There is an eerie emptiness at the seat of US economic power.
The US Treasury is in shutdown like much of the federal government.
Most staff are furloughed as the world’s finance ministers and bankers jet in for the International Monetary Fund annual meetings a few blocks away, their delayed flights handled by a small number of unpaid air traffic controllers.
There is, however, one clear message the Trump administration is notably keen to get out, not so much for its domestic audience but for the bewildered world outside.
And they delivered it in the middle of last week to a small number of people ushered into the Treasury and what is said to be the finest room in Washington DC, the ornate and marbled Cash Room, which hosted the inaugural reception for post-civil war president, Ulysses Grant.
“Make no mistake,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent alongside Trade Ambassador Jamieson Greer, as they fired the latest salvo in the ongoing 2025 global trade war. “This is China versus the world.”
This simple message connects several extraordinary economic currents swirling around the world right now.