Today in Politics, Bulletin 239. 10/30/25
… Trump looked weak and pathetic during his meeting with China’s President Xi, and accomplished virtually nothing. Xi had Trump waiting for him to arrive, standing in front of the press alone looking anxious. As Xi walked in, Trump decided not to try his usual arm-jerk move that he reserves for leaders of our allies, but he still held on for an awkward period of time again as Xi looked bored and annoyed. This exchange then ensued:
Trump: Good to see you again.
Xi: Says nothing.
Trump: We’re going to have a very successful meeting. I have no doubt.
Xi: Says nothing.
Trump: But he’s a very tough negotiator, that’s not good. (Trump turns to look at Xi with a big smile and pats him on the arm).
Xi: Doesn’t smile. Says nothing.
Trump: We know each other very well.
Xi: Says nothing.
Q - Mr. President, do you intend to sign a deal today?
Trump: Could be. I think we’ll have a great understanding. (Looks over at Xi)
Xi: Says nothing. (Looks away)
Trump: We have a great relationship. We always had a great relationship. (Looks at Xi again)
Xi: Looks away annoyed with an expression that says he thinks Trump is full of shit.
Trump: Thank you very much, everyone. (They leave).
… Trump was asked about the meeting after it was over: “They congratulated me on the tremendous success that we’ve had. He was very strong on congratulating me. Reporter: But he didn’t commit to any additional investments in the US? Trump: We didn’t really discuss it.”
… NYT: “When Xi walked out of his meeting with Trump, he projected the confidence of a powerful leader who could make Washington blink. The outcome of the talks suggested that he succeeded. By flexing China’s near monopoly on rare earths and its purchasing power over US soybeans, Xi won key concessions - a reduction in tariffs, a suspension of port fees on Chinese ships and the delay of US export controls that would have barred more Chinese firms from accessing American technology.”
… “Xi also seemed to grasp what Trump needed, a deal that he could sell as a victory at home. The outcome allowed Trump to claim a win for American farmers and companies, even though China had largely restored the status quo by agreeing to buy soybeans and to hold off on further restricting the export of rare earths.”
… “Trump pumped a fist in the air as he boarded Air Force One, then said on the plane that Xi had agreed to take more action to stop the flow of chemicals used to make fentanyl from reaching the US. He also said that China promised to purchase more US soybeans. ‘Our Farmers will be very happy!’ he posted on Truth Social afterward. ‘I would like to thank President Xi for this!’”
… Trump posted on Truth Social after: “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!”
… If you hurt Trump’s feelings it is now treason.
… And when do we get to see proof of all these trillions Trump got for us this week? Show me the money!
… Treasury Sec Scott Bessent was on Fox this morning declaring victory: “I’m gonna break the news: Chinese have agreed to buy 12 million metric tons of soybeans during this season and 25 million tons per year for the next 3 years. Our great soybean farmers who the Chinese used as political pawns - that’s off the table. They backed President Trump and they knew that he had their back.”
… The Chinese bought 27 million metric tons of soybeans from US farmers in 2024. When Joe Biden was president. They are buying 12 million now. Winning!
… Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) to Meidas: “I represent a heavily agricultural district, and let me tell you now that Trump’s attacks on farmworkers are a slow-moving catastrophe that will cause food shortages and drive up every American’s grocery costs even more.”
… Reuters: “Trump hailed the meeting with Xi as ‘amazing’ and ‘12’ on a 10-point scale, but the agreement the two leaders appears to be no more than a fragile truce in a trade war with root causes still unresolved. The framework - that includes China resuming soybean purchases, suspending its rare earths export curbs for a year, and the US lowering tariffs on China by 10% - broadly rewinds ties to the status that existed before Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ offensive triggered tit-for-tat escalation.”
… “But the deal exposes the fundamental mismatch between what Washington wants and what Beijing is willing to offer. Absent from the talks were the big issues cited by Trump as he launched his tariffs in April - China’s industrial policies, manufacturing over-capacity, and its export-led growth model.”
