Trump Brings Officials, CEOs, and Family to China
Plus: The Hantavirus cruise is over. The outbreak isn't. A Waymo recall. Trump doesn't think about your money problems. A women's health reframe. And NTDS on bringing light from London to Ukraine.
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Trump arrived in China with a delegation of major players in tech, finance, and defense – including Elon Musk, Tim Cook and the heads of Boeing, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and more. He’s deal hunting, but arrived with a weaker hand than US leaders would like to admit.
China is in a much stronger position than it was during Trump’s last visit in 2017. Since then Beijing has done what Washington is still trying to do: reduce its dependence on foreign supply chains and dominate the industries of the future. The problem for the US is that many of these industries — clean energy, EVs, AI infrastructure, and advanced weapons — still depend on Chinese-controlled materials and manufacturing. That makes China less vulnerable to shocks, whether from Trump’s tariffs or global events like the Iran war.
Some analysts argue the Iran war has only strengthened China’s hand: As countries race to reduce their exposure to oil, they’re turning to China’s clean energy technology. China dominates that market, producing much of the world’s solar panels, batteries, wind capture, grid equipment, and so on.
Then there’s the rare-earth problem. China mines the majority of the minerals used in EV motors, smart phones, and AI data centers, as well as precision weapons and advanced fighter jets. Beijing controls more than 90% of the refining process needed to make them usable.
Industries are dependent on Chinese-controlled materials. This gives Xi real leverage the US can’t tariff its way out of.
In today’s newsletter: Trump wants China to open up. China wants Washington to ease up. WHO expects more hantavirus cases, as US passengers in quarantine remain asymptomatic. Trump gets his Fed chair. Prices are jumping again, and it’s not just an oil problem. Your finances aren’t on the president’s mind. The FDA chief is out. A court puts E. Jean Carroll’s victory on pause.
And in News that Doesn’t Suck: How a queue for Queen Elizabeth is helping Ukrainians survive winter.
Here Are Your Headlines
Breaking: The Trump administration on Wednesday announced it will suspend $1.3 billion in Medicaid funding for California. CMS head Dr. Mehmet Oz called it the “largest deferral we’ve ever made.” Vice President JD Vance accused California of having “not taken fraud very seriously.” Nearly 15 million Californians — well over one-third of the state’s population — are enrolled in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. The administration also announced a six-month pause on enrolling hospice and home care providers into Medicare. The moves are related to Vance’s anti-fraud task force; he claimed that “mostly blue states” aren’t taking “Medicaid fraud very seriously” and warned the administration could “turn off other resources” if states “do not aggressively prosecute Medicaid fraud.”
Red Carpet: Trump arrived in China Wednesday to pomp and ceremony, marking the start of the first visit by a US president in almost a decade. Talks, which begin in earnest Thursday, are expected to cover a wide range of issues including trade, AI, Iran, and Taiwan. Here’s what to expect.
Open Wide: Trump said his “very first request” to China’s President Xi will be to “open up” China to Western companies, particularly in tech. The US wants China to move ahead with a deal to buy US agricultural products especially soybeans and to purchase hundreds of Boeing planes. They also want China to agree to provide an ongoing supply of rare earth minerals; cooperate on limiting the export of chemicals used to make fentanyl; and to stand up a board of trade to manage differences. In turn, China wants access to AI chips from US companies like Nvidia (currently there are export controls); clarity on future tariffs; a “board of investment” to ease China’s investments in the US; and a new US position on Taiwan. Both sides will also try to build on a fragile trade truce struck in October. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the goals is “stability.” Both sides are reportedly considering cutting tariffs on billions in goods. Trump arrives with less tariff leverage than before, after the Supreme Court ruled that the emergency powers law he used does not authorize sweeping tariffs.
Who’s Who: Accompanying Trump is a long list of business leaders, senior administration officials, advisors, and family members, including Eric and Lara Trump. (A company linked to Eric and Steve Witkoff’s son is exploring a deal to build US data centers using chips made by a Chinese firm that may have ties to China’s government.) Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (despite being sanctioned by China) are all there.
