Hi Global Recap readers,
Normally, if a state leader’s DMs were leaked, it would be a major security breach, right?
But what if the recipient leaked them himself?
And what if that recipient were the President of the United States?
I don’t think I remember a president leaking their own DMs for the public to see. 👇🏼
🇫🇷🇺🇸 FRANCE & U.S.
Trump’s 200% Wine Tariff
And DMs Leak
President Trump threatened to slam French wine and champagne with a 200% tariff after French President Emmanuel Macron's aides said he plans to skip Trump’s Gaza "Board of Peace."
On top of that, he just leaked a message Macron sent him.
Scene. Today, Trump was asked by a reporter in Miami about Macron’s reported refusal to take a seat on his "Board of Peace" tied to Gaza. Trump waved him off, pointing to Macron's unpopularity, saying that Macron would be "out of office very soon."
Leverage. Then he reached for the trade lever. Trump said that if France was "hostile," he would slap a 200% tariff on "wines and champagnes," adding, "and he’ll join," while also insisting Macron "doesn’t have to join."
Reality. Here are some points you should consider:
Some polls have Macron's disapproval rating at ~79%—the worst of all major E.U. leaders.
Macron’s current five-year term ends in May 2027, and French law bars him from running for a third term.
However, Marine Le Pen's party, which currently leads national opinion polls, is expected to win. Le Pen, however, is barred from running for office for five years due to her conviction on embezzlement—a charge her supporters allege was a weaponized judicial attack.
Leaked DMs
On Truth Social, President Trump posed a message sent to him by Macron and NATO chief Mark Rutte:
📌 Context: The “Board of Peace” is a U.S.-led international initiative intended to oversee elements of the Israel–Hamas ceasefire plan and Gaza’s postwar transition.
🇬🇧 UNITED KINGDOM
Get Ready for “Aliens”
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey.
A former Bank of England analyst says the U.K. should prep for market chaos if the U.S. confirms alien life, warning a confidence spiral could trigger a financial meltdown.
Trigger. Helen McCaw, a former Bank of England financial security analyst who worked at the central bank for a decade until 2012, sent a letter to governor Bailey, urging him to spell out contingencies for what happens if the White House ever confirms the existence of alien life.
Argument. She pointed to what she described as a multi-year U.S. process of declassifying and disclosing information about "technologically advanced non-human intelligence" linked to Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs).
Flight. A disclosure event, she warned, could provoke psychological shock with real financial consequences. She sketched two plausible market stampedes that point in opposite directions:
Classic rush to perceived safe assets like gold, other precious metals, and government bonds.
Metals lose their safe-haven status if traders decide new space-faring tech could flood the planet with supply and cheapen the whole concept of scarcity.
Echo. A recent documentary, "The Age of Disclosure," claims interviews with dozens of insiders across government, military, and intelligence. In the film, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio points to recurring incidents of objects operating over restricted nuclear sites and says: "It’s not ours."
📌 Context: UAP is the U.S. government’s current umbrella term for UFO-related reports, and periodic waves of declassification have pushed the topic into mainstream politics, forcing institutions to think about how public belief shocks can ripple through markets.
🇬🇱 GREENLAND
Trump’s Letter to Norway
Rendition of the contents of the text message President Trump sent to Norwegian PM Støre. Støre confirmed the contents on the official Norwegian government website.
Donald Trump tied his demand for U.S. "Complete and Total Control of Greenland" to a Nobel Peace Prize ultimatum in a text message to Norway's prime minister.
Norway replied, again, that the prize is decided by an independent committee, not the government.
Message. In a note addressed to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Trump wrote that Norway had “decided not to give” him the Nobel Peace Prize, adding that he “no longer feels an obligation to think purely of Peace (…) but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”
Pushback. Støre responded with the diplomatic version of "that is not how this works," saying he has repeatedly explained to Trump that the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee, not the Norwegian government.
However, many critics have pushed back, noting that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Obama in 2009 (less than a year into his presidency) for what they argue were limited tangible accomplishments at the time.
However, the Nobel Prize website says he was awarded the prize for “advocating dialogue and cooperation” and for his “vision of a world free from nuclear weapons,” among other cited reasons.
🇮🇷 IRAN
Embarrassing for
Iranian Regime
Iranian state TV was hacked to air Reza Pahlavi’s calls to rise up.
Click for video
Iranian officials say the nationwide internet blackout could be rolled back in the coming days after a late December protest wave was crushed with lethal force.
Some are pointing to the regime's lack of technical skills in enforcing the ban, followed by an embarrassment when state TV was hacked, briefly airing exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi's calls to rise up.
Trigger. A senior Iranian parliament member said the communications shutdown may be lifted "in a few days," after authorities cut internet and international phone lines as uprising erupted in late December and were put down in days of mass violence.
Signals. NetBlocks said connectivity remained minimal nationwide but pointed to a managed "filternet" that lets some messages through, a hint authorities are testing a tighter, filtered return rather than a clean switch-on.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said security bodies would decide in the coming days, with service back "as soon as security conditions are appropriate."
Meanwhile, hardliner Hamid Rasaei argued leaders ignored Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's earlier warnings about lax control of cyberspace.
Breach. To add insult to injury, late Sunday, state TV screens appeared to be compromised, briefly showing clips of U.S. President Donald Trump and Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah, urging people to revolt.
The segment carried the on-screen line "the real news of the Iranian national revolution."
📌 Context: Iran has repeatedly restricted the internet during major unrest to disrupt coordination and limit outside visibility. This latest blackout followed protests that Reuters described as the most serious domestic upheaval since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
