Trump Abruptly Aborts Major Trade Summit Amid Shutdown Fallout, Sparking Turmoil in Fractured White House

President Donald J. Trump, whose combative second term has been defined by brinkmanship and bold gambits, stunned his inner circle and global markets on Thursday by abruptly canceling a high-stakes trade summit with leaders from the European Union and Mexico — a linchpin of his economic agenda — just hours before its scheduled kickoff at Mar-a-Lago. The decision, delivered via a terse Truth Social post and confirmed by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, capped weeks of escalating chaos from the longest government shutdown in American history, which ended only 16 days ago. With federal workers still awaiting back pay and airports reeling from furlough-induced delays, Mr. Trump’s move ignited a firestorm of recriminations inside the West Wing, where aides described a scene of “total meltdown” as allies clashed over the fallout from what one called “the shutdown’s revenge.”

The cancellation, which Mr. Trump framed as a stand against “unfair EU tariffs killing American jobs,” derailed negotiations aimed at slashing duties on U.S. exports like soybeans and aircraft. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, en route to Florida aboard Air Force One’s diplomatic counterpart, was forced into an awkward midair pivot back to Brussels, issuing a statement decrying the “unilateral disruption” as a blow to trans-Atlantic ties. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, whose country was poised to concede on auto parts tariffs, canceled her delegation’s travel outright, warning in a televised address that the snub could unravel the fragile U.S.M.C.A. framework Mr. Trump himself renegotiated in his first term. Markets reacted swiftly: The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 450 points by midday, with Boeing shares tumbling 7 percent on fears of lost European orders.

Inside the White House, the abrupt reversal exposed raw nerves frayed by the 43-day shutdown that gripped the nation from late September to mid-November. That impasse, the longest in U.S. history, left 800,000 federal employees without paychecks, slashed food assistance for 40 million Americans and triggered “mass chaos” at 40 major airports, as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned in early November. Mr. Trump had signed the bipartisan funding bill on Nov. 12, averting disaster just days after off-year election drubbings that flipped governorships in Virginia and New Jersey to Democrats and handed New York City a progressive mayor. But the scars lingered: Aides leaked that Mr. Trump, holed up at his Florida estate for Thanksgiving, had been seething over reports that the shutdown cost Republicans $1.2 billion in donor contributions and eroded his approval rating to 41 percent among independents.

The trade summit was meant to be Mr. Trump’s triumphant reset — a chance to tout “deals that put America first” after the shutdown’s humiliations. Planning had consumed the National Economic Council for months, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer shuttling between D.C. and Brussels. Yet in a 6 a.m. call Thursday, Mr. Trump reportedly exploded at advisers, accusing them of “weak-kneed concessions” to European demands for exemptions on steel tariffs. “We’re done playing nice — cancel it all!” he barked, according to two participants who spoke on condition of anonymity. By 9 a.m., Ms. Leavitt was briefing reporters: “The president will not reward bad faith. All future talks are off until they come to the table seriously.”

Chaos erupted almost immediately. Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, a Florida operative known for her steady hand, clashed with Mr. Lighthizer in a West Wing shouting match audible down the hall, sources said. Mr. Lighthizer, a shutdown hard-liner who had urged Mr. Trump to hold out for border funding, argued the cancellation would isolate the U.S. economically; Ms. Wiles countered that proceeding risked another public embarrassment if talks collapsed mid-summit. Vice President J.D. Vance, dialed in from Ohio, sided with the trade chief, texting allies: “This is shutdown 2.0 — Trump’s gut is gold, but timing sucks.” By noon, at least three senior economic aides had tendered resignations, including a deputy from the Council of Economic Advisers who cited “untenable volatility” in a farewell email.

The meltdown rippled outward. On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., huddled with G.O.P. senators in a closed session, where whispers of a “Trump fatigue” caucus grew louder. “He canceled everything — our leverage, our wins, our sanity,” one Midwestern senator grumbled, echoing post-shutdown grumblings that Mr. Trump’s filibuster threats had backfired spectacularly. House Speaker Mike Johnson, still smarting from a holiday revolt over recess plans, faced fresh demands from moderates like Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., to intervene. “The shutdown was bad; this is suicidal for ’26,” Mr. Bacon said in an interview, his district’s farm economy already battered by EU retaliatory tariffs.

Democrats, reveling in the disarray, seized the moment. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called an emergency news conference, brandishing a calendar marked with canceled events: the summit, a planned Ukraine aid briefing, even Mr. Trump’s annual Army-Navy game tailgate. “Donald Trump doesn’t negotiate; he nukes,” Mr. Jeffries thundered, linking the chaos to the shutdown’s human toll — delayed veterans’ benefits, lapsed cancer research grants and a 20 percent spike in air travel meltdowns. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., followed with a floor speech invoking the shutdown’s endgame: Mr. Trump’s Oval Office sit-down with him and Mr. Jeffries, the first Democratic invitation of the term, which had yielded the funding deal. “He learned then — or so we thought. Now it’s all hell breaking loose again.”

Global leaders piled on. Ms. von der Leyen, landing in Brussels, announced retaliatory probes into U.S. tech giants, while Ms. Sheinbaum hinted at closer ties with China on electric vehicles. Elon Musk, whose Tesla factories in Mexico stood to benefit from the talks, fired off an X post: “Chaos mode activated. Thanks, DJT — or not.” The platform, rebranded under Mr. Musk’s ownership, lit up with #TrumpCancels, blending memes of Mr. Trump as a petulant child with clips from the shutdown’s airport fiascos.

For Mr. Trump, 79, the episode underscores a presidency of high-wire acts teetering toward peril. Elected on vows of economic revival, his term has stumbled from shutdown standoffs to tariff tantrums, alienating the business class that once bankrolled him. Aides, in off-record huddles, debated damage control: a solo Mar-a-Lago speech Friday to rally the base, or quiet outreach to Ms. von der Leyen via back channels. Mr. Trump, golfing amid the din, posted a defiant video: “They begged for this deal — I walked. America wins bigly!” But privately, he fumed to family about “disloyal leaks,” eyeing a purge of economic holdouts.

As dusk fell over a capital braced for aftershocks, the cancellation stood as a stark emblem of Mr. Trump’s unyielding style: Bold, disruptive, often self-sabotaging. Historians draw parallels to his first-term trade wars, which juiced steel prices but bruised farmers. “He thrives on chaos, but this feels like unraveling,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential chronicler at Rice University. With midterms looming and a restive G.O.P. base demanding victories, not voids, the question hangs: Can a dealmaker who cancels everything still close? In the White House, where all hell has broken loose before, the answer may redefine Mr. Trump’s encore — or end it in echoes of shutdown silence.