… Emily Kilcrease, director at the Center for a New American Security: “So what are we talking about? We are talking about de-escalation of the measures that both sides have taken since the start of the Trump admin in this kind of escalating trade war.”
… Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE): “I’m alarmed by reports Trump is considering allowing Nvidia to sell China their most advanced CHIP. It’s called the Blackwell. It’s 20 times more powerful than the CHIPS he’s recently allowed access to. The defining fight of the 21st century will be who controls AI. It would be a tragic mistake for Trump, in order to get some soybeans out of China, to sell them these critical cutting edge AI chips.”
… Trump was asked about the report that Xi will be buying chips from the US: “We discussed chips and he’s going to be talking to Nvidia and others about taking chips. I said that’s really between you and Nvidia.”
… Trump: “Trillions of dollars have come into our country over the past 4 days. Toyota is going to build plants.”
… That turned out to be a lie also. Trump claimed Toyota was going to build $10 billion in new US plants. Reuters: “Toyota did not explicitly promise a new $10 billion investment in the US, a senior executive said, a day after Trump mentioned a potential investment of that size. Toyota executive Hiroyuki Ueda told reporters that no such explicit promise was made about an investment of that size.”
… Bessent: “President Trump is promises made, promises kept on his campaign promises. And it’s gonna start flowing through to working Americans next year. Wall Street has done great.”
… Trump said during the campaign this was going to happen on Day One. Now it’s next year. But hey, at least the people on Wall Street are doing well.
… Fed Chair Jerome Powell: “A December rate cut is not a forgone conclusion. Far from it. We continue to face 2-sided risks. In the committee’s discussions at this meeting, there were strongly differing views about how to proceed.”
… Bessent responded to Powell’s statement: “I’m just not sure what they’re thinking here in terms of signaling they may not want to cut rates at the December meeting. They got a lot to answer for.”
… WSJ: “Changpeng Zhao, crypto’s richest man, flew home from a CA jail a year ago to recuperate in a secluded neighborhood of $30 million villas on a white-sand island here. Despite his freedom, all wasn’t well. Binance, Zhao’s crypto exchange—owned by a felon and shackled by US authorities—was struggling. Its new overseers were turning the screws to eliminate the practices that had made it a giant money-laundering mill. Binance’s top legal staff were certain the company was doomed.”
… “Then Trump’s surging presidential campaign presented an opportunity. Around the time of the election, Zhao’s reps began discussions with allies of Trump, saying they wanted to find a solution to Binance’s legal troubles in the US and offering a deal with a Trump family business. Once Trump won, Binance formed a high-level task force to strike a deal with the Trumps’ nascent cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, that Binance could leverage into clemency for Zhao.”
… “This spring, Binance took steps that catapulted the Trump family venture’s new stablecoin product, enhancing its credibility and pushing its market capitalization up from $127 million to over $2.1 billion. Trump granted Zhao a presidential pardon last week, likely paving the way for the world’s largest crypto-trading platform to return to the US, from where it was banned after the company pleaded guilty in 2023 to violating anti-money-laundering rules.”
… “At the time, the govt sanctioned Iranian crypto exchanges, Russian drug-traffickers, Hamas militants and other criminal groups to move billions of dollars through the exchange. The pardon marks the most distinct instance yet of Trump using the powers of his office to benefit someone at the center of deals that have enriched his family.”
… Trump posted on Truth Social today that Joe Biden should be locked up: “He is a CRIMINAL AND SHOULD BE IN JAIL. A MAJOR LOWLIFE AND FAILURE. An ugly person, both inside and out! I beat him badly.”
… Trump announced that the US will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in 33 years: “The US has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office. Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Dept of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
… Nuclear proliferation expert Tom Nichols: “Nothing in here is correct. Russia’s stockpile is larger than ours, by a small margin. Trump did not create a larger stockpile by ‘updating’ in his first term. No nation except North Korea has tested nuclear weapons since the 1990s.”
