U.S. President Donald Trump has wrapped up his visit to Beijing after a crucial series of meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the Iran war, trade, technology and Taiwan. The presidents claimed important progress in stabilizing U.S.-China relations even as deep differences persist between the two biggest world powers.
Taiwan remained the most important issue for China in the talks. Xi privately warned Trump that differences over the self-governed island, which Beijing claims as its own territory, could bring the U.S. and China into clashes or conflict.
Trump told reporters that he had not yet made a determination on whether a major U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan can move forward.
On Iran, Trump said Xi told him that China wants to help negotiate an end to the war and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has previously expressed hope that China would use its leverage as Iran’s biggest trading partner to prod Tehran into a deal on U.S. terms. Trump also said Xi assured him that China wouldn’t provide Iran with military equipment.
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US suspends enforcement of sanctions against independent UN investigator
The Treasury Department says it has suspended the implementation and enforcement of sanctions the Trump administration had imposed on the U.N. rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza following a court order this week.
Two days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon issued a preliminary injunction barring the administration from imposing sanctions on Francesca Albanese, Treasury said Friday that her designation “is not being implemented or enforced while this order is in effect.”
In his ruling, which came in response to a lawsuit filed by Albanese’s family earlier this year, Leon said the sanctions could be a violation of Albanese and her family members’ First Amendment rights.
The sanctions were imposed after the State Department said Albanese, who has been highly critical of Israel’s operations in Gaza, had engaged in a “campaign of political and economic warfare” against the U.S. and Israel by urging other countries to sanction Israel over alleged war crimes in Gaza and several U.S. companies for being “complicit” in those actions.
Trump says the US needs to retrieve Iran’s highly enriched uranium for ‘public relations’
The president said in an interview with Fox News Channel that Iran told him it does not have the capability to get to its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under the rubble of a facility bombed in strikes Trump ordered last year.
Trump said that was “good enough” for trying to stop Iran from using it to make a nuclear weapon and said that the U.S. is able to closely monitor if someone tried to access the site.
But, he said he still wants to go retrieve the material from Iran because, “It’s not good enough, public relations-wise. It’s important.” He also suggested there have been media reports speculating that Iran could retrieve the material.
Trump says he won’t let midterms influence what he does in Iran
The president seemed to acknowledge that the war could hurt his Republican Party in November, saying he warned “my people” that he may “screw up your numbers for a little while.”
Trump made the comment in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier that was taped before leaving China but aired Friday evening.
He said it was necessary to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“I’m not going to let the election determine what’s going to happen with respect to Iran because they cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Trump says ‘everybody agrees’ higher gas prices are worth stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon
Trump defended the statement he made before leaving for China that economic considerations would not go into any peace settlement with Iran, saying the sole goal was to prevent the country from getting a nuclear weapon.
“When people hear me say it, everybody agrees,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, saying that higher gasoline prices were just “short-term pain.”
Trump had responded to a reporter’s question on Tuesday outside the White House by saying, “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
He told Baier that the question that prompted the earlier response was “fake.”
Supreme Court rejects Virginia’s bid to restore congressional map favoring Democrats
The map would have given Democrats a chance to pick up four seats in the closely divided U.S. House of Representatives.
The court’s order is the latest twist in the nation’s mid-decade redistricting competition. It was kicked off last year by Trump urging Republican-controlled states to redraw their lines and was supercharged by a recent Supreme Court ruling severely weakening the Voting Rights Act that opened up even more winnable seats for the GOP.
In recent days, the justices have sided with Republicans in Alabama and Louisiana who hope to redo their congressional maps to produce more GOP-leaning seats following the court’s voting rights decision.
But the Virginia situation was different, stemming from a 4-3 ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court that struck down a constitutional amendment voters narrowly passed last month.
The state court found that the Democratic-controlled legislature improperly began the process of placing the amendment on the ballot after early voting had begun in Virginia’s general election last fall.
Air Force One lands outside Washington
Trump is back in Washington after his whirlwind trip to China.
Air Force One touched down at Joint Base Andrews a little before 6:30 p.m. EDT, nearly 16 hours after departing from Beijing. The journey included a fuel stop in Anchorage, Alaska.
Trump says China doesn’t want Taiwan to ‘go independent’
The president in an interview that aired Friday evening on Fox News Channel appeared to downplay the threat that China may use force to reunite Taiwan, a self-governing island, with the mainland.
“It’s not a takeover. They just don’t want to see this place — we’ll call it a place because nobody knows how to define it — but they don’t want to see it go independent,” Trump said.
He said that he didn’t think China would do anything if things remained status quo. But he said if the country did, “they probably would do something pretty harsh, and then they would be met harshly and bad things will happen.”
Trump also suggested Xi would hold off on making any aggressive moves on Taiwan while he remains in the White House. That echoes comments he has made about the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel and Russia’s war with Ukraine, declaring neither would have happened if he was in office at the time.
“I don’t think they’ll do anything when I’m here. When I’m not here. I think they might, to be honest with you,” Trump said.
Colorado governor commutes sentence of former elections clerk
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has commuted the sentence of election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters following pressure from Trump, the latest instance of the president using his powers to reward those who echoed his baseless claims of mass fraud as the cause of his 2020 loss.
Trump has championed the case of Peters, a 70-year-old former county clerk who was sentenced to nine years behind bars after being convicted in a scheme to make a copy of her county’s election computer system. She gets released June 1.
In April, a Colorado appeals court ordered Peters to be resentenced because it said the judge who sent her to prison wrongly punished her for speaking out about election fraud, a decision praised by Polis. The court upheld her convictions, though.
Peters has been serving her sentence at a prison in Pueblo after being convicted in 2024 by jurors in Mesa County, a Republican stronghold that supported Trump.
