Donald Trump likes to claim that the US is always winning. But when it comes to the business of dealmaking, there is no dispute.
The record-breaking boom in global mergers and acquisitions has extended into the first half of 2019, yet unlike the past five years, bankers in Europe and Asia have been left as envious observers while the US takes a dominant role.
Ambitious deals by large companies ranging from drugmaker AbbVie to defence contractor United Technologies, to oil group Occidental Petroleum, have driven US activity. Buoyant stock markets and cheap financing in the debt markets have helped oil the wheels of a record first half in which $1.1tn worth of US corporate takeovers have been struck.