Good Thursday evening. In this edition: Trump lowers China tariffs and Xi eases rare earth restrictions after in-person meeting.
Plus, nuclear weapons, shutdown, global tariffs, Pritzker and Noem, surgeon general nominee and trick-or-treating.
Trump-Xi Meeting
President Trump hailed his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as a major success, with the two leaders essentially agreeing to a yearlong détente in their tit-for-tat trade war that had threatened the global economy.
"I guess on the scale from 0 to 10 — with 10 being the best — I would say the meeting was a 12," he told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington, DC, after a weeklong three-nation tour of Asia.
The leaders of the world's two largest economies met for about 90 minutes in Busan, South Korea, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
The U.S. agreed to reduce tariffs on China while Beijing agreed to lift export restrictions on its rare earth elements and resume large-scale purchases of American soybeans.
The president said his Chinese counterpart agreed to take stronger action to stop the flow of precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production.
In exchange, the U.S. will cut its fentanyl-related tariffs to 10% from 20% and shelve a planned 100% duty on Chinese imports that had been set to take effect Nov. 1.
Overall, the combined tariffs on Chinese goods will fall to 47% from 57%.
Beijing also agreed to a one-year suspension of its export controls on rare earth metals — a sector China dominates and that is essential to advanced manufacturing industries.
"There's no roadblock at all on rare earth. That, hopefully, will disappear from our vocabulary for a while," the president said. "It's a one-year deal that will, I think, be very routinely extended as time goes by."
The two leaders also discussed computer chip exports and President Trump said Chinese officials will hold follow-up talks with Nvidia and other U.S. tech firms.
However, he said there was no discussion about Nvidia's super-advanced Blackwell chips. "We're not talking about the Blackwell. That just came out yesterday," he told reporters.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later said China agreed to purchase 25 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans annually for the next three years.
U.S. soybean exports to China had come to a standstill during the monthslong trade dispute.
President Trump added that a broader U.S.–China trade deal could be signed "pretty soon," and that he plans to travel to China in April for further talks with President Xi.
The Chinese leader also agreed to visit the U.S. further down the line.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) slammed the outcome of the meeting, calling it a "total dud" and declaring the president had "folded to China."
"This so-called deal has left us no better off than we were before Donald Trump's trade war. If anything, things are worse," he said on the floor. "Prices have gone up and China has agreed to nothing of substance that will improve trade between our nations."
President Trump fired back on social media, calling the Democratic leader's comments "almost treasonous."
"Worked really hard, 24/7, took in Trillions of Dollars, and Chuck Schumer said trip was 'a total dud,' even though he knows it was a spectacular success. Words like that are almost treasonous!!!" he wrote on Truth Social.
President Trumpsaid the U.S. will restart nuclear weapons testing "on an equal basis" with other countries after a more than three-decade hiatus. The last nuclear weapons test in the U.S. was held in 1992, before President George H.W. Bush imposed a moratorium on them at the conclusion of the Cold War. "We've halted many years ago, but with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also," President Trump said. He dismissed concerns the move could reignite a nuclear arms race. "I think we have it pretty well locked up," he said, adding that he would "like to see a denuclearization."
The Senateadjourned for the week without holding a 14th vote on the House-passed stopgap measure, meaning the shutdown will almost certainly break the record for the longest in U.S. history. Senators next return on Monday, when the shutdown will be in its 34th day, one shy of the 35-day record set during President Trump's first term. A federal judge in Boston is weighing whether to block the Trump administration from shutting off SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps, which are set to run out of funding for the first time in history on Saturday.
Before leaving town, senators voted51–47 to end the national emergency declared by President Trump on April 2 to impose his global reciprocal tariffs. Four Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (ME), Mitch McConnell (KY), Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Rand Paul (KY) — joined all Democrats in favor. It marked the third resolution in three days rejecting the president's tariffs, following votes to end levies on Brazil and Canada. All three resolutions now head to the House, which voted along party lines in September to block any floor votes on repealing President Trump's tariffs until Jan. 31.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) called on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to pause all federal immigration operations in Chicago over the Halloween weekend, calling it a matter of "basic human decency." Secretary Noem rejected the "shameful" request. "We're absolutely not willing to put on pause any work that we will do to keep communities safe," she told reporters.
Dr. Casey Means's confirmation hearing to be U.S. surgeon general was postponed after she went into labor with her first child. She was scheduled to appear virtually before the Senate Health Committee. President Trump nominated the 38-year-old doctor, author and entrepreneur for the post in May after his previous nominee, Janette Nesheiwat, withdrew from consideration following reporting she misrepresented her background and credentials.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trumphosted trick-or-treaters on the South Lawn of the White House, an annual tradition. The first couple greeted kids and their parents as they handed out candy in front of a pumpkin-decked South Portico.
For your radar…
Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA) join host Dasha Burns on the latest episode of C-SPAN's "Ceasefire," airing Friday evening. Republican strategist Brendan Buck and Democratic strategist Anna Greenberg also join the conversation. Watch on C-SPAN at 7pm ET.
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