President Trump tells CNBC: ‘I was right about everything’

Hello, this is Leonie Kidd from London.

Welcome to the Daily Open newsletter. Another special edition is coming featuring more behind-the-scenes insights from the NATO Summit.

And that got to the heart of the matter. President Trump earlier Wednesday said the ceasefire with Iran was “over” and said he would attack the country again afterward, before downplaying the nuclear threat and denying the need for U.S. action on the ground.

But overnight, the US military launched a new attack.

“The United States is holding Iran accountable for its recent unwarranted aggression against commercial vessels and civilian crews navigating freely through vital international waterways,” Centcom said in a statement on XPost.

President Trump answered a question from CNBC during his final press conference, saying, “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen next. You’re never going to see Iran get nuclear weapons…Oil prices are like a rock right now, but they’re going to trickle up, and this situation will be over soon. I was right about everything.”

That has left markets on edge, with oil prices rising sharply in Wednesday’s trading, while stocks around the world are struggling to find direction.

Hear more from behind the scenes…

— Leonie Kidd

ANKARA, Turkey — We all know that the president of the United States has always had the ability to wreak havoc in even the most organized events.

But at this all-important NATO summit here in Ankara, he once again outdid himself and undoubtedly stole the show in terms of headlines emanating from the Turkish capital.

NATO leaders expected a violent clash over defense spending commitments. Of course they got it from Trump.

Spain in particular knew that the US president would have harsh words for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, which President Trump did when he said he wanted to cut off trade with Spain, which would be quite a deal given the $46 billion in bilateral trade between the two countries.

But the real curveball to NATO’s best-laid plans came in the form of the president’s renewed dissatisfaction with Greenland’s sovereignty and his sudden, surprising message to the world that the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran was over, effectively ending the ceasefire.

Regarding the former issue, after the president reiterated that the United States should control the territory, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told me that Denmark would defend Greenland militarily against any enemy and would invoke Article 5 of the NATO Charter if someone attacked.

And what about Iran? Now, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte immediately backed Trump, saying it was “absolutely necessary” for the US to respond strongly to the Iranian tanker attack.

So what began as a meeting designed to address President Trump’s serious and legitimate grievances about spending quickly turned into chaos as U.S. leaders targeted countries inside and outside NATO.

— Steve Sedgwick

SpaceX stock drops two days after being included in the Nasdaq 100, falling below its debut price to end at $148

SpaceX stock closed Wednesday at $148, the second day in a row below the company’s initial trading price of $150 per share.

Elon Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor was added to the Nasdaq 100 index on Tuesday, less than a month after its June 12 stock market debut. Its rapid inclusion in the Nasdaq 100 Index is also due to the exchange’s revised rules for newly listed companies becoming part of the widely watched benchmark.

Joining SpaceX also required benchmark-tracking index funds and exchange-traded funds to buy shares in the company to align with the new lineup.

— Laura Kolodny