Trump threats, demands spark 'existential crisis' at WTO

FILE PHOTO: A logo is pictured outside the World Trade Organization (WTO) headquarters next to a red traffic light in Geneva, Switzerland, October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization is scrambling to develop a plan for the biggest reform in its 23-year history after U.S. President Donald Trump brought the world's top trade court to the brink of collapse by blocking appointments of its judges and threatening to pull the United States out of the organisation.

Trump's administration has targeted the WTO, the watchdog of global commerce, as part of his wider campaign against trade arrangements he contends have cost hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs.