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Trump to head to China for high-stakes talks with Xi – US politics live | Trump administration
Trump heads to China for high-stakes talks with Xi
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
Donald Trump is heading to Beijing for high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as they seek to maintain a tentative trade truce while navigating Iran, Taiwan and dominance over global supply chains.
The Iran conflict could serve as a potential source of tension during talks. The US president has sought help from China, a close ally of Iran and the world’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, to convince Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and end the war. Trump’s first visit to China in nearly nine years had been delayed in the hopes that the US-Israeli war against Iran would be over, and it comes a week after Beijing flaunted its close ties with Tehran by hosting the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.
For China’s assistance, Xi will probably want something in return, and on top of his list is Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory. Analysts say China wants the US to declare opposition to Taiwanese sovereignty and delay, or ultimately limit, arms sales to the island. Trump said yesterday that Washington’s longstanding support for Taiwan’s defence would be on his agenda for the Beijing summit. “President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion,” he told reporters. “That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about.”
The two leaders’ last meeting in October paused a flurry of tit-for-tat trade tariffs in 2025. In February last year, Trump imposed 20% tariffs on China after accusing it of allowing the influx of the drug fentanyl into the US. China responded in kind, slapping tariffs of 15% on coals and liquefied natural gas imported from the US and 10% on oil and agricultural machines.
Trump is scheduled to land in the Chinese capital tomorrow night for the two-day summit. Alongside bilateral meetings, his schedule includes a tour of the Temple of Heaven, a state dinner on Thursday night and tea between the two leaders on Friday before he departs, according to reports.
Key events
Backlash grows after GOP congresswoman agrees with radio host’s comments about Hakeem Jeffries
Backlash continues to grow after Representative Jen Kiggans, a Republican, agreed with a conservative talkshow host’s offensive comments on air.
During Monday’s episode of “Richmond’s Morning News”, Rich Herrera said that House minority speaker Hakeem Jeffries, the first Black American to lead a party in Congress, should “get your cotton-picking hands off of Virginia”.
In response, Kiggans said: “That’s right, ditto”.
Following a deluge of calls to resign from national and state Democrats, the lawmaker, who represents Virginia’s second district, distanced herself from Herrera’s comments. “The radio host should not have used that language and I do not – and did not – condone it. It was obvious to anyone listening that I was agreeing Hakeem Jeffries should stay out of Virginia,” Kiggans later said in a statement.
Christie Stephenson, a spokesperson for Hakeem Jeffries, said that Kiggans had her chance “to disavow the vile, racist and dehumanizing comments” but instead “she doubled down”.
“It was a stunning failure of judgment and leadership for a so-called moderate Member of Congress representing a large, vibrant African American community in Virginia,” Stephenson added.
Virginia Democrats on Monday asked the US supreme court to revive the congressional map designed to boost their party’s chances in November’s midterm elections. This comes after the state supreme court last week rejected the voter-approved measure to amend the state’s constitution and redraw the map.
While his defense secretary testified on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump posted a stream of AI generated images on Truth Social.
The latest showed a mock-up of a fighter jet striking Iranian warships with the caption “BYE BYE, ‘Fast Boats’” while another fake image shows a US naval ship shooting down an Iranian drone and reads “Lasers: Bing, Bing GONE!!!”
Earlier the president shared more doctored pictures of his Democratic foes. One AI image showed Trump’s long-time adversary, Illinois governor JB Pritzker shovelling fast food into his mouth with a caption “JB is too busy to keep Chicago safe”. Another fake picture showed Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi steeping in a sewage filled reflecting pool in Washington DC – a likely push back against the criticism of the president’s multi million-dollar renovation of the landmark. “Dumacrats Love Sewage” the caption reads.
Yohannes Lowe
The Pentagon revealed on 29 April that the US war on Iran had cost about $25bn for roughly two months of spending. Today, when asked if there are any updated costs associated with the war, Jules Hurst III, chief financial official for the Pentagon, said:
“At the time of testimony … it was $25bn dollars. But the joint staff team and the comptroller are constantly looking at estimates and now we think it is closer to 29.”
He noted that this update is due to “repair and replacement of equipment costs and also just general operational costs to keep people in theatre”.
Hegseth then said “we will share what we can” when it is “relevant and required” after being pressed on when more “formal accounting” on the costs of the war will be shared with Congress and the defence committee.
US inflation jumps to 3.8% amid ongoing war in Iran
Gaya Gupta
US inflation jumped to 3.8% in April as conflict in the Middle East continued to drive energy prices and everyday costs for Americans.
Prices rose 3.8% over the last year, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest jump since 2023.
This is the second official measure of the consumer price index, which measures the price of a basket of goods and services, since the start of the war with Iran. In March, prices rose 3.3%, up from 2.4% in February.
