By STAN CHOE

NEW YORK (AP) — When it comes to stock markets around the world, this year has clearly not been “America First.”

The U.S. stock market has risen in 2025 and isn’t far from its all-time high set last week. But it’s climbed less than stock indexes in Mexico City, Paris and Hong Kong.

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The difference in performance has been so stark than an index of stocks from 22 of 23 developed economies around the world, excluding the United States, has trounced the S&P 500: a 7.5% rise through Monday versus 1.7% for Wall Street’s benchmark.

The split in performance has many causes, and if it continues, it would mark a sharp reversal following years of U.S. exceptionalism. The U.S. stock market has been the clear winner for so long among global markets in large part because the U.S. economy’s growth has been so much stronger and more stable than nearly anywhere else.

But the steep divide means many other stock markets now don’t look as pricey as Wall Street, where critics say prices for many stocks rose too quickly relative to their companies’ admittedly booming profits. And the Big Tech stocks that have accounted for more and more of the U.S. stock market as they kept soaring look particularly expensive to some.

Morgan Stanley strategist Michael Wilson said many of his clients in recent weeks have been asking if they should be focusing more outside the United States. That includes tech stocks from China, where an upstart called DeepSeek rocked the artificial-intelligence industry by saying it had developed a large language model that could compete with big U.S. rivals but at a much lower cost.

Central banks in other countries also seem much more willing to cut interest rates, a move that often tends to boost stock prices there. The European Central Bank eased rates in January, for example. A day later, the Federal Reserve in Washington said it would hold rates steady, and minutes from that meeting indicate U.S. policy makers may not move rates for a while given worries about how President Donald Trump’s tariffs and other policies could keep upward pressure on inflation.

The rise in the U.S. dollar’s value against other currencies has also helped big exporters from other countries. Some big U.S. companies, meanwhile, have already begun cutting their forecasts for upcoming profits in part because of the bite that a stronger dollar will take from their results.

At Amazon, shifting currency values erased about $900 million of its revenue during the latest quarter, which totaled $187.8 billion, for example. The tech giant said the pain will likely continue, and it forecasted an “unusually large, unfavorable impact of approximately $2.1 billion” for its revenue in the current quarter from currency shifts.

Professional investors have noticed. It’s still popular among global fund managers to bet on Apple, Nvidia and the other five Big Tech U.S. stocks that make up the group known as the “Magnificent Seven.” But the recent outperformance for stocks outside the United States may show a “peak in investor conviction of U.S. exceptionalism,” Bank of America strategist Michael Hartnett wrote in a recent BofA Global Research report.

By RAF CASERT

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Thursday pushed back hard against allegations by U.S. President Donald Trump that the 27-nation bloc was out to get the United States, and warned that it would vigorously fight any wholesale tariff of 25% on all EU products.

The tit-for-tat dispute following the comments of Trump, which were aimed at an age-old ally and its main postwar economic partner, further deepened the trans-Atlantic rift that was already widened by Trump’s warnings that Washington would drop security guarantees for its European allies.

Thursday’s EU pushback came after Trump told reporters that “the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That’s the purpose of it, and they’ve done a good job of it,” adding that it would stop immediately under his presidency.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk of Poland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, went on a counteroffensive.

“The EU wasn’t formed to screw anyone,” Tusk said in an X post. “Quite the opposite. It was formed to maintain peace, to build respect among our nations, to create free and fair trade, and to strengthen our transatlantic friendship. As simple as that.”

And Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez added fiery fuel to the debate.

“We are going to defend our interests when our economies are attacked with tariffs that are completely unjustified and represent a veiled threat to our economic sovereignty.

“We are committed and prepared to do so,” he said in northern Spain.

The EU also warned that the moment that tariffs are announced, it would trigger tough countermeasures on iconic U.S. industries like bourbon, jeans and motorcycles.

“The European Union and its member states have been working for months and we are going to adopt measures that are proportional to the challenge. We will do so in unison,” Sánchez said.

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European Commission trade spokesman Olof Gill also said that the EU would stand up to the Trump administration if tariffs are announced.

“The EU will react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade,” Gill said in a statement. “We will also protect our consumers and businesses at every turn. They expect no less from us.”

Trump said in comments late Wednesday that the United States stood ready.

“We are the pot of gold. We’re the one that everybody wants. And they can retaliate. But it cannot be a successful retaliation, because we just go cold turkey. We don’t buy any more. And if that happens, we win.”

Gill also countered Trump’s caustic comments on the inception of the EU and its development as an economic powerhouse.

“The European Union is the world’s largest free market. And it has been a boon for the United States,” he said, adding that the EU has “facilitated trade, reduced costs for U.S. exporters, and harmonized standards and regulations,” which makes it easier for U.S. exporters.

The EU estimates that the trade volume between both sides stands at about $1.5 trillion, representing around 30% of global trade. Trump has complained about a trade deficit, but while the bloc has a substantial export surplus in goods, the EU says that is partly offset by the U.S. surplus in the trade of services.

The EU says that trade in goods reached 851 billion euros ($878 billion) in 2023, with a trade surplus of 156 billion euros ($161 billion) for the EU. Trade in services was worth 688 billion euros ($710 billion) with a trade deficit of 104 billion euros ($107 billion) for the EU.

The figures are so big that it remained essential to avoid a trade war, the EU has said.

“We should work together to preserve these opportunities for our people and businesses. Not against each other,” Gill said. “Europe stands for dialogue, openness and reciprocity. We’re ready to partner if you play by the rules.”

Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

A week after deadlocking around requested zoning variances to build four single-story buildings at Highland Bridge, the St. Paul City Council has chosen to revisit the issue at their next meeting.

