U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for his highly anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a restless moment for a world worried about war, trade and artificial intelligence.
The visit occurs at a delicate moment for Trump’s presidency, as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American food and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”
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Judge blocks US sanctions against independent UN investigator over criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon has temporarily barred the Trump administration from imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, after her family had filed a lawsuit earlier this year.
Leon said the penalties the administration is pushing could be a violation of Albanese and her family members’ First Amendment amendment rights. In a lawsuit filed in February in the U.S. District Court in Washington, Albanese’s husband and minor child outlined the serious impact those sanctions have had on the family’s life and work, including the ability to access their home in the nation’s capital. The State Department had said that Albanese had engaged in a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel by urging other countries to sanction Israel over its alleged war crimes in Gaza and several U.S. companies for being “complicit” in those actions.
US military says some humanitarian aid gets to Iran
It has allowed 15 merchant vessels “supporting humanitarian aid” through a blockade of Iranian ports, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.
They include both merchant ships allowed to dock in Iranian ports as well as ships that were allowed to sail out of Iranian ports and into open waters, said Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for the command.
The social media post noted that since the blockade began on April 13, U.S. forces have redirected 67 commercial vessels and disabled four more “to ensure compliance” with the restrictions.
Immigration authorities detain former Kansas mayor who fears deportation over voting controversy
The former mayor of a conservative Kansas town is in the custody of federal immigration authorities, a possible step toward deportation.
It comes months after Joe Ceballos acknowledged he voted in elections despite not being a U.S. citizen. Ceballos was 4 when his family brought him from Mexico. The 55-year-old is now a legal permanent resident.
His lawyer says that while seeking citizenship, Ceballos admitted that he had voted — apparently not knowing his status doesn’t allow it. Immigration officials didn’t return a message seeking comment. Ceballos’ supporters were outside the immigration building in Wichita, Kansas.
“I’m extraordinarily disappointed in my government,” Jess Hoeme, his attorney, told The Associated Press.
Ceballos was twice elected mayor of Coldwater, population 700, and also served on the city council. He won a new term in November but resigned after state Attorney General Kris Kobach charged him with voting without being qualified and election perjury.
Vance says US has made headway in Iran talks
Vice President JD Vance says he thinks the U.S. is making progress in its talks with Iran over the war, but that it’s too soon to tell if it’s enough to ensure that Iran will never be able to have a nuclear weapon.
Vance was asked about the status of negotiations while taking reporters’ questions at a press conference Wednesday for his anti-fraud task force.
He said he spent “a good amount of time” on the phone with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff on Wednesday morning, as well as “a number of our friends in the Arab world.”
“I think that we are making progress,” Vance said. “The fundamental question is, do we make enough progress that we satisfy the president’s red line?”
Vance brushes off Trump’s 2028 successor comments as president joking around
The vice president says it’s “natural” for Trump to “joke around with us a little bit” over who should be his Republican successor in the 2028 election.
During a press conference for his anti-fraud task force on Wednesday, JD Vance was asked about Trump’s comments at a Monday night Rose Garden dinner where the president polled the crowd about his possible successor. Trump asked them whether Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio should be at the top of the GOP ticket.
The VP joked that it didn’t sound like Trump wanted “to have a televised competition for who would succeed him as his apprentice,” a nod to the president’s reality TV background.
He says Trump has long been fascinated by politics and it’s typical for him to “play around with the idea.”
Vance pushes back on question about Trump’s comment playing down economy as a factor in Iran negotiations
Speaking to reporters Wednesday at an event on healthcare fraud, the vice president was asked whether he agrees with Trump’s comments from a day earlier that said Americans’ financial situations are not a factor in negotiations with Iran.
“Well, I don’t think the president said that,” Vance told a reporter who paraphrased Trump’s remark. “I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said. But look, I agree with the president that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.”
Trump commented on Tuesday as he departed the White House for a summit in Beijing. He said economic issues were not a factor in negotiations, “not even a little bit.”