Energy prices rose 3.8% in April, accounting for over 40% of the overall monthly increase. Gas prices were up 28.4%, an increase many Americans have already noticed at the pump. The national average price for a gallon of gas has been steadily increasing in the months since the US-Israel war with Iran began, and stands at more than a dollar higher than a year ago, according to data from AAA.
Representative Betty McCollum, the top Democrat on the defense appropriations committee, asked Hegseth to provide the panel with a “plan B” should Congress not authorise continuing military operations against Iran – which was required beyond 2 May (as outlined under the War Powers Act).
“We have a plan for all of that. We have a plan to escalate if necessary we have a plan to retrograde if necessary we have a plan to shift assets,” Hegseth replied. “We wouldn’t reveal what the next step may be, considering the gravity of the mission that the President undertaking to ensure that Iran never has a nuclear bomb.”
Nonetheless, McCollum asked the the defense secretary to provide the committee with plans for a potential draw down of troops by 11 June, when lawmakers markup the Pentagon spending bill.
Taz Ali
Pete Hegseth begins his speech to the House appropriations’ defence subcommittee by justifying Trump’s defence budget request of $1.5tn.
“President Trump inherited a defence industrial base that had been hollowed out by years of America last policies,” the defense secretary said.
“We are reversing this systemic decay and putting our defence industrial base back on a wartime footing.”
He added: “The $1.5tn budget will ensure the United States continues to maintain the world’s most powerful and capable military.”
Pete Hegseth testifies on Capitol Hill
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth is on Capitol Hill today, answering questions from lawmakers on the House appropriations subcommittee for defense. He’ll face a grilling from members on the White House budget request for the Pentagon, which includes an increase of more than $400bn for the fiscal year 2027 – bringing the total amount to $1.5tn.
Alongside Hegseth is Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine, who is leading the military operation in Iran.
Later, the pair will then face questions from members of the subcommittee’s Senate counterpart.
Trump will begin his day in Washington in meetings, and sitting for an interview. He’ll then start his travel to China for three days of meetings. The president will first fly to Anchorage, Alaska at 2pm ET before finishing his flight to Beijing. We’ll bring you the latest lines as his journey gets under way, particularly if he stops to speak with the press.
Donald Trump has announced on Truth Social that Cuba was asking for help and “we are going to talk”, without elaborating further.
He wrote: “No Republican has ever spoken to me about Cuba, which is a failed country and only heading in one direction – down! Cuba is asking for help, and we are going to talk!!! In the meantime, I’m off to China!”
On the Iran war, Donald Trump said the ongoing fragile ceasefire was “on life support” after dismissing Tehran’s peace proposal as “totally unacceptable”.
“I would call it the weakest, right now, after reading that piece of garbage they sent us – I didn’t even finish reading it,” he told reporters in the Oval Office yesterday.
“I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says: ‘Sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.’”
Follow our Middle East live blog here for the latest updates:
Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, Blake Montgomery reports.
On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.
Whether Trump’s trip will foster a flurry of tech deals, as his Middle East visit did in May 2025, will have to be seen. But while Trump trots out the US’s best and brightest business people – products of his hands-free policy for fostering technological innovation – his administration is taking cues from China’s more stringent approach to AI. China’s laws require AI companies to submit their models to Beijing for review on both security and political sensitivity grounds. The stringent policies prohibit not only threats to national security but also the generation of content that Beijing finds objectionable.
Read more of Blake’s analysis here:
Trump heads to China for high-stakes talks with Xi
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
Donald Trump is heading to Beijing for high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as they seek to maintain a tentative trade truce while navigating Iran, Taiwan and dominance over global supply chains.
The Iran conflict could serve as a potential source of tension during talks. The US president has sought help from China, a close ally of Iran and the world’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, to convince Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and end the war. Trump’s first visit to China in nearly nine years had been delayed in the hopes that the US-Israeli war against Iran would be over, and it comes a week after Beijing flaunted its close ties with Tehran by hosting the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi.
For China’s assistance, Xi will probably want something in return, and on top of his list is Taiwan, a self-governing island that Beijing claims as part of its territory. Analysts say China wants the US to declare opposition to Taiwanese sovereignty and delay, or ultimately limit, arms sales to the island. Trump said yesterday that Washington’s longstanding support for Taiwan’s defence would be on his agenda for the Beijing summit. “President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion,” he told reporters. “That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about.”
The two leaders’ last meeting in October paused a flurry of tit-for-tat trade tariffs in 2025. In February last year, Trump imposed 20% tariffs on China after accusing it of allowing the influx of the drug fentanyl into the US. China responded in kind, slapping tariffs of 15% on coals and liquefied natural gas imported from the US and 10% on oil and agricultural machines.
Trump is scheduled to land in the Chinese capital tomorrow night for the two-day summit. Alongside bilateral meetings, his schedule includes a tour of the Temple of Heaven, a state dinner on Thursday night and tea between the two leaders on Friday before he departs, according to reports.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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