A diplomatic minefield ahead of Trump’s visit with Xi Jinping in China
Vivian Ho
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to China this week to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader. It will be the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade, with the last visit being Trump in 2017. But given all that has happened so far in Trump’s second term – a trade war and then an actual war with Iran that has led to oil and gas prices skyrocketing worldwide – the mood of this visit is likely to be quite different.
While the US and China had agreed to a temporary truce in October in the trade war Trump unleashed last year, China’s response to tariffs that reached as high as 145% at one point – restricting the export of rare earths, a move that brought some factories in the US to a screeching halt – was likely an unwelcomed reality check for Trump; one that revealed China’s true economic might.
Then there’s the issue of of China’s influence with Iran, as the biggest biggest buyer of Iranian oil. The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has called on China to “step up with some diplomacy” – essentially asking for Beijing’s help in a war that Washington started – while ast the same time trade representative Jamieson Greer said Trump planned to address China’s ongoing energy purchases from Iran.
Last week, the US imposed sanctions on several China-based companies, alleging that they provided “satellite imagery to enable Iran’s military strikes against US forces in the Middle East” and enabled “efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons, as well as raw materials with applications in Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs”.
On Monday, China spoke out against these sanctions, describing them as illegal and unilateral, Reuters reported.
“We have always required Chinese enterprises to conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations, and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing.
“The pressing priority is to prevent by all means a relapse in fighting, rather than using the war to maliciously associate and smear other countries.”
More to come.
Key events
New legal action aims to head off a Trump administration plan to open up to 24m acres of federal lands to cattle grazing, which opponents characterized as a gift to big agriculture and said could cause a spike in deaths among already imperiled wolves, grizzlies, steelhead salmon and other wildlife.
The plan also calls for opening up parts of Grand Canyon national park, and other sensitive landscapes. Cattle destroy critical habitats for wildlife because they strip land bare of essential vegetation and pollute streams with feces, urine, sediment and carcasses. Meanwhile, park rangers and ranchers often kill grizzly bears and other predators who prey on cattle, despite that ranchers and the government pushed the cattle into the predators’ home range.
The degree to which livestock grazing degrades ecosystems makes it a top threat to animals and plants at risk of extinction, environmental advocates say. These issues exceed the combined impacts of logging and mining on protected species.
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) alleges in a notice of intent to sue that the Trump administration fast-tracked the plan without consulting the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which, under the Endangered Species Act, must review the plan’s impact on protected species.
“The federal grazing program is already a disaster for endangered species and the places they live,” said Andrea Zaccardi, carnivore conservation legal director at CBD. “Expanding grazing across 24m more acres will make that devastation even worse and likely drive more animals and plants to extinction.”
Read the full report:
White House press dinner shooting suspect pleads not guilty in federal court
The suspect accused of attempting to assassinate Donald Trump last month at a gala in Washington has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Cole Tomas Allen did not speak in court on Monday as his attorney entered the plea on his behalf.
The charges against him include attempted assassination of the president, assault on a federal officer and firearms offenses.
Prosecutors have accused Allen of firing a shotgun at a US Secret Service agent and storming a security checkpoint in a foiled attack at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner, where Trump had gathered with more than 2,500 members of the Washington press corps.
Congress returns to Capitol Hill as budget bill negotiations continue
US Senate and House lawmakers return to Capitol Hill this week with several agenda items. Perhaps top of that list is negotiating a $72bn budget bill to fund immigration enforcement, after two Senate committees released the legislation text last week.
A reminder, the package that includes a proposed $1bn that could go to security measures related to Trump’s $400m ballroom. While the money, can’t be used for “non-security elements”, the funding comes after the president that the East Wing project would not come at any cost to the US taxpayer.
Trump, for his part, has indicated he wanted the bill on his desk by 1 June. Republican leadership aims to pass via a process known as reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority and skirts the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
US Senate expected to confirm Kevin Warsh as next Federal Reserve chair
Lauren Aratani
The US Senate is expected to confirm Kevin Warsh this week as chair of the Federal Reserve, as Donald Trump continues his campaign to influence the world’s most important central bank.
The vote is expected to be split along party lines. Democrats criticize Warsh for being Trump’s “sock puppet” at a time when the president has pushed past the typical boundaries between the White House and the nonpartisan Fed.
A reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest developments out of the Middle East. This includes Trump’s recent rejection of Iran’s latest peace proposal, which he described as “totally unacceptable” – raising the possibility of fresh conflict.
Tehran has warned it would not hold back from retaliating against any new US strikes or permit more foreign warships in the strait of Hormuz.
Ahead of travelling to China tomorrow, Donald Trump is in Washington today.
We’re expecting to hear from the president a couple of times. First at an event for maternal healthcare in the Oval Office at 10:30am ET. Later, at 4pm ET, he’ll welcome the 2026 College National Football Champions, Indiana University, to the White House.
Donald Trump will arrive in Beijing this week knowing that Xi holds all the cards
Simon Tisdall
Like an out-of-control wrecking ball, swinging wildly back and forth, Donald Trump smashes up the international order without much thought for the consequences. Lacking coherent strategies, workable plans or consistent aims, he power-trips erratically from one fragile region, tense warzone and complex geopolitical situation to another, leaving misery, confusion and rubble in his wake. Typically, he claims a bogus victory, demands that others repair the damage and pick up the tab, then looks around for something new to break.
The president will bulldoze into another international minefield this week – the fraught standoff between China and Taiwan – when he travels to Beijing for a two-day summit with President Xi Jinping. After a string of humiliating policy implosions over Ukraine, Gaza, Nato, Greenland, and now Iran and Lebanon, needy Trump craves a diplomatic success to flaunt at home. But his hopes of vote-winning trade pacts are overshadowed by his latest war of choice. He needs Xi’s promise not to arm Iran if all-out fighting resumes – and Xi’s help keeping the strait of Hormuz open as part of a mooted framework peace deal.
The weakness of Trump’s position going into the summit is fuelling speculation that reduced support of Taiwan may be Xi’s price for playing nice.
A diplomatic minefield ahead of Trump’s visit with Xi Jinping in China
Vivian Ho
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to China this week to meet with Xi Jinping, China’s leader. It will be the first time a US president has visited China in nearly a decade, with the last visit being Trump in 2017. But given all that has happened so far in Trump’s second term – a trade war and then an actual war with Iran that has led to oil and gas prices skyrocketing worldwide – the mood of this visit is likely to be quite different.
While the US and China had agreed to a temporary truce in October in the trade war Trump unleashed last year, China’s response to tariffs that reached as high as 145% at one point – restricting the export of rare earths, a move that brought some factories in the US to a screeching halt – was likely an unwelcomed reality check for Trump; one that revealed China’s true economic might.
Then there’s the issue of of China’s influence with Iran, as the biggest biggest buyer of Iranian oil. The US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has called on China to “step up with some diplomacy” – essentially asking for Beijing’s help in a war that Washington started – while ast the same time trade representative Jamieson Greer said Trump planned to address China’s ongoing energy purchases from Iran.
Last week, the US imposed sanctions on several China-based companies, alleging that they provided “satellite imagery to enable Iran’s military strikes against US forces in the Middle East” and enabled “efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons, as well as raw materials with applications in Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs”.
On Monday, China spoke out against these sanctions, describing them as illegal and unilateral, Reuters reported.
“We have always required Chinese enterprises to conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations, and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing.
“The pressing priority is to prevent by all means a relapse in fighting, rather than using the war to maliciously associate and smear other countries.”
More to come.
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