Trump's game of chicken

President Trump and China are now firmly engaged in a high-stakes game of tariff chicken.

• Trump today threatened an extra 50% in tariffs on China if the country didn't back down from its own retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods Friday.
• That announcement suggests the total tariffs on Chinese goods could now reach 104% or more, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

💹 The intrigue: U.S. stocks were only down slightly today, compared to the deep losses they suffered last week. But the smell of desperation is still palpable, Axios Closer author Nathan Bomey writes.

• Stocks started the day down, then a false report that Trump might pause the tariffs sent them surging. That rumor was quickly corrected — and stocks tumbled yet again.
• The S&P 500 jumped over 8% in about 30 minutes, but then shed 5% of those gains in the next 20 minutes.
• That reaction tells you all you need to know about how twitchy investors have gotten since "Liberation Day."

🥊 Trump said in the Oval Office this afternoon: "It's the only chance our country will have to reset the table — because no other president would be willing to do what I'm doing, or to even go through it."

• "Now, I don't mind going through it because I see a beautiful picture at the end. But we are making tremendous progress with a lot of countries. And the countries that really took advantage of us are now saying: 'Please negotiate!'"