Today's October 17, 2025. The simmering trade conflict between the world’s largest economies has boiled over, as China announced a sweeping set of restrictions on critical minerals, a move deemed a "global power grab" by U.S. Treasury officials who believe Beijing is weaponizing worldwide supply chains.

China’s expansive licensing system, modeled on U.S. technology controls, aims to assert dominance over rare earth minerals essential for everything from computer chips to missiles.

This dramatic escalation has prompted a furious response from President Trump, who is threatening to impose an additional 100 percent tax on Chinese imports if the restrictions take effect, while accelerating efforts in the U.S. and allied nations like Europe, Japan, and South Korea to build secure, non-Chinese supply chains.

Compounding the sense of global uncertainty, the US-Russia dynamic has taken a stunning turn: President Trump and Vladimir Putin spoke last night and agreed to meet in Budapest in the coming weeks, a high-stakes summit celebrated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who declared Hungary the "island of PEACE".

This announcement immediately casts a shadow over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's planned visit to the White House today, raising fears that a deal could be negotiated over Kyiv's head.

Meanwhile, the core institutions of the European Union are grappling with profound internal instability, both political and bureaucratic.

In France, the political fallout from the contentious suspension of the retirement reform continues, pushing President Emmanuel Macron into a major crisis. Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has publicly called for Macron's resignation, arguing that stepping down is the "only dignified decision" to avoid 18 months of political "indétermination and crisis".

Simultaneously, Brussels is captivated by intense speculation surrounding the potential return of Martin Selmayr, infamously nicknamed the "Monster of the Berlaymont," as a top aide to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. Insiders warn that such an appointment would further strain relations between the external action service and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's powerful chief of staff, Bjoern Seibert (likened to the "merciless T-1000" Terminator).

These high-stakes institutional rivalries are running parallel to broader EU policy battles, including internal Commission disagreements over the seven-year budget proposal (MFF) and concerns among finance ministers regarding the controversial idea of withholding budget payments from member states that fail to reform their national pension systems.