President Trump on Friday revived his trade war, threatening to slap hefty tariffs on the European Union (E.U.) and to hit Apple with tariffs if it doesn’t manufacture in the United States.

His moves represented an about-face after weeks in which markets had rallied to Trump’s pausing of his “Liberation Day” tariffs on much of the world, and his lowering of tariffs on China.

The pause in the trade war also appeared to coincide with an uptick in Trump’s approval ratings, which well underwater had gone up from their depths in the immediate aftermath of “Liberation Day.”

It is too early to say how his new threats on iPhones, Apple and Europe will impact the views of voters, but stock markets were not amused.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq all opened down and ended in the red.

Trump signaled the shift in a series of messages on his preferred social media platform, Truth Social.

He threatened to hit the European Union with 50 percent tariffs, more than double what he threatened on Liberation Day, and to impose a 25 percent tariff on Apple. Later in the day, he made it clear that tariffs would be imposed on any cell phones made overseas.

The moves came one day after the House approved Trump’s massive “big, beautiful bill” of tax cuts and other measures.

Some sources expressed surprise at the decision.

“It’s almost like he was unattended without [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent. And like, what’s the purpose of this?” a source close to the White House said.

“It’s a shame really that a POTUS who wants desperately to be good for business has none of the temperament of a successful business leader or Fortune 500........

© The Hill