US Treasury says China does not manipulate its currency

"Which is why I alone can fix it". Trump's new view of China aligned him with the mainstream conclusion that China stopped manipulating its currency to boost exports several years ago, well before Trump's statements to the contrary during the campaign. "One by one we are keeping our promises - on the border, on energy, on jobs, on regulations".

And then there is China, which is now being presented with awkward demands for a trade-off between economic concessions and security concessions over North Korea - not the sort of deal that Beijing cherishes or wishes to conclude. Mr DiMicco, a staunch critic of Chinese protectionism, responded to a... Trump, in a Wall Street Journal interview, said China hasn't manipulated the yuan for months, while accusing nations that he didn't identify of devaluing their currencies and saying the dollar is getting too strong.

Yet, Mr Stoltenberg's reception could not have been friendlier, and after an hour's meeting with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation secretary-general, Mr Trump simply ditched his previous opinions by telling journalists that the European alliance is "no longer obsolete". For example, Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Wednesday that the president's promise to eliminate the national debt over eight years had been "hyperbole".

While voters might forgive some exaggeration, the president's stalled efforts on trade issues could prove an enduring headache.

He may have omitted the Cuban Missile Crisis and much of the Cold War, but it was an unmistakable message and a far cry from the praise Putin got from Trump during the campaign. The administration has also put forward a draft proposal on renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada that dropped some of the tougher positions Trump took during the campaign.

"There is a moral affront and there is maybe a personal anger, even a humiliation for Trump", said Hussein Ibish of the Arab Gulf States Institute. That's something Trump will discover in the Middle East, assuming he tries to press Israel to make real concessions to the Palestinians.

When Mr Jens Stoltenberg, who runs the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, headed to Washington for meetings with United States President Donald Trump this week, he did not expect the experience to be pleasant. Previously, after the Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare failed, Trump said, "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated".

Abruptly imposing a 45 percent tariff would unnecessarily disrupt both the Chinese and US economies.

Nor has the threatened 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods materialized.

The only obvious way to bribe China is by offering something China might want and that Trump has threatened not to provide, namely a good trade deal. We had a very good bonding.

And if Trump has proven himself to be a dealmaker, he has also proven himself to be an opportunist.

The Chinese are also aware that Trump sometimes bluffs, blunders and later backs down. During his presidential election campaign, Trump had indicated that he would be less willing than some of his predecessors to conduct military operations against other countries. Perhaps Trump can convince Americans we are achieving progress, thereby permitting a more constructive path on trade policy.

"There's a contradiction that goes back to one of the core messages of his campaign", said Nathan Sheets, who served as under secretary for worldwide affairs at the US Treasury under former president Barack Obama. "We may be at an all-time low with the relationship with Russian Federation".

In Europe, London's FTSE-100 lost 0.6 percent to 7,307 and France's CAC-40 shed 0.6 percent to 5,072.

After talks and a slice of chocolate cake at Mar-a-Lago, China's Xi Jinping was no longer responsible for the "rape" of the United States economy.

"Trump's comments came at a time when some had begun to think that perhaps the president was not as supportive of a weak dollar as initially perceived", said Shin Kadota, senior strategist at Barclays in Tokyo.