Mask-off outbursts by Maga insiders and most strikingly, the destruction and reconstruction of the presidential seat, with a huge new $300m ballroom, means Trump isn’t planning to leave the White House when his term ends, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
THE abrupt resignation of economy minister Martin Guzman on July 2 was the most significant casualty to date of the power struggle between Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez and his deputy Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and their respective supporters in the ruling Frente de Todos coalition government.
Guzman was the architect of a restructure of the remaining $44 billion of a $55bn International Monetary Fund loan, obtained in dubious circumstances by the previous corrupt government of Mauricio Macri in 2018.
Critics say that the price of the restructure is too high. In return for postponing repayment until 2026, Argentina must decrease subsidies on public services, cut spending, reduce monetary emissions and increase interest rates as a means of combating the chronic inflation that has long afflicted the country.
The US president’s universal tariffs mirror the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Act that triggered retaliatory measures, collapsed international trade, fuelled political extremism — and led to world war, warns Dr DYLAN MURPHY



