Trump Goes Alone in Iran War – Rejects Requests to Join Allies

Hello, this is Hui Jie writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

With US allies seemingly caught between Iranian attacks and criticism from the US president, investors are focused on developments in the AI ​​space and the Fed’s upcoming rate decision.

“If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” The first part of that African proverb characterizes US President Donald Trump’s strategy against Iran — after the allies rejected his requests to join the Middle East war.

Trump criticized the NATO alliance for its reluctance to get involved in the conflict, saying it was making a “stupid mistake” and that the US did not need any help with its ongoing military operations.

As US allies in the Gulf find themselves on the receiving end of a conflict in which they are not directly involved, Iran is intensifying attacks against the United Arab Emirates, targeting its energy infrastructure.

As the conflict escalates, cracks are beginning to appear in Trump’s own administration. Statewide on Tuesday, National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent announced his resignation, saying Iran has never posed a threat to the US.

Away from the war, the technology is back on investors’ minds after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said open-source autonomous AI agent platform OpenClaw is ‘definitely the next ChatGPT’.

Nvidia is preparing to offer its H200 processors to some Chinese customers, the head of the world’s most valuable company has said. “We have received purchase orders and we are in the process of restarting our production,” Huang said. Nvidia has now received approval from the US and China to sell the H200.

On the tech front, OpenAI is focusing employee and investor attention on its enterprise business as the artificial intelligence startup prepares to go public, potentially by the end of the year, CNBC has learned.

In an ironic turn of events, political America is looking to go fast and alone, while tech America is looking to go far and together.

– Lim Hui Gee

The Fed will announce its latest interest rate decision on Wednesday. Here’s what to expect

The Federal Reserve has little choice but to stay on the sidelines this week as it navigates the mix of complex and conflicting forces at play in the U.S. economy.

Markets are pricing in zero chance of a rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee cut at this meeting — or any in the near future. Price futures suggest policymakers won’t consider easing until at least September, October, and even then a single cut this year.

– Jeff Cox