Lifted a ban on sales of powerful computer chips to China, potentially helping the US’s top rival close the gap in the AI race. Told GOP lawmakers he would soon fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell — only to reverse himself when markets tumbled.

The Commerce Department’s preliminary imposition of anti-dumping duties on graphite was announced after it found that the Chinese government had unfairly subsidized the materials.

Only a few years ago, the Biden administration declared export controls a “new strategic asset” to help the US maintain “as large a lead as possible” over China in advanced technology. President Donald Trump is now upending that approach.

A common theme running through these global developments is that rivals such as China seem to be faring better in dealing with Trump’s challenge to the global order than are traditional U.S. allies including Japan and European nations. Except for Britain, countries are often finding that the reward for being a loyal partner is a punch in the nose.

"Other trading partners observing these threats will have the same mistrust of the negotiation process," experts argue.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he thinks China will begin sentencing people to death for fentanyl manufacturing and distribution.

Trump’s threats of secondary tariffs are “never going to go anywhere” as long as he is unwilling to impose costs on Moscow directly, Keir Giles, a senior fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank, told NBC News Monday.

The president has earned a reputation for bluffing on tariffs. But he has steadily and dramatically raised U.S. tariffs, transforming global trade.