“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation,” Trump said. “I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
Senate confirms Trump pick Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve, following Powell
The Senate has confirmed Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The vote to confirm Warsh on Wednesday brings new leadership to the world’s most powerful central bank at a fraught moment for the global economy.
Warsh’s nomination faced uncertainty after Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina threatened to block it while the Justice Department investigated Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The Powell probe was dropped in April, allowing the Warsh confirmation to move forward.
Warsh, 56, a former top Fed official, will become chair at an unusually difficult time for the independent agency. The Fed confronts stubborn inflation, deep divisions over interest rates and renewed scrutiny from Trump over its independence.
Louisiana advances plan to eliminate majority-Black US House district after court ruling
Republican senators in Louisiana have advanced a plan to eliminate one of two majority-Black, Democratic-held congressional seats. The Senate committee vote early Wednesday follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down the state’s House map as an illegal racial gerrymander.
Committee members heard hours of testimony from Black residents and Democrats opposed to the move. Republicans chose not to target both Democratic seats.
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling weakening Voting Rights Act protections has prompted similar redistricting efforts in Southern states like Tennessee and Alabama. Those efforts are part of a broader national redistricting battle that has involved about one-third of the states. A similar attempt fizzled Tuesday in the South Carolina Senate.
Efforts to undo minority districts mark the latest phase in a 10-month national redistricting battle. It grew after Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to win more seats in the midterm elections.
US and China seek to repair damage from tariff war that sent trade into a freefall
Trump’s trade war with Beijing has sent U.S.-China trade into a freefall and forced companies on both sides of the Pacific to regroup. U.S. firms are looking for suppliers outside of China. And Chinese firms have pursued business in Europe and Southeast Asia.
The sparring goes beyond tariffs.
China has cut off purchases of U.S. soybeans and deprived U.S. manufacturers of crucial minerals and metals. The U.S. has blocked China from getting advanced computer chips.
The world’s two biggest economies have shown they can hurt each other. Now, Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are trying to stabilize the relationship during their meeting in Beijing.
Republican resistance to Iran war is growing
Senate Republicans succeeded again in blocking Democratic legislation that would halt Trump’s war with Iran, but the number of GOP senators voting against the war grew.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the war for the first time since it began at the end of February. Two other Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the war, as they had done previously.
The war powers legislation ultimately failed to advance 49-50, with Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania the only Democrat to oppose it, yet the close tally reflected growing unease with Trump’s war.
Memphis residents claim harassment, arrest and abuse by Trump-ordered Memphis Safe Task Force
Four Memphis residents say they have been harassed, arrested and physically mistreated for engaging in First Amendment protected activities by observing and recording the actions of law enforcement in their city.
A lawsuit filed on Wednesday in federal court in Tennessee targets the Memphis Safe Task Force. The task force comprises agents from 13 federal agencies that President Donald Trump ordered to the city to fight crime alongside Tennessee State Troopers and the Tennessee National Guard.
The suit asks the court to declare retaliation against the plaintiffs for observing and recording law enforcement activity unconstitutional and prohibit agents from further retaliation.
Since late September, hundreds of law enforcement personnel tied to the task force have made traffic stops, served warrants and searched for fugitives in the majority Black city of about 610,000 people. The lawsuit says the task force has conducted over 120,000 traffic stops.
Foreigners with World Cup tickets won’t have to pay bonds to enter US, Trump administration tells AP
The Trump administration is suspending a requirement that foreign visitors from certain countries pay as much as $15,000 in bonds if they are confirmed World Cup ticket holders, the State Department told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The department imposed the bond requirement for countries that it said had high rates of people overstaying their visas and other security issues as part of the administration’s broader crackdown on immigration.
The bond move is a rare easing of immigration requirements under the administration.
World Cup team players, coaches and some staff were already exempt from the bond requirement. But that didn’t apply to ordinary fans until Wednesday.
“We are waiving visa bonds for qualified fans who bought World Cup tickets” and opted in to the FIFA Pass system that allows expedited visa appointments as of April 15, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said.
