International

Donald Trump has threatened to pull the United States out of the World Trade Organization if it doesn’t “shape up” and treat the US better. The US president issued the threat against the international trade body during an interview with Bloomberg.

“If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Trump said, making public a proposal he has reportedly made to top aides in the past.

The treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, later dismissed the idea as “an exaggeration”, while the commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, said in July he considered talk of withdrawing from the WTO “a little premature”.