Trump’s speech, Trudeau hits back and China’s economic plan
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Today, Trump touts a relentless start to his presidency in a mammoth speech. No more Mr. Nice Guy as Canada's Trudeau lashes out on tariffs. And China unveils its economic plans. It's Wednesday, March 5th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oakes in London.

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President Donald Trump marking six weeks into his second term with a 100-minute speech to Congress, the longest in modern US history. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years. And we are just getting started. The speech comes as Trump is igniting a trade war with sweeping new tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China.

After cutting off aid to Ukraine, Trump signaled Washington's willingness to move forward with the minerals deal after a possible rapprochement. Earlier today, I received an important letter from President Zelensky of Ukraine. Sharing some of the hallmarks of his rallies, Trump attacked Biden and slammed immigrant criminals and what he called transgender ideology. There were cheers from Republicans and catcalls from Democrats, some of whom walked out.

Reporter Jim Oliphant is in Washington. Jim, were there any big surprises? I think the biggest surprises from the evening is what Trump chose not to emphasize. And he certainly spent very little time

talking about inflation and the state of the economy. Trump gave the whole issue a short shrift. He was much more comfortable talking about hot-button cultural issues like transgender rights or boasting about renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And the other thing that I think was really noticeable that for all the tumult that Trump has stirred up

terms of foreign affairs and America's relationship with the world. He pushed those topics to the very end of what was a very long speech, 90 minutes. He talked a little bit about Ukraine, barely talked about the Middle East at all. How do some of Trump's claims about the first weeks of his presidency align with what we've been seeing? Well, Trump is, remember, at his heart, a salesman and a marketer. And what he was doing was selling the country on

on a version of the early weeks of his presidency. And to hear Donald Trump tell it

There's been a massive swing in public sentiment toward what he's done, such that a large majority of voters now believe the country is on the right track. This doesn't quite jibe with the facts. In fact, Reuters and Ipsos just did a two-day poll leading up to the speech, and it told us that actually a plurality of the public, 49%, still believe the country's on the wrong track. Only 34%

said it's on the right one. What that tells us is that he still has some work to do winning over sceptical voters, maybe some who even voted for him, but they're still nervous about economic issues, particularly inflation. This is a very dumb thing to do. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau forcefully pushing back against Trump's 25% tariffs.

Trudeau saying Canada would respond by immediately imposing 25% tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. imports. And we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight.

Mexico also vowed to retaliate, and we'll get to China's response later in the show. David Youngren covers Canadian politics. Trudeau is normally quite diplomatic, but today he was very frank with what he thought Trump was doing and the effect it would have on the economies of both countries. Americans will be paying more for groceries, for gas.

The other thing to remember is that Trudeau is out of a job on Sunday when the ruling Liberal Party chooses a new leader to replace him. So I think he felt as though he could give vent to what he wanted to say. He made quite clear that Trump's reason for imposing the tariffs, which is Canada's supposed failure to crack down on drug smuggling, was completely bogus.

And Trudeau made the point that he didn't really know what Trump wanted and therefore wasn't clear how this trade war could end, right? So quoting Trump's words, Trudeau said that Trump had repeatedly referred to his desire to destroy the Canadian economy and that therefore Canada would be easier to annex. Trump made clear in his speech that market turbulence would not deter his resolve on tariffs.

saying further import taxes will be imposed next month. But hours after this week's tariffs took effect, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Fox Business Network that Trump may work out a partial resolution with Canada and Mexico as soon as today.

Our economics editor, Dan Burns, is here to help put things in context for us. It is something of a jolt, certainly, for investors who had been clinging to the optimism that this was all a bargaining ploy that Trump would eventually back off. But there's a lot of concern that these are measures that if left in place,

are going to cause economic harm to the U.S., to the major trading partners. And his insistence on moving ahead is sending a signal to those not yet affected that they are very much in his sights. And that's Europe. And that comes with the reciprocal tariffs that he's promised to bring to bear. We don't know how long these levies will last. It's quite clear, though, that

This administration believes that tariffs are a very effective policy tool to work on with allies and adversaries alike to extract concessions, meet policy goals of a wide range, not just economic policy goals. China's leaders are ramping up stimulus measures to cushion the economy from the escalating trade war.

China's National People's Congress kicks off today in Beijing. And the country has set a bullish growth target of about 5% for this year, despite US tariffs. Anthony Swartkowski in Beijing has more. What makes this a very ambitious target is the fact that last year we had this sort of rebound effect from COVID, so the bar was really low. But this year, China is facing huge headwinds when it comes to tariffs and other restrictions expected under Trump.

So how they will be able to meet around 5% is one big question we'll be asking this year as well. So how are we beginning to see the effects of Trump's trade policy on China? This is a major concern for the leadership here. And I think what Xi Jinping and other Communist Party leaders are hoping for

is that there is still a possibility to strike a deal, to come to some kind of deal with Trump, and that he won't just go super hard on China and completely decouple. But right now, all the signs suggest that the Trump administration is going in the opposite direction. Arab countries have adopted Egypt's plan for Gaza. It calls for $53 billion in funding to rebuild the enclave and avoid displacing Palestinians.

It's a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump's Middle East Riviera vision. The White House says the plan does not address Gaza's reality and that Trump stands by his proposal. Pope Francis is in a stable condition and has not had any new respiratory crises, according to the Vatican. The pontiff has been in hospital for nearly three weeks battling double pneumonia.

And President Trump has hailed a deal by US firm BlackRock to buy majority shares in ports on either side of the Panama Canal. It puts US firms in control of the ports amid White House calls to remove them from what it claims is Chinese ownership.

The deal with Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchinson is worth nearly $23 billion and includes dozens of other ports around the world. And if you're interested in hearing more about big business, tune into this week's episode of Reuters Econ World. It's all about consumer conglomerates and why they're under pressure. You can catch it later today on the Reuters app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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And for today's recommended read, it's actually a recommended watch. That's the moment opposition lawmakers threw smoke grenades and tear gas inside the Serbian parliament. They say it's a show of protest against government policies and in support of protesting students. There's a link to the story and video in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app.

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