Charlie Kirk’s killing leads to calls for retribution

0:01Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Friday, September 12th, and this is your FT News briefing. Brazil's former president was found guilty of illegally attempting to stay in power. And the assassination of a conservative activist is leading to worries about the rise of political violence in America. Plus, crypto's latest craze is experiencing a late summer swoon. I'm Victoria Craig, and here's the news you need to start your day.

0:36Jair Bolsonaro was found guilty yesterday of planning a military coup after losing Brazil's 2022 election. He was sentenced to 27 years in prison. The Supreme Court case against the former president has gripped and divided Latin America's biggest nation. Prosecutors said Bolsonaro's failed conspiracy also included plans to kill the current president before he took office. Bolsonaro has denied the charges. Some worry the guilty verdict could also worsen Brazil's ties with Washington. The trial itself prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to levy steep tariffs on the country and impose sanctions on most of the judges involved in the case.

1:22Conservative activist Charlie Kirk's murder has sent shockwaves across America. It sparked anger from right-wing politicians who blamed the, quote, radical left, led to calls for retribution, and ignited concern about how hot the political temperature has grown in the United States. Here to walk us through the reaction from Capitol Hill to Main Street, USA, is the FT's Washington Bureau Chief, James Politi. Hi, James. Hi there. So there's outrage over this assassination from both sides, but Republicans really see this as a brutal act to silence a rising star in their party. How is Charlie Kirk being remembered?

2:01Well, President Trump described him as a legendary figure. His organization, Turning Point Action, was one of the main drivers of youth organizing for President Trump in the 2024 campaign. And so he had become a sort of an iconic figure within the Republican sort of party and the MAGA movement. And that's why his murder has led to a lot of grief and anger on the right. And this is not the first act of political violence that we've seen in the States over the last few years. Just walk us through how it's accelerated recently and what's really fueling it. Well, I mean, of course, we had the two assassination attempts on President Trump himself during the 2024 campaign, which really brought to the fore the idea that political violence was present as almost a permanent feature of political life here.

3:01We had the murder of a very senior Democratic Minnesota state lawmaker in June, along with her husband. And then even before that, we had the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th of 2021. And other episodes of political violence. And I think the political polarization, the more divisive rhetoric, perhaps the expansion of social media. All these are factors that are contributing to the environment that we're in and that everyone's sort of trying to find a reason for and possibly a cure for. But it seems almost intractable at the moment. Yeah, there's been a lot of emotion and a lot of tension, too, on both sides of the political aisle.

3:51How are both Republicans and Democrats moving forward in the wake of Kirk's killing? Well, I mean, I think it depends on who you're talking to, but the White House has initially urged people to pray and to remember Charlie Kirk and his family. But then we also had a very angry, in many ways, video post from President Trump hinting at some retribution, even without knowing who the murderer was, hinting at sort of broader retribution against, you know, what he described as the radical left, left-wing organizations. And so I think it heralds a very, a new, very difficult time for the country. Did Trump say anything that indicates what kind of action he might take against those groups?

4:45He did not specify any true action. I mean, we know that he has, in his second term agenda, he has vowed, you know, retribution against his political opponents. He has taken actions especially against Democratic-controlled cities in terms of deploying, say, the National Guard to Los Angeles earlier this year and threatening to do the same with Chicago, Illinois. Once we know the identity of the murder, I think we'll be looking to how wide the sort of net of punishment is from Trump. You know, is it groups associated with left-wing activism or opposed to the anti-immigration crackdown? And then we'll also be looking out for any political, you know, ramifications.

5:38Does this galvanize the Republican base ahead of important gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey in November? And how does this reshape an agenda that is already characterized by an effort to punish his political opponents to the extent that he can? James Politi is the FT's Washington Bureau chief. Thanks so much, James. Thanks to you.

6:09The tightrope the Fed will walk at its policy meeting next week is coming into clearer focus. U.S. annual inflation rose to 2.9 % in August. That's up from July's reading and in line with expectations. Core inflation was unchanged at just above 3%, which shows a limited impact so far from President Trump's tariff policy. But as inflation rises, the Fed is also grappling with a weakening labor market, two problems that require different responses from the central bank. Investors are still expecting a quarter-point rate cut at next week's meeting, but a slightly faster pace of cuts at subsequent ones.

