Speaking for the first time at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Donald Trump warned that the United States could “totally destroy” North Korea. Referring to Kim Jong-un as ‘Rocket Man’ on Twitter, the President repeated his taunt in a speech that channelled both George W Bush’s ‘Axis of Evil’ rhetoric and his own ‘America First’ agenda. The North Korean dictator replied with a slew of insults of his own, describing Mr Trump as a “dotard”. With the US Air Force staging a show of strength off the North Korean coast and a North Korean official warning that Donald Trump is on a “suicide mission,” there are no immediate signs of de-escalation.

Theresa May started her week in Canada, overshadowed by rumours of a cabinet split. She met with her Canadian counterpart, Justin Trudeau, in Ottawa, where the two discussed the importance of Bombardier for jobs in Quebec and Northern Ireland. The aerospace manufacturer is currently in a competition dispute with American rival Boeing. Both prime ministers say that Boeing’s suit is unfair and hypocritical; Theresa May pledged to raise the issue with Donald Trump at a subsequent meeting with the US President in New York. It is expected that the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission will make a preliminary announcement on the dispute tomorrow, with potentially huge implications for jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Prime Minister ended her week in Florence, where she set out the UK’s position in Brexit negotiations. She had been under great pressure from within her own party. Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, had written a 4,000-word article in the Daily Telegraph arguing that the UK must leave the Customs Union and Single Market, apparently concerned that the Prime Minister would soften her stance on both. Apart from a more conciliatory tone, the Florence speech offered little additional clarity beyond the UK government’s existing position papers. The speech was notable, however, for repeating the government’s desire to reach a ‘bespoke’ deal and for announcing that the UK is willing to pay at least £20 billion for access to the Single Market during a transition period on exiting the EU.

Meanwhile, the European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator visited Northern Ireland. Guy Verhofstadt warned that the Irish border has not yet received sufficient attention in the UK’s discussions with the EU. The former Belgian prime minister visited representatives from the main parties at Stormont, calling on the urgent restoration of a power-sharing Executive. “We need to remain in the customs union, we need to have access to the single market, we need to see no return to hard borders and to see citizens have access to the European court of justice,” Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill told Mr Verhofstadt. The DUP’s Diane Dodds, on the other hand, warned that her party would “not countenance” any arrangement that left Northern Ireland in a different position to the rest of the UK. Mr Verhofstadt expressed the view that, in the first instance, it is the UK government’s responsibility to find a workable solution on the issue of the Irish border.

Brexit negotiations are likely to pick up steam, now that Angela Merkel has secured an historic fourth term as German Chancellor. Exit polls suggest that Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) received 32.5% of the popular vote, far ahead of her nearest rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), on 20.7% – their worst performance since the Second World War. It is, however, a bittersweet victory for Merkel. Having lost 9% of her party’s share of the vote since 2013, the ‘Alternative for Germany’ (AfD) secured 13.5% – in third place. This will be the first time that a far-right nationalist party has been represented in the German Bundestag in nearly six decades. As she prepares to negotiate a coalition agreement (likely with the Greens and Free Democrats) Angela Merkel returns to power against a challenging new backdrop.

Also published on Medium.