| Trump said the US would hold a meeting with Iran next week but cast doubt on the need for a diplomatic agreement on the country’s nuclear program, citing the damage that American bombing had done to key sites. He reiterated that US strikes on the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow facilities had “obliterated” them, again disputing an early intelligence assessment by his own defense department that said Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back by a matter of months. NATO leaders agreed to lift defense spending to 5% of GDP and renewed their “ironclad commitment” to mutual security in a historic move to push back against an increasingly belligerent Russia that was also a major win for Trump. The US president assailed Spain for refusing to agree to the new target and suggested the country could be penalized with higher tariffs, despite the European Union having competency for international trade.  NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaking at a dinner for the military alliance’s leaders in The Hague on Tuesday. Photographer: Remko de Waal/Pool/AFP/Getty Images Trump has three or four people in mind to succeed US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell when his term expires next year. The US president continued with his pressure campaign on the central bank chief to lower interest rates, saying “he’s a very stupid person” for keeping them at their current level. Brazil’s Congress voted to block President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s proposed tax increases on some financial transactions, dealing a major blow to the government’s efforts to shore up its budget. Defeat left it searching for new ways to address its fiscal challenges at a time when it faces growing investor skepticism about Brazil’s budget outlook and fractured relations with parliament. China has stepped up construction of drilling rigs and other platforms off its eastern coast to tap into maritime resources such as natural gas and fish, drawing the ire of Japan and South Korea and fanning fresh concerns about Beijing’s regional ambitions. With neither nation having agreed maritime borders with China, concern that Beijing may exert de-facto control over swathes of ocean by staking claims with new structures is increasing. Colombian cartels are offshoring more cocaine production and exporting lower-grade product that is easier to conceal in paints and plastics, according to the United Nations, which also identified Australia and New Zealand as the world’s biggest users of the drug. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer looks ready to water down another of his government’s key policies, offering concessions to stop Labour Party colleagues derailing reforms to Britain’s expensive welfare payments. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK would be the strongest force in parliament if Britain held a general election now, according to a new projection, underlining the threat Starmer faces from the populist party. Greenland’s biggest miner, Amaroq Minerals, is in talks with several state-backed agencies as Trump’s political spotlight translates into concrete investor interest, the company’s CEO told us. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the EU’s executive to stay out of his nation’s affairs after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on authorities to revoke a ban of the annual Pride parade meant to take place on Saturday in Budapest. On the latest Trumponomics podcast, host Stephanie Flanders, Bloomberg’s head of government and economics, is joined by Bloomberg Opinion columnist John Authers and Shawn Donnan, senior economics reporter, to discuss how markets have digested Trump’s July tariff deadline. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. | 
