The Morning Risk Report: The Trump Intervention That Got the DOJ Off Live Nation’s Back

Good morning. The Justice Department was preparing to wage a legal battle more than a decade in the making against the world’s largest concert promoter. Then President Trump called.

Settle it, the president told a senior DOJ official, the official later told associates.

In case you missed it: The latest Risk Journal podcast delves into a new White House initiative that could allow cybersecurity firms to help the government conduct offensive operations. Also, warehouses are ramping up automation. Find new episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon.

The Justice Department and TikTok reached a $400 million settlement to resolve allegations the social-media company violated laws meant to protect the online privacy rights of children.

Under the settlement, TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and an additional $100 million after entering an order vacating a prior consent decree against its predecessor Musical.ly, the DOJ said Friday.

TikTok has also disclosed possible sanctions violations to financial regulators in the U.K. and Ireland, Risk Journal reports (free link).

When President Trump shredded U.S. climate policies last year, much of the Western world chastised him for ignoring climate change. Now, Europe, the U.K. and Canada are walking back their own environmental regulations.

The European Union has proposed to relax its landmark carbon-pricing system, and allow automakers to sell gasoline-burning cars for longer. The U.K. appears poised to allow new oil production in the North Sea—after banning exploratory drilling last year—and is reviewing targets for sales of electric vehicles. Canada dismantled an unpopular carbon tax and is backing new oil-and-gas infrastructure.

How much China cut oil imports from February to June following the start of the Iran war. The move helped contain inflation and support the global economy.

After weeks of marathon talks between U.S. and Canadian trade officials, an agreement was almost in sight.

But late Friday, the talks collapsed at the 11th hour—sending U.S.-Canada relations into a tailspin and raising the prospect that the dispute between neighbors with a nearly $900 billion-a-year trading relationship could escalate into an all-out trade war.

Shortly after 11:30 p.m. on Friday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Canada walked away from the table and had made new demands, without specifying what those were. As a result, tariffs of 50% on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, or about 5% of its U.S.-bound exports, went into force after midnight.

Iran’s top politicians said the country needs to focus on ending the war and shoring up its crippled economy, pushing back publicly against hard-liners who are taking a more defiant approach in the six-month-old conflict.

The comments by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf come as the diplomatic track remains stalled and the Trump administration has shifted to a policy of ratcheting up economic pressure via sanctions and the naval blockade of Iran’s ports.

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