A former private prison executive will become ICE’s acting leader
David Venturella will serve as the acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Trump administration says, after the agency’s current leader steps down at the end of the month.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said late Tuesday that Venturella would succeed Todd Lyons, who led the agency through much of the administration’s tumultuous crackdown on immigration. ICE did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information Wednesday.
Venturella left the Geo Group in early 2023 and has been working at ICE leading the division that oversees detention contracts, members of Congress wrote in a public letter earlier this year.
At the Geo Group, Venturella served in a number of posts, including executive vice president overseeing corporate development, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. It said he also has worked for federal contractors, including one that specializes in security clearances and background checks.
Geo has benefited from Trump’s mass deportation push, garnering big contracts to open shuttered facilities.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson says his prayers are with Trump on China visit
“The president has laid down a marker that was overdue and very important: The American people are not going to be taken advantage of any more by adversaries or allies,” Johnson, a Republican, said at a news conference in Washington.
The House speaker said his prayers are with Trump that he has a “good visit” with Xi. He said he hoped “they come forward with some favorable policies, things that will help us out, and I believe he will.”
House Democrats ask Trump to proceed with arms sales to Taiwan
Ranking members of four House committees urged President Trump in a letter Wednesday morning to proceed with the $14 billion arms sales to Taiwan and resist any effort by Beijing to “dictate” the U.S. policy toward the self-governed island.
The letter, signed by the top Democrats on House committees on foreign affairs, armed services, intelligence and the Chinese Communist Party, was released as Trump arrived in Beijing for a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Beijing strongly opposes any arms sales to Taiwan, which it sees as part of Chinese territory, while the U.S. is obliged by a domestic law to supply the island with sufficient hardware for self defense.
On Monday, Trump said he and Xi would discuss Taiwan in Beijing, raising worries that any slip by the U.S. president could undermine the U.S. commitment to the island.
Trump administration freezes new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health agencies
The Trump administration said Wednesday it’s expanding its sweeping fraud-busting initiative in federal health programs with a nationwide six-month freeze on any new Medicare enrollments by hospice and home health agencies.
The moratorium will temporarily stop all new providers in these categories from signing up for reimbursement from Medicare, the federal insurance program for older adults across the country, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a news release.
“We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. “Today we’re shutting the door on fraud-preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them.”
The move is related to efforts by Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force, set up by Republican President Donald Trump to crack down on potential misuse of public funds.
Residents in Beijing held up their phones to wait for Trump’s motorcade
As President Trump’s motorcade moved toward the Four Seasons Hotel, located near the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, residents held up their smartphones trying to capture his arrival. Security was heightened around the hotel.
On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, some users posted about his arrival. A video post by the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump walking out of the plane had more than 66,600 likes and nearly 4,000 comments in less than two hours. Under the post, a comment that read “China and the U.S. join hands to advance together and create a bright future!” drew more than 2,300 likes.
Wall Street is mixed following another discouraging inflation report and a recovery for tech stocks
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% in early trading, still near its all-time high set at the start of the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 235 points, or 0.5%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2% higher.
Gains for tech stocks helped support the market, like Micron Technology’s 4.3%. They had stumbled the day before after momentum suddenly halted for stocks riding excitement around artificial-intelligence technology.
Nvidia, the chip company that became one of the first faces of the AI boom, rose 2.4% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500. Its CEO, Jensen Huang, got an invitation to join President Trump on his trip to China, where they could discuss allowing shipments of Nvidia AI chips to the world’s second-largest economy.
Trump had personally invited Nvidia’s Huang on the China trip
A surprise appearance on the Anchorage tarmac as Air Force One refueled en route to Beijing was Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who wasn’t initially included on the manifest of corporate executives accompanying Trump to China.
The president had realized through news reports that Huang, with whom he is close, wasn’t on the trip. So he personally called the CEO on Tuesday and invited him to join, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. The person was granted anonymity to discuss a private conversation.
“CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China,” Trump said on social media as the presidential plane traveled from Anchorage to Beijing. “In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!”