We Need to Talk About Iran: Trump on Tuesday said he expects to have a “long talk” with Xi on Iran. China maintains close ties with Iran; it welcomed Iran’s foreign minister days before Trump’s arrival and buys more than 90% of Iran’s exports. The Trump administration has repeatedly pressured China to push Iran to re-open the Strait of Hormuz. Nevertheless, Trump insisted he doesn’t “need any help with Iran. We’ll win it one way or the other, peacefully or otherwise.”
Conditional Friendship: China is expected to pressure the US on Taiwan. That might include asking the US to explicitly oppose Taiwan’s independence and to slow or halt arms sales. Trump said he would discuss arm sales with Xi; a bipartisan group of lawmakers recently pushed Trump to move forward with a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which Trump has delayed for months.
Caveat: Trump’s former National Security Council director for China is “expecting more optics than substance out of the summit,” predicting “some of it will be real and most of it will be fake.” Trump has repeatedly announced massive trade deals with China to great fanfare, only for those deals to never fully materialize.
Not Over Yet: The head of the World Health Organization says to “expect more cases” of Hantavirus, because “there was a lot of interaction” among passengers on the cruise ship. He also said “there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak.” A Spanish passenger tested positive on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 11 — nine confirmed, two suspected. All known cases involve passengers or crew members on the ship.
Last Hope: A 65-year-old French woman who was on the ship is critically ill from Hantavirus. “She is on an artificial lung and a blood bypass,” explained an infectious disease specialist, “to allow her, we hope, to get through this stage.” The specialist said the patient had pre-existing conditions.
All Gone: The cruise ship has been fully evacuated. It left Spain for the Netherlands on Monday. Passengers flew home on (non-commercial) flights to over 20 different countries, where they will quarantine. The WHO chief called the operation a “triumph of solidarity.” Also, the world’s least relaxing end to a cruise.
US Update: DHS on Tuesday announced that the 16 passengers quarantining in Nebraska remain asymptomatic, including the person who tested “mildly” positive for Hantavirus. A “mildly symptomatic” passenger was taken to a hospital in Atlanta, and tested negative for Andes virus, the Hantavirus variant involved in this outbreak. The last of the 18 passengers brought back to the US is also at the Atlanta hospital, because they are a partner of and were in close contact with the symptomatic person.
Making the Best of Things: One of the people in Nebraska’s National Quarantine Unit has been vlogging the experience, which will last 42 days. He described his room, which wouldn’t seem out of place in a hotel, as “very nice.” “I already ordered a mattress pad, new pillows,” he said. “For now, my plan is to take it one day at a time.” On Tuesday, nurses brought him a treat: iced horchata with vanilla cold foam.
Warsh Is In: The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kevin Warsh as the new chair of the Federal Reserve in the most divisive confirmation vote in history. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democrat to join Republicans in voting yes. Warsh inherits a divided Fed and difficult economic and political conditions; Trump has openly called for him to cut rates, but the Fed typically raises rates when inflation is too high. (Inflation is currently higher than the Fed’s 2% target.) Outgoing Fed Chair Jerome Powell plans to return to his seat on the Fed board, the first time a chair has done so in almost eight decades. Warsh will replace Stephen Miran, who voted to cut rates at every Fed meeting since Trump appointed him to the board in September.
Ballooning: The White House says spiking prices are temporary. New economic figures tell a different story: Inflation is rising and could continue doing so for a while. Consumer prices rose 3.8% in April, the highest monthly jump in three years. Inflation exceeded wage growth for the first time in years, meaning even as paychecks grow, buying power isn’t. Wholesale inflation, technically called the Producer Price Index, rose 1.4% in April, the largest monthly increase in over four years. It’s up 6% over the last 12 months. A senior economist said the US economy “has entered a new chapter” of higher inflation. “Median American families are going to find it very challenging to adjust.”
