that often you look across a global stock market board and just see red.
There is a flight from risk in full swing now that Wall Street has started trading.
The tech-focused Nasdaq is faring worst – down almost 2%.
It’s all linked to growing fears among investors surrounding the impact of US president Donald Trump’s trade war, set to escalate markedly this week.
In the US, the focus is on the prospects for recession, with firms such as carmakers among those feeling the worst pain.
Tesla’s stock is down by 6% on the day but remains some way off the year-to-date lows seen earlier this month.
Stocks in Asia were the first to encounter the negative sentiment, followed by Europe where the FTSE 100 is on course to end the day about 1% down.
The falls in France and Germany are nearer the 1.5% mark.
by Rob Harris, sport correspondent
Of all Sir Keir Starmer’s tactics to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump, maybe heading to the driving range will become the prime minister’s priority.
That’s the advice from John Bolton – national security adviser during Trump’s first term.
“I don’t know if Keir Starmer plays golf,” he told Sky News.
“But I’d advise him to take it up if he doesn’t.”
Maybe it’s too late to reach Alexander Stubb’s levels of proficiency.
The Finnish president, who has played golf for his country, secured coveted facetime across the weekend by joining the president in a tournament at Mar-a-Lago.
Bonding with Trump at his golf course has turned Florida into the swing state for diplomacy.
Combining Trump’s two loves – gold and golf – was Shinzo Abe’s strategy to build a rapport and gain influence.
A $3,000 golden club was gifted by the then-Japanese prime minister to celebrate his first election win.
The pair teed off in the US and Japan where Trump was dazzled by being joined on the round by professional golfer Hideki Matsuyama.
And the late Abe’s prime ministerial office said at the time: “A round of golf with a marvellous friend, full of spirited conversation.”
It was straight from the family playbook.
Just as Abe followed Nobusuke Kishi as premier, his grandfather also golfed with President Dwight Eisenhower in 1957 during a visit to Washington.
It symbolised the renewal of ties between the former Second World War foes.
The Abe playbook influenced South Korea’s tactics to prepare for Trump’s return to power.
Yoon Suk Yeol’s office said soon after the US election in November that he got his golf clubs out after eight years to get essential practice in.
Within weeks, the pair did share something else in common – both have been impeached.
But trying to impose martial law did see Yoon suspended from his presidential duties, while Trump avoided that shame during his first term battles.
Once it was Trump swinging for Barack Obama – complaining how he had time for golf while in power.
But it was a rarity to play with a fellow leader which he did during a visit to London in 2016.
Obama played a round with then-PM David Cameron at The Grove resort near Watford.
But golf is not the only sport used as a tool for diplomacy – with the Kremlin saying this month that the leaders of the US and Russia had discussed a match between their hockey, just the latest in a series of examples from history.
A man has appeared in court accused of maliciously damaging a golf course in Scotland owned by Donald Trump.
Kieran Robson, 33, appeared in private at Ayr Sheriff Court on Monday and was charged with malicious mischief.
Police were called to the Trump Turnberry course on Maidens Road, Turnberry, South Ayrshire, at about 4.40am on Saturday 8 March.
Red paint was sprayed on the clubhouse at the 800-acre resort and damage was also caused to the greens.
Robson, of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, made no plea during the brief hearing and was committed for further examination and released on bail pending a further court appearance.
By Ivor Bennett, Moscow correspondent
The Kremlin was careful not to take the bait when asked about Donald Trump’s “anger” towards Vladimir Putin.
Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov deployed his trademark technique of downplay, deflect, dismiss.
“The statements were given in paraphrase, they were not quoted,” he said, appearing to question the accuracy of the reports that the American president was “pissed off” with Putin.
“Several different statements were made,” he added.
It’s certainly true that a retort could have risked provoking Donald Trump and I think that was a consideration of Mr Peskov.
Primarily, though, I think his response reveals a lack of concern from the Kremlin right now at America’s apparent annoyance.
That’s immediately clear on state TV. The morning news bulletin on the ‘Russia 1’ channel, for example, didn’t mention Trump’s criticism of Putin whatsoever.
The only reference to the US president regarded his threats towards Volodymyr Zelenskyy, if Ukraine pulls out of the mineral deal with Washington.
I think this is because, despite Donald Trump’s tough words, his actions towards Moscow remain soft and friendly.
According to the Kremlin, the US and Russia have begun talks on their own joint rare earth projects, with some US firms already expressing interest.
It makes one wonder – how genuine is the American president’s anger?
On the one hand, his comments could reflect a growing frustration at the lack of progress towards a ceasefire. So far, Vladimir Putin still hasn’t made any kind of concessions.
On the other hand, however, it may just be an attempt to appear even-handed.
Trump’s barbs towards Zelenskyy, and praise of Putin, has led to accusations that he’s pro-Russian, and being played by the Kremlin. This might just be an attempt to shake those accusations.
Either way, for now at least, Russia doesn’t seem too fussed.
More reaction now to Donald Trump’s suggesting that he is looking into “methods” through which he can serve a third term as president – something clearly prohibited by the US constitution.
Among those offering their responses was Republican John Dean, a White House counsel under Richard Nixon’s presidency.
