FirstFT: ‘Presidential immunity’ ruling boosts Donald Trump and dismays Democrats

Good morning.

Reactions to the US Supreme Court’s immunity ruling on Donald Trump continue to reverberate across the political divide.

Yesterday, the court ruled 6-3 that US presidents should have “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecutions when exercising “core constitutional powers”, provoking anxiety among liberals and boosting the Trump campaign’s momentum ahead of November.

This means that at least some of the January 6 allegations against the former president will be thrown out. Trump’s lawyers have also since asked the judge that ruled against him in the “hush money” trial to set aside his conviction.

Trump has praised the ruling on social media, calling it a “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY”. 

But the decision is the latest blow to the Biden campaign, as it stays the course with a leader whom 72 per cent of registered voters think should not run.

• Explainer: The FT’s Joe Miller explains the key points from the Supreme Court ruling.

• Markets: The fate of the US dollar rests on November’s election, argues UC Berkeley professor Barry Eichengreen.

Here’s what else I’m keeping tabs on today:

• Diplomacy: UN Security Council to meet on the Middle East.

• Central banks: Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell attends a European Central Bank forum in Portugal.

• Orbán in Ukraine: Hungary’s prime minister will meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his first wartime trip to the country.

Five more top stories

1. Boeing must either plead guilty to felony fraud or go to trial against the US government, according to the latest terms offered to the company by the Department of Justice. Prosecutors said the company had breached the agreement it signed in 2021 in the wake of two fatal 737 Max plane crashes.

2. The US is investigating a potential carbon pricing system on imports, its climate envoy John Podesta has said, to combat freeriding by foreign producers.

3. Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino has pledged to thwart illegal immigration via the Darién Gap, and co-operate with the US government to halt transit migration northwards through the continent.

4. Iran would use “all means” to back Hizbollah if Israel were to launch a full-blown war, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader has warned in an interview with the FT.

5. The owners of the Boston Celtics have said they are planning to put the team up for sale, expecting to fetch a record sum for an NBA team. It was valued at $4.7bn by Forbes in October.

FT news in-depth

A combination of attacks in the Red Sea and increased protectionist rhetoric from Joe Biden and Donald Trump is causing Chinese manufacturers to fear a Christmas crisis, leaving them to grapple with enlarged costs and extended delays on exports to western consumers.

We’re also reading and listening to . . . 

• EY’s new chief: Janet Truncale’s alternative strategy for growth is already being criticised for lacking detail.

• French election: France’s Rassemblement National party will seek allies to form a majority government, its leader Marine Le Pen has said, after pressure has increased on centrist and leftwing candidates to co-operate to stifle the far-right threat.

• The Economics Show🎧: FT columnist Soumaya Keynes talks to John Burn-Murdoch, the FT’s chief data reporter, on the changing landscape of US and UK politics. 

Chart of the day

There has been an increase in borrowing in high-grade and junk-rated US debt markets this year, but bankers are cautious as to whether the revival will continue owing to uncertainty over the US presidential election and the timing of rate cuts.

Take a break from the news

Bryan Johnson (pictured) celebrates his birthday every 19 months, because he claims he only ages 7.6 months in a calendar year. Johnson, who is the figurehead of a new Silicon Valley cult of wellness, has used techniques such as transfusing his son’s blood plasma to stave off the ageing process. Here Rhymer Rigby asks, can you buy good health?

Additional contributions from Benjamin Wilhelm and Irwin Cruz