It Goes Deeper: Energy is playing a large role in driving up inflation, but it isn’t the only factor. Excluding the cost of energy, food, and trade services, wholesale inflation still rose 4.4% over the last year. That’s the largest 12-month increase since 2023. “This goes way beyond oil,” one analyst warned. “Inflation is sticky and accelerating.”
Paying Attention: Trump on Tuesday said he doesn’t “think about Americans’ financial situation” when considering his options in Iran. “I don’t think about anybody.” That’s not great politics because Americans certainly are thinking about it. According to a new CNN poll, 55% of Americans consider the economy and cost of living the most important issue facing the country today — and 70% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy. That figure never passed 50% during his first term.
Vanished Like a Vape in the Wind: Dr. Marty Makary is out as FDA commissioner. He resigned Tuesday after weeks of pressure and reports Trump was planning to fire him. In his tumultuous 13-months in office, Makary “offended almost everyone involved in FDA issues,” the president of the National Center for Health Research said, “which is not easy to do.” The final straw seems to have been the Trump administration’s decision to approve fruit- and candy-flavored vapes. Makary opposed the decision and let it be known. “On vaccines and mifepristone, Makary rarely prioritized rigorous evidence,” one professor said. “Ironically, his one stand for high-quality science — on flavored vapes — created the friction with the White House that contributed to him losing his job.”
Bad Taste: HHS Secretary RFK Jr’s top spokesperson resigned on Wednesday in protest over the decision to allow companies to sell flavored vapes. Vape and tobacco companies stand to make billions from the new Trump administration policy Makary opposed. Critics warn the flavored vapes will entice young people, potentially addicting them to nicotine.
Fighting for the Drawing Board: Republicans in one state rejected a Trump-approved redistricting effort this week, while others pressed forward with plans to eliminate seats held by Black lawmakers.
Thinking Long: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves on Wednesday cancelled a planned special session on redistricting. The state has already held primaries and the Republican governor worried nullifying them would hand Democrats a precedent to exploit. Instead, he’s now planning to redistrict before 2028, with the aim of unseating Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the longest-serving Black lawmaker in Congress. Reeves said he is coordinating with the Trump administration on his plans.
Rule of Law: That special session was intended to redistrict the state’s judicial voting maps, used to elect the state Supreme Court. An appeals court this week voided a lower court’s order to redraw those maps to create a majority-Black district. That order was based on the section of the Voting Rights Act the US Supreme Court recently hollowed out.
Staying Firm: South Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a plan to redraw the state’s voting maps to create an additional GOP-leaning seat. Republicans hold a supermajority in the state Senate, but five resisted intense pressure — including from Trump, who said he was “watching closely” — and joined Democrats to vote against the plan. Among them: state Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, who said Trump called him personally. Massey warned the redistricting plan was “extremely risky,” in part because it could “motivate Black turnout, and there will be repercussions from that.”
Retribution: Tennessee’s Republican speaker of the House on Tuesday stripped Democratic lawmakers of all their committee assignments. He said it was punishment for protesting against the GOP’s redistricting measure, which eliminated the state’s only Black-majority, Democratic-leaning district. The new voting maps face multiple lawsuits.
Language: Democrats are calling for Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA) to resign after she agreed with a radio host who said House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) should “get [his] cotton-picking hands off of Virginia.” The conversation was about Democratic efforts to redistrict in Virginia. “That’s right,” Rep. Kiggans said. “Yes, yes to that.” She later claimed she “did not condone” the host’s language.
Keep reading to find out…
Why Trump isn’t being forced to pay E Jean Carroll (yet)
How Democrats fended off an alleged Republican plant in Nebraska’s primaries
The name change health experts hope will improve care for millions with PCOS
What caused Waymo to recall its entire fleet of self-driving cars
How a chance encounter in a funeral line has led to tens of thousands of Ukrainians getting new windows
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