6:54The latest crypto craze to take financial markets by storm this summer is showing signs of strain. Companies, including software makers, hotel and biotech businesses, rushed to stockpile Bitcoin. And as a result, they saw their share prices rocket higher. But now investors are worried about an overcrowded market. And not only are share prices falling, but in some cases, they're trading below the value of the crypto assets they hold. The FT's Nico Asghari is our digital markets correspondent. Hi, Nico. Hi. So you write that this is the first major setback for the crypto treasury craze. What's been going on with these companies over the last couple of weeks and months?

7:35So this summer, it's really been the hot thing, not just in crypto markets, but in stock markets. Loads of companies, like you said, hoteliers, vape makers, electric bike makers, just companies that have literally nothing to do with crypto at all, have decided, hey, our shares aren't trading very well. Let me say that I'm going to buy Bitcoin or buy other tokens like Ether or Solana. And this move has helped push their prices so high to record highs. And hundreds and hundreds of companies across the world listed in New York, in Tokyo and London have been doing this over the summer. But now there are so many of them that investors are saying, hey, this was fun for a while, but now there's too many and maybe we should sell out of this.

8:16And why is this happening? Just walk us through how this sort of strategy works exactly. So this comes in the backdrop of the U.S. this year under President Donald Trump has been very friendly towards crypto. the price of Bitcoin has hit record highs this year. And so companies whose share prices haven't been doing so great have turned to crypto to sort of save them. And by buying Bitcoin and by buying other tokens, it's helped send their share prices higher. Now, some of the companies are doing this quite opportunistically saying, hey, it worked for this guy, it'll work for me. And others are really devoted.

8:51They're saying, you know, Bitcoin is the future of finance. And by holding it, by holding loads and loads of tokens and raising money to buy these tokens, I'm going to sort of future-proof my business. A lot of these companies are raising debt or also selling shares in order to fund the purchases of these tokens. So is the downturn related to the price of Bitcoin, or why are investors pulling the plug on backing these companies? Mainly, it's because there's just so many of them. And investors are saying, hey, this was new and interesting maybe three, four, five months ago. But actually, now that there's so many, we need to differentiate, you know, and so not all of these companies are doing so well as investors are selling out.

9:32The price of Bitcoin is down. It's trading around 115 ,000 the last time I checked from its record high of 124 ,000. But the share price declines are much greater than that. Some of these companies are down 40, 50, 60%. And that mostly is because there was just such a rush and an absolute frenzy over the summer to do this. Niku, I know you've been talking to some top executives at these companies. What are they saying about how this trend is unfolding? Yeah, so they say ultimately bigger is better. And the bigger you are in this game, the more likely you are to succeed. I spoke to the head of the Smarter Web Company, which is the biggest London listed one of these companies.

10:14And he said that he is already eyeing up potential acquisition targets, companies whose share prices are trading lower than the amount of Bitcoin they hold. So buying the Bitcoin would be at a discount. And he's got a list and he's ready to buy one or two of these companies when the time is right. And I think that's the way that you'll see this trend develop. So is this a market strategy that we can expect to see going forward? How sustainable is this crypto treasury model? Well, the whole treasury model really relies on the belief that the price of Bitcoin and these other tokens is going to keep going up.

10:47Otherwise, why would you be raising billions to spend billions on buying these tokens. And so that, I guess, remains to be seen. Obviously, under Trump this year, the price of Bitcoin has hit record highs. But how much further it will go is something that the people running these strategies really believe it will go much, much higher. Niku Asghari is our digital markets correspondent. Thanks, Niku. Thank you. You can read more on all of these stories for free when you click the links in our show notes. This has been your daily FT News Briefing. Check back next week for the latest business news.

11:21The FT News Briefing was produced this week by Sonia Hudson, Katya Kamkova, Josh Gabbert-Doyan, Persis Love, Fiona Simon, Ethan Plotkin, and me, Victoria Craig. Our show is mixed by Alex Higgins, Blake Maples, Kelly Gary, and Kent Millitzer. We had help this week from Michael Lello, Adam Sampson, David DeSilva, and Gavin Kallman. The FT's acting co-head of audio is Topher Forges, and our theme song is by Metaphor Music.

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