… Reporter: “Why did you post about nuclear testing? What prompted you to do that? Trump: It had to do with others. They all seem to be nuclear testing. Reporter: Russia? Trump: We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing—halted it many years ago. With others doing testing, I think it’s appropriate that we do testing also. Reporter: Where? When? Trump: It will be announced. We have testing sites.”
… WSJ: “The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to create ‘quick reaction’ forces in every state and territory by Jan that are trained and equipped to respond to riots and civil unrest within the US. Trump directed Pete Hegseth in Aug to set up the specialized units for responding to civil unrest. The memos were sent to state Guard organizations.”
… Q: “What did you mean last night when you said you were prepared to send ‘more than the National Guard’ into American cities? Trump: Sure, I’d do that. As you know I’m allowed to do that. Q: Do you mean other branches of the military you’d send in? Trump: If I want to enact a certain act, I’m allowed to do it. I’d be allowed to do whatever I want. The courts wouldn’t get involved. Nobody would get involved. And I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines - I could send anybody I wanted.”
… HuffPost: Sen. Mark Warner, top Dem on Intel, says Trump admin kept Democrats out of a briefing on US military strikes: “Shutting Democrats out of a briefing on US military strikes and withholding the legal justification for those strikes from half the Senate is indefensible and dangerous. The admin must immediately provide to Democrats the same briefing and the OLC opinion justifying these strikes, as Rubio personally promised me that he would in a face-to-face meeting on Capitol Hill just last week.”
… Warner: “This partisan stunt is a slap in the face to Congress’ war powers responsibilities and to the men and women who serve this country. It also sets a reckless and deeply troubling precedent.”
… NBC: “Sen. Mike Rounds, who was at the GOP-only Intel briefing on Venezuela boat strikes, tells us he has communicated to the Trump admin that those type of briefings should be bipartisan and called it ‘unfortunate’ Dems weren’t there.”
… Democrats finally got a briefing from Pentagon officials on it this afternoon. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-CA) to CNN after the briefing: “They said that they do not need to positively identify individuals on the vessel to do the strikes. The reason why they could not actually hold or try the individuals that survived one of the attacks is because they could not satisfy the evidentiary burden.”
… Roger Stone on Steve Bannon’s plan for Trump to run again: “The 22nd Amendment to US Constitution makes it impossible for Trump to have another term. Steve Bannon, who knows little about American politics, does know that this. This is an attempt by a slovenly buffoon and Jeffrey Epstein associate to get clicks. If he does have a ‘plan’ it must be illegal like his last one. I urge readers to send him a bar of soap. He desperately needs a bath.”
… Roger believes that the unnamed FBI informant against him who provided the info that led to his indictment was Steve Bannon. Roger is probably right. He has hated him for years because of it.
… JD Vance was the headliner as Erika Kirk tries to keep her late husband’s Turning Point USA org going with an event at Univ. of MS. He was asked if his wife will convert someday from Hindu to Christian: “Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved in by the church. Yeah, I honestly, I do wish that because I believe in the Christian gospel. And I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way.”
… Conservative journalist Pedro Gonzalez: “Vance cannot speak openly about his wife’s faith anymore because he is afraid that it’ll hurt him with a certain part of the GOP in 2028. So now he has to deflect, divert, obfuscate, lie and sound like a hot take podcaster. Completely shameless and pathetic person.”
… Political commentator Ally Sammarco: “I’m sorry, they have been married for 11 years and he is somehow still hoping she will change religions? And saying it in public? If I’m her, I’m PISSED.”
Yesterday was my podcast Uncovered where I did a deep dive into the top stories of the week and I forgot to send out a column about it. You can find it here if you wanted to check it out.
I am going to continue to amplify stories in this column that I think are extremely important which simply do not get talked about nearly enough or at all on TV news or broadly across mainstream media. There is a lot of good investigative reporters out there doing great work, and I am determined to find it and put it here for you even if the TV talking heads don’t consider their work that important.
… Trump supporter: “What if a complete tyrant gets into office and abuses the use of deploying the National Guard? Vance: Here’s something I want every conservative to remember — it’s an important part of my entire political philosophy — we cannot be afraid to do something because the left might do it in the future. The left is already