“Well he likes constitutional end runs… and that’s what seems to be on his mind, how he can get around the very clear language of the 22nd amendment which precludes getting re-elected to more than two terms,” he told CNN.
In a possible reference to the suggestion that Trump might circumvent the amendment barring him from running for president again by JD Vance being candidate then stepping aside to make way for Trump (assuming he won), Dean said: “This is not a new debate.”
He said a scholarly article in 1999 discussed such a process.
“This is really obtuse,” he said.
“Hillary Clinton looked at it when she was nominated, thinking maybe her husband, former president [Bill Clinton], should be her vice president.
“But then she realised ‘well, he’s not really eligible to become president under my reading, and most readings, of the 22nd amendment’, so she precluded that.
“A lot of people thought Obama should go for another term. He didn’t, he read the constitution and said no, I’m not for end runs.”
Indeed, the news of Trump’s remarks prompted many on social media to speculate that any move to remove the rule preventing three-term presidents would theoretically allow Barack Obama to run against the Republican incumbent.
Democratic Texas congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, meanwhile, said of the current president’s comments: “So, that’s actually not allowed… the constitution isn’t optional, sir. This isn’t a reality show – it’s reality. Two terms, that’s it.”
Although the bulk of the anger among Democrat voters in the US has been directed towards Donald Trump, many have increasing frustrations with leaders of their own party.
Arizona Democrats pushed out their party chair, and Georgia Democrats are on their way to doing the same – while senate minority leader Chuck Schumer postponed a book tour in the face of protests amid calls from progressives that he face a primary challenge.
The losing party after a presidential election often spends time in the wilderness, but the visceral anger among Democrats towards their party leaders is reaching a level reminiscent of the tea party movement that swept out Republican incumbents 15 years ago.
“They should absolutely be worried about holding on to power, because there’s a real energy right now against them,” Paco Fabian, deputy director of Our Revolution, a grassroots group allied with independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, said of Democratic incumbents.
“And as soon as somebody figures out how to harness it, they’re going to be in deep trouble,” he said.
Elections on Tuesday could give national Democrats a boost.
In Wisconsin, the officially nonpartisan race for a state Supreme Court seat has become a test of Elon Musk’s influence as his political organisation boosts conservative Brad Schimel and progressives back liberal Susan Crawford, who has made anti-Musk messaging a centrepiece of her campaign.
And two US House special elections in Florida feature Democrats who are outraising their Republican counterparts in sharply pro-Trump districts.
But the current depth of frustration among Democrats is clear and shows no signs of going away.
According to a February Quinnipiac poll, about half disapprove of how Democrats in Congress are handling their job, compared with about four in 10 who approve.
That’s a stark contrast from the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency in 2021, when more than eight in 10 Democrats approved of how their party was doing its job in Congress, and the start of Trump’s first term in 2017, when about six in 10 Democrats approved.
Schumer faces a serious backlash after he refused to block a Republican-led government spending bill and shut down the government. He insisted blocking the bill would have backfired and played into Trump’s hands, but many on the left saw it as capitulation.
“I want the opposition to be a lot more animated,” said Stefan Therrien, a 22-year-old engineering student in Tempe, Arizona, who called Democratic leaders in Congress “very passive” in a misguided effort to appeal to centrists.
“Democrats should attack harder.”
Ken Human, a retired attorney who went to a town hall organised by Democrats in Lexington, Kentucky, said: “You have to stand up to bullies because otherwise they’ll walk all over you.”
While Donald Trump has repeatedly made reference to positive approval ratings he describes as historic, such claims surrounding his supposed popularity are rarely supported by the facts.
Further evidence of this comes in the form of a new poll from the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The survey finds a majority of people asked were unhappy with his handling of every major issue covered.
The poll indicated he remained strongest among voters on immigration, amid his adminstration’s efforts to ramp up deportations – although more people (50%) disapproved than approved.
The approve to disapprove ratio on his performance as president overall was 42% to 56%.
And the Republican president’s threats to impose tariffs – which have been accompanied by tumbling consumer confidence and wild stock market swings – might be erasing his advantage on the economy, an issue he made central to his winning 2024 campaign.
Around just four in 10 Americans said they were satisfied with both the economy generally and his trade negotiations with other countries.
Finland’s president has told Sky News that Donald Trump is running out of patience with Vladimir Putin and is frustrated.
Alexander Stubb told international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn that colossal sanctions should be applied if Russia doesn’t comply with an agreed ceasefire.
Stubb, who played golf with Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend, said he was “confident” Trump would apply it.
He said the US was considering sanctions on Russian “oil, oil prices, serious caps on oil”.
Stubb said he told Trump during the game of golf that he did not to trust Putin – but would not say how the US president replied.
:: Watch Dominic’s interview with the Finnish leader from 2pm across Sky News
A deal that would see TikTok sold by its Chinese parent company will be struck before Saturday, Donald Trump has said.
The president had set a 5 April deadline in January for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a U.S. ban on national security grounds due to have taken effect that month under a 2024 law.
“We have a lot of potential buyers,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One late last night.
“There’s tremendous interest in TikTok,” adding: “I’d like to see TikTok remain alive.”
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