With a blast of early morning social media posts, President Trump escalated the trade war that the White House had spent weeks reducing to a low boil.

Why it matters: It was a reminder that there will be no trade peace in this administration, only trade war lulls of uncertain duration.

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• That reality could keep financial markets on edge.

Driving the news: Trump threatened to impose a minimum 25% tariff on Apple if the tech giant does not shift manufacturing to the U.S.

• "I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone's that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else," Trump posted on Truth Social.
• "If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S.," he added — though it is legally dubious whether the White House could subject a single company to a specific tax.
• Many analysts say that "Made in the USA" iPhones are unrealistic and if somehow it did happen, the product would be notably more expensive.
• Apple's Tim Cook has announced billions in investments for U.S. manufacturing plants, though Trump is still unsatisfied.

About thirty minutes later, Trump said he would recommend a 50% import duty on European goods starting on June 1 — a far higher rate than the 20% "Liberation Day" rate that was later scaled back to 10%.

• "The European Union, which was formed for the primary purpose of taking advantage of the United States on TRADE, has been very difficult to deal with," Trump posted.
• "Our discussions with them are going nowhere!"

The big picture: It is a sharp contrast to the administration's message in recent weeks, with top economic officials suggesting progress on a slew of trade deals ahead of the expiration of the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs in early July.

• Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told Axios' Mike Allen this week that the administration would notch deals with "most" key trading partners by the summer.
• "I think most countries, we'll have an idea of what we want to do with them," Lutnick said.
• On Fox News this morning, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that "There are 18 important trading partners. With the exception of the EU, most are negotiating in very good faith."

Between the lines: Vice president JD Vance met with the European Union's top official on Sunday and signaled the meeting would help kick trade talks into high gear.

• But Trump has a sore spot for Europe, a gripe that goes back decades. On Friday, he repeated assertions that "Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations" kept the U.S. at a disadvantage.
• Lutnick told Axios that "some countries are impossible" to negotiate with, including the European Union.
• Bessent will often tell reporters that the bloc is the most difficult to negotiate with because "who do you call?," quoting Henry Kissinger.

The intrigue: Stocks fell — including Apple, which fell more than 2% — after Trump's threats. Europe's stock markets also took a hit.

• Yields on U.S. government bonds had been shooting higher on concerns about the tax package making its way through Congress, which would add trillions to the deficit.
• But now that trade is front and center again, the yield on the 30-year Treasury note briefly fell below 5%, before rising back some.

The bottom line: Trade tensions appeared to moving to the back burner.

• Trump reminded financial markets that he could dial up tensions any time he wants.

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• I compared premade frozen beef patties from Wegmans, Costco, and Whole Foods to find the best one.
• I thought the patties from Wegmans were a bit too greasy.
• I loved the burger patties from Whole Foods because they were full of great flavor.

When it comes to summer cooking, I always like to have frozen burger patties on hand. They're a quick and convenient meal I can make whenever the mood strikes. 

To find out which supermarket chain carries the best frozen burgers, I compared options from Wegmans, Costco, and Whole Foods.

Here's how the frozen burger patties stacked up, from worst to best.

• The Defense Information Systems Agency is facing a 10% cut to its workforce, its director has said.
• DISA, the Pentagon's tech arm, provides the military with IT and telecommunication resources.
• Its director said it was an "opportunity to ruthlessly realign."

The Defense Information Systems Agency, the Pentagon's IT arm, is facing a 10% cut to its workforce, its director told lawmakers this week.

Speaking to senators in Washington on Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton said DISA was set to lose around one tenth of its staff but that that could be a good thing for the agency.

"It's giving us an opportunity to ruthlessly realign and optimize how we are addressing what is an evolving mission," he said. "We are doing a realignment and we're going back to the department to ask for what we refer to as a surgical rehiring. We need to hire the right people back into the right positions to then lead us forward."

DISA currently has around 20,000 employees — including about 6,800 civilians and more than 10,000 contractors, Stanton said.

The cuts come as part of a wider realignment in the Department of Defense.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced in April that the DoD would be doing away with billions of dollars worth of IT and consulting contracts, including some with companies such as Accenture and Deloitte.

"These terminations represent $5.1 billion in wasteful spending at the Department, and nearly $4 billion in estimated savings," Hegseth said in a memo.

But Stanton assured that the cuts at DISA were being conducted in a strategic manner.

"Our contracts are aligned to the highly technical IT and cybersecurity workforce. They're not consulting contracts. These are individuals that are putting hands on keyboard, that are running fibreoptic cables, that are performing server maintenance in a global footprint," he said, adding that DISA's contracts were "healthy" and "in a good spot."

It comes after the Defense Department announced plans in February to reduce its civilian workforce by 5 to 8% in an effort to "to produce efficiencies and refocus the Department on the President's priorities and restoring readiness in the force."

The DOD employs more than 900,000 civilians around the world, in jobs ranging from engineering and tech to finance and legal.

Efforts to reduce its workforce come as part of the wider government cuts pushed by President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.

The Elon Musk-linked agency has been tasked with maximising efficiency and productivity across the government under Trump's new administration, and it has carried out waves of controversial layoffs in pursuit of its goal.

• Steve Madden says Trump's tariffs won't achieve his desired outcomes.
• Tariffs aim to reduce trade deficits and boost US manufacturing, Trump said.
• Madden argues the US benefits from trade with China, including "better jobs" than working in a factory.

Shoe boss Steve Madden says Donald Trump's tariffs won't pan out the way his administration hopes.

When Trump announced his tariff plans in April, he argued that big trade deficits weakened US manufacturing and made supply chains too dependent on other countries.

As a result, imported products are getting more expensive, and you can "thank your government for that," Madden, the cofounder of his eponymous shoe brand, told "The Cutting Room Floor" podcast host Omondi on Wednesday.

"They fundamentally do not understand what they're doing," Madden said when asked about tariffs.

The notion that the US has lost manufacturing jobs to China is true, Madden said. However, he said, Americans have picked up "many better jobs as a result of our relationship with China."

He points to the iPhone, now the target of an "at least 25%" tariff directed at only Apple. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that he expects iPhones sold in the US to be "manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else."

"The iPhone being made in China — the success that that has created — the commerce," Madden said. "There's probably hundreds of thousands of people working for Apple today in America as a result of them making those phones in China."

The US has evolved into a "society that doesn't want to work in a factory making fucking socks," especially when jobs in retail, marketing, social media, and more exist, he said.

It's a concept that Madden says wealthy businessmen who "never made anything" wouldn't understand, and that's the problem.

"The Trump administration is deploying a multi-faceted approach of tariffs, rapid deregulation, domestic energy production, and tax cuts to reshore critical manufacturing and restore American Greatness," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Business Insider in a statement.

Representatives for the Steve Madden brand didn't immediately respond to a request for comment by BI.

The titans of retail are feeling the effects of Trump's tariffs. As Apple examines where to produce its US iPhones, Walmart warned that its prices will be increasing as a result of the tariffs. Best Buy, Target, and more have told consumers to expect to see products get more expensive.

"We are the people who create commerce — the Apples, the Steve Maddens, the UGGs, the Ralph Laurens — we create the economy, and they're destroying it," Madden said.

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