Brace yourselves, because if the experts are right, the US president is about to unleash more damage on the global economy than his daft trade tariffs ever did.

That global trade war was just the warm-up act.

It would have wiped more than £25billion off the UK economy alone, had Trump not .

He was reined in by the most powerful force in global finance - the bond market.

and made their feelings known by driving US borrowing costs through the roof.

That's what forced him into a hasty trade deal with Keir Starmer, followed by a rushed agreement with China to keep goods moving.

The US couldn't afford to sustain the fight. It's already drowning in debt, a colossal $36trillion (£27trillion) and rising.

Servicing that debt now costs a staggering $1trillion a year.

That's more than the US spends on defence, Medicaid, income support, veterans' services and children's benefits - combined.

Now Trump wants to add another $5trillion to the tab, the very last thing America needs. It already has a budget deficit of 7% a year. That will only get bigger.

The fallout won't be limited to the US either.

Britons could be hit too, as global inflation will return with a vengeance, and according to one respected expert, may rocket to a scarcely believable 25%.

We've all seen what inflation can do. In October 2022, UK consumer price inflation peaked at a 40-year high 11.1%.

That was bad enough. Energy bills, food prices, mortgages - everything soared, forcing millions to choose between heating and eating.

Political unrest followed, populism surged. The Tories were toast.

Hapless Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves wouldn't stand a chance if inflation hits double digits again, let alone a mind-boggling 25%.

She's already turned a £22billion black hole into a £57billion crater. If Trump lights the fuse, it could blow the lot.

So what's he planning? His so-called "big beautiful bill" is pitched as a jobs and income booster, claiming it'll lift take-home pay by $5,000 a year.

It's a sweeping programme of tax cuts which sounds like the thing we could do with over here, but there's a catch.

The cuts could cost up to $5trillion - at a time when the US is already borrowing $2trillion a year to cover its budget deficit.

It's . Only this time, it's not limited to the UK. If Trump presses ahead, Britons will share in the pain.

And we didn't even vote for the loon.

The US has been living beyond its means for decades, borrowing freely and spending recklessly. The dollar's status as the world's reserve currency has let it get away with it - so far.

Now the consequences are closing in. Elon Musk's . America's finances are heading towards the abyss.

Harvard professor Ken Rogoff is sounding the alarm. He calls the US debt path "unsustainable" and warns that only a massive burst of inflation can bring it under control.

His prediction? Inflation could surge to 20%. Or even 25%.

Rogoff says the meltdown is written into America's DNA. "We're convinced that we're immortals, and we can just do whatever we want."

But the bond market doesn't believe in fairy tales.

If Trump pushes through his "big beautiful bill", inflation could turn ugly fast. And there's no way Britain - or anywhere else - will escape the fallout.

Maybe he will pull it off. But Trump also called his tariffs "beautiful" and look how they turned out.