Council President Rebecca Noecker said after conferring with the city attorney’s office, she gained new insight into the impact of the council’s 3-3 vote.

The Ryan Cos. had appealed a negative decision of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals, which called the proposed buildings too short under existing zoning and voted in January to deny the company’s variance requests related to building height and floor-area ratios.

Following a public hearing and council discussion, Council Member Saura Jost made the motion to grant the company’s appeal on Feb. 19, but her motion failed on a 3-3 tie vote.

In a brief interview Wednesday, Noecker noted, however, that no one on the council followed that vote with a motion to officially deny the appeal. In other words, unless the council takes further action, the appeal would be granted on March 17 by default, and the Ryan Cos. would be allowed to proceed with the four buildings.

At Noecker’s request, the council voted 6-0 on Wednesday to reconsider the issue and reopen the vote, which will be revisited March 5.

The seven-member council currently has six voting members, given that Ward 4 member Mitra Jalali is no longer participating in voting matters and will leave city employment on March 8.

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By MATT BROWN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — When the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. CQ Brown Jr. as Air Force chief of staff in 2020, President Donald Trump hailed a “historic day for America!” on social media and said he was ”Excited to work even more closely with Gen. Brown, who is a Patriot and Great Leader!”

Trump’s Feb. 21 social media post firing Brown, who had since risen to the military’s top uniformed officer, was comparatively reserved. The Republican president dismissed Brown, the second African American to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with five other Pentagon officials in a rare move that some critics fear pushes politics into an institution vaunted for its nonpartisanship and adherence to the Constitution.

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On Capitol Hill, the move drew little criticism from many Republican senators who had once hailed Brown’s service to the nation.

“My understanding is the president does have the ability to decide who he wants to be as chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Gen. Brown, I believe, has done an excellent job,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

“I would’ve been more than happy if the president had left him right in there. But the president has the ability and the authority to make up his own mind as to who he wants,” said Rounds, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., compared the firings to the way President Barack Obama, a Democrat, shook up military leadership as he pursued military gains in Afghanistan. He said he was still trying to understand whether Trump’s dismissals were really without precedent.

“I don’t know if I should be concerned or not, if it’s really far afield from what you normally see in transitions,” Tillis said.

Fired alongside Brown were five other top officials: Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead the Navy; Gen. James Slife, the vice chief of the Air Force; and the top judge advocate generals, who advise the military on how to legally conduct their actions, for the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

But it was Brown’s dismissal that attracted the most attention, given that Trump campaigned heavily on removing “woke” generals from the military. Brown rose to the job after a career as one of the Air Force’s top aviators, but he drew conservative ire for speaking about his experiences as a Black man in the military after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed when a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for about 9 1/2 minutes while Floyd was handcuffed.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., lambasted Brown’s firing. She said the message from the White House to rank-and-file troops is clear: “Your expertise and service is not what’s important. What’s important is your political loyalty to Donald Trump.”

Brown was only the second African American to serve as Joint Chiefs chairman, after the late Army Gen. Colin Powell. He was confirmed for the job in 2023 with significant bipartisan support, but few Republicans came to his defense after his firing.

Many Republicans emphasized that Trump has the right, as the commander-in-chief, to dismiss Brown.

“I think the president is entitled to have his team, including on the Joint Chiefs,” said Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo. “And I thought the president handled that well, thanked him for service and a distinguished career, but it’s probably time for change.”

Hawley did not specify why Brown had to be removed before his four-year tenure as chairman expired but said he expected Trump would provide some explanation.

Trump’s firings did draw some pushback, if muted. A bipartisan group of House members sent a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling for “clear, transparent and apolitical” criteria for the removal of top military officials.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, from right, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. CQ Brown gives his opening statement before the start of their meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

“An apolitical military is an essential component of our democracy and our national security,” wrote a group of six lawmakers that included Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., alongside moderate Democrats.

And Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Brown and the other officers fired had been doing a “good job.”

“It’s the president’s prerogative and I recognize that,” Collins said. “But I do not think based on the merits that the decision to fire them was warranted.”

Others cheered Trump’s dismissals. Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., a former Navy SEAL, slammed the Pentagon’s leadership under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, saying “the folks from that era just need to go away.”

“We need a clean slate at the DOD,” Van Orden said, referring to the Department of Defense.

Hegseth, who was confirmed by the Senate as defense secretary in a dramatic tie-breaking vote despite questions about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon and allegations of heavy drinking and aggressive behavior toward women, has defended Trump’s firings.

Trump said his nominee to replace Brown will be retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, whom Trump first met during a trip to Iraq. Caine is a career F-16 pilot who served on active duty and in the National Guard, notably flying above the nation’s capital in the hours after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

While Caine’s military service includes combat roles in Iraq, special operations postings and positions inside some of the Pentagon’s most classified special access programs, he lacks key assignments that are required by law to serve as Joint Chiefs chairman. Trump can waive those requirements — but no waiver was required when Brown was confirmed under Biden, as he had fulfilled all the criteria.

Caine’s lack of command roles is a gap but also gives him more independence than his predecessors, said retired Lt. Gen. Marc Sasseville, who is a friend and flew F-16s on Sept. 11 with Caine.

“He never asked for the job. Never politicked for it,” Sasseville said. “This is not how he is going to define himself.”

But Democratic senators say the firings are an ominous sign, given that Trump has long made clear his desire to involve the military in his domestic policy goals, including his crackdown on immigration.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a veteran and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called the firings a “travesty” that “will have a ripple effect throughout the military in recruiting and retaining really qualified, able men and women, because it sends a message that political kowtowing to the president is more important than ability and skill.”

Blumenthal said Republican colleagues had expressed “deep misgivings” to him but would not air those concerns publicly.

Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.