— Seung Min Kim
Trump is also expected to visit the Temple of Heaven on Thursday
That’s where Chinese emperors once prayed for bumper crops.
And Trump will take part in a formal banquet Thursday.
Trump’s arrival is trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo
A video posted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump stepping out of the plane and walking down the stairs had more than 18,000 likes in less than 30 minutes.
More than 1,300 comments were made in response to the post. Some welcomed Trump to China and others wrote: “peaceful coexistence, win-win cooperation.”
The status of Taiwan will be a major topic
China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.
Trump told reporters Monday he’d be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan the U.S. administration authorized in December but hasn’t yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.
But the U.S. leader has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that’s raising questions about whether Trump could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.
At the same time, Taiwan — as the world’s leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of AI, with the U.S. importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.
Trump pauses to take in the elaborate welcome scene in Beijing
Three hundred youngsters waved miniature American and Chinese flags in front of themselves and then over their head in unison.
“Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.
Trump greeted dignitaries after deplaning, then stopped and grinned, taking in the scene.
He didn’t answer questions, instead climbing in a limo on the way to his hotel.
The president has nothing more on his public schedule until Thursday.
Following him off the plane were Trump’s son, Eric, and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as well as assorted travelers, including SpaceX chief Elon Musk.
The Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome
A red carpet was rolled out for him after Air Force One landed.
The president was to be greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; as well as the U.S. envoy to Beijing, David Perdue, according to the White House.
The welcoming ceremony includes some 300 Chinese youths, a military honor guard and a military band.
The meat of Trump’s summit in China won’t happen until Thursday
That’s when the leaders will hold bilateral talks and a formal banquet.
The Trump administration hopes to begin the process of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.
Trump arrives in Beijing ahead of meetings with Xi
Trump has touched down in Beijing for his summit with Xi Jinping.
Trump has no public events beyond his arrival on Wednesday’s schedule, but is set to meet with Xi a series of times on Thursday and Friday.
U.S. and China have “candid” exchanges in South Korea’s trade talks, CCTV says
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.
The officials led the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies in South Korea, hours before Trump’s arrival in Beijing.
CCTV said they were guided by the important consensus reached by the heads of state of both countries, and upheld the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.
Nvidia CEO is late-announced addition to Trump’s trip
The White House said Huang’s schedule hadn’t permitted his coming, but then changed, clearing the way for him to make the trip.
The last-minute addition inspired online commentary and memes on the Chinese internet.
Those including on Xiaohongshu and Weibo, where people shared manipulated images of Huang clinging to Air Force One with his bare hands.
Musk, Cook and other prominent US executives invited to join Trump on trip to China
These prominent U.S. executives from Big Tech to agriculture have been invited to join Trump on his trip to China, according to a White House official:
1. Elon Musk - CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
2. Tim Cook - CEO of Apple
3. Kelly Ortberg - Boeing CEO
4. Jensen Huang - Nvidia President and CEO
5. Larry Fink - BlackRock Chairman and CEO
6. Stephen Schwarzman - Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder
7. Brian Sikes - Cargill Chairman and CEO
8. Jane Fraser - Citi Chairman and CEO
9. Jim Anderson - Coherent CEO
10. H. Lawrence Culp - GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO
11. David Solomon - Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO
12. Jacob Thaysen - Illumina CEO
13. Michael Miebach - Mastercard CEO
14. Dina Powell McCormick - Meta President and Vice Chairman
15. Sanjay Mehrotra - Micron Chairman, President and CEO
16. Cristiano Amon - Qualcomm President and CEO
17. Ryan McInerney - Visa CEO
Soaring inflation and plummeting economy test Iran’s ability to withstand war and US blockade
Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world’s energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic’s own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington’s demands.
Iranians have been hit by spiraling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government’s monthslong shutdown of the internet.
The economic cost of the war and the U.S. naval blockade “has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University.
But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said.
The International Monetary Fund has predicted the Iranian economy will shrink by about 6 percentage points in the next year.