FT News Briefing

Financial Times•ft.com

A rundown of the most important global business stories you need to know for the coming day, from the newsroom of the Financial Times. Available every weekday morning.

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Episodes

Swamp Notes: Trump’s big play to save steel production

US President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on steel to 50 per cent this week. He’s also allowing Japan’s Nippon to buy the US Steel Corporation. The moves are meant to bring back manufacturing to America’s steel industry. But will they? FT senior trade writer Alan Beattie and Zehra Munir, the FT’s industrial reporter, discuss whether Trump can make good on a popular promise. Mentioned in this podcast: It’s always steel — tariffs provide Trump with a familiar trade weapon Donald Trump’s US Steel g...

Jun 07, 2025•18 min

Trump and Xi break the ice

US President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping agreed to launch a new round of high-level trade talks, the European Central Bank cut interest rates by a quarter point and Europe is being flooded with steel diverted from the US because of high tariffs. Plus, the FT’s Aanu Adeoye explains how a Russia-backed junta leader in Burkina Faso became an icon across Africa. Mentioned in this podcast: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agree to launch new round of trade talks Christine Lagarde signals EC...

Jun 06, 2025•12 min

Bulgaria moves into the Eurozone

Apple’s rollout of artificial intelligence services in China with Alibaba is being held up, Wells Fargo faces an uphill battle to catch up with its rivals after asset cap was lifted, and US President Donald Trump says Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ready for “immediate peace” with Ukraine. Plus, the European Commission has finally given Bulgaria the green light to join the Eurozone in 2026. Mentioned in this podcast: Apple and Alibaba’s AI rollout in China delayed by Trump trade war Wel...

Jun 05, 2025•10 min

Mexico’s new supreme court

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof resigned after far-right leader Geert Wilders walked out of his coalition government, Mexico’s new supreme court is set to solely contain judges nominated by the ruling coalition, and Eurozone inflation fell below the European Central Bank’s 2 per cent target. Plus, the FT’s Akila Quinio explains how the Royal Bank of Scotland was nationalised in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and then reborn. Mentioned in this podcast: Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders...

Jun 04, 2025•11 min

Trump’s push to privatise Fannie and Freddie

Elon Musk’s xAI is launching a $300mn share sale that values the group at $113bn, and China’s property sector woes are compounded by tariff worries. Plus, Poland’s new president is going to make life hard for the country’s prime minister, and the FT’s Amelia Pollard explains why US president Donald Trump wants to take mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac private. Mentioned in this podcast: EU companies more concerned about China slowdown than tariffs Donald Trump’s plans for Fannie and Fre...

Jun 03, 2025•11 min

South Korea plots a post-coup future

Private equity dealmaking around the world slowed down in the second quarter of 2025, and South Korea holds elections on Tuesday after months of political instability. Plus, office space construction in the UK has reached a ten-year low, and Wall Street is warning that a little-publicised foreign tax provision in Donald Trump’s budget bill could upend markets. Mentioned in this podcast: Trump tariffs cut off recovery in private equity dealmaking Leftwing ‘brawler’ on verge of South Korea preside...

Jun 02, 2025•11 min

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