While we are on the US-EU trade deal, a friend of the blog just pointed out that it is already a giant mess with the US now contradicting everything the EU has said:

Believe it or not, the EU-US trade deal just got messier.The White House has published a fact-sheet about the agreement with claims that directly contradict the European Commission's version of events.Let's take a closer look.

— Jorge Liboreiro (@jorgeliboreiro.bsky.social) 2025-07-28T21:35:07.362Z

This is why scrambling for a deal with Trump means nothing. The Trump administration will do what it wants for optics and there is no such thing as an ‘iron clad guarantee’ – Trump will change his mind as often as he wants. Read the whole thread – there is nothing to be gained by making concessions to the US.