Hegseth will attend USS Gerald R. Ford homecoming
The defense secretary will meet the world’s largest aircraft carrier as it returns from an 11-month deployment on Saturday, the Pentagon said.
The Ford’s 326 days at sea will make its deployment the longest for an aircraft carrier in the last 50 years and third longest since the Vietnam War, according to data compiled by USNI News, a news outlet run by the U.S. Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.
The only longer ones were the 1973 deployment of USS Midway at 332 days and the 1965 deployment of USS Coral Sea at 329 days.
The Ford took part in the military operation to capture then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Then it saw more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated. While in the Red Sea it also experienced a fire that sidelined it for weeks in the Mediterranean Sea.
Washington activists question escalating surge
Free DC, one of the primary organizations that has opposed the surge of federal law enforcement and military personnel into Washington, said plans to expand the surge are wrongheaded.
“The people of D.C. don’t want anything from this corrupt and lawless regime. We want them to stay the hell away from our children, stay out of our communities, and quit their jobs,” the activist group said in a statement.
The organization’s stance came in response to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s press conference Friday announcing the additional surge of more law enforcement officers. That announcement said there would be more prosecutions, including holding some parents responsible for the juvenile curfew violations of their children.
U.S. Marshals Director Gadyaces Serralta said the number of military troops in the city would increase to 5,000 from 3,500. There were about 2,500 National Guard members in the city a month ago.
US says Israel and Lebanon agree to 45-day extension of ceasefire
It comes after two “productive” days of talks in Washington and will be followed by more negotiations June 2-3, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
A shaky truce between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon had been due to end on Sunday.
“We hope these discussions will advance lasting peace between the two countries, full recognition of each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and establishing genuine security along their shared border,” Pigott said on social media.
U.S. eyes indictment against Raul Castro amid pressure by Trump administration, sources tell AP
The Justice Department is preparing to seek an indictment against former Cuban President Raúl Castro, three people familiar with the matter tell The Associated Press.
The indictment would require approval by a grand jury. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. One of the people said the potential indictment is connected to Castro’s alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of planes operated by the Miami exile group.
Prosecutors in Miami have been building cases against senior Cuban officials amid renewed pressure from south Florida Republicans and a pledge earlier this year by President Donald Trump to orchestrate a “friendly takeover” of the communist-run island.
Second day of Israel-Lebanon talks underway in Washington as ceasefire end looms
The State Department says the second and final of two days of talks between Israel and Lebanon are underway in Washington ahead of the weekend expiration of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
US halts Army deployment to Poland as part of troop reduction in Europe, AP sources say
The Pentagon is drawing down thousands of troops in Europe by stopping units from deploying to Poland and Germany as opposed to yanking those already stationed there.
Several U.S. officials confirmed that 4,000 troops from an Army brigade are no longer en route to Poland this week. The Trump administration had previously said it was cutting U.S. forces only in Germany.
The canceled deployment came after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo directing a brigade combat team to be moved out of Europe, according to two U.S. officials who like the others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
One of them said the choice of which unit was left to military leaders. The memo also led to the cancellation of an upcoming deployment to Germany of a battalion trained in firing long-range rockets and missiles, the two officials said.
Some congressional Republicans watch with worry Trump’s deliberations on Taiwan arms sale
Lawmakers who have supported Taiwan’s efforts to build up its military defenses say that the decision to follow through with the sale of $11 billion in arms for the island should be an easy one for the president.
“We have to support Taiwan, just like we have to support Ukraine,” said Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican. “These are the fortresses of democracy and they’re on the front lines and we have to protect and defend them.”
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas said he was not surprised that Chinese President Xi Jinping had come out with an aggressive posture on Taiwan.
“We’ve got to arm Taiwan so they can defend themselves for deterrence,” McCaul said.
Vance honors fallen officers during police week
The vice president was speaking at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service at the U.S. Capitol.
During his remarks, Vance praised the sacrifices of police officers who were killed in the line of duty, along with their families and loved ones.
“We love you, we’re thankful for you,” Vance said. “We’re sorry for what you sacrificed but we will never forget what your officer laid down.”
Vance underscored the law-and-order policies of the Trump administration and said society’s attitude toward law enforcement has now changed.
“We shifted attitudes across our society when it comes to dealing with and most importantly, honoring our law enforcement community,” he said. “We stopped handcuffing the police and started handcuffing more violent criminals.”
The vice president spoke while Trump was returning to Washington from Beijing.
Federal officials announce summertime ’law enforcement surge in Washington, DC
The Justice Department has announced a surge of law enforcement in the nation’s capital this summer timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
Officials made the announcement at a news conference at the Justice Department headquarters on Friday, saying there would be extra personnel on city streets and additional resources such as drones.
Congressman says Poland was ‘blindsided’ by cancelled troop deployment
“It’s an embarrassment to our country what we just did to Poland,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said during Friday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing.
“They called me yesterday. They did not know. They were blindsided. These are some of our best allies, and they had no idea,” Bacon said. “They still don’t know what the plan is.”
Bacon said the committee needs to hold Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accountable for the decision.
“It’s wrong,” Bacon said.
Congressman criticizes abruptness of decision to cancel troop deployment to Poland
Speaking Friday during the House Armed Services Committee hearing, Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia noted how advanced elements of an Army brigade were already overseas and equipment was in transit.
Scott pressed Army leaders on when the cancellation was made. Army Secretery Dan Driscoll and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s chief of staff, said discussions occurred over the last two weeks while the decision was made in the last couple days.
Scott questioned the truth behind a Pentagon statement that it was not a last-minute, unexpected decision. Driscoll said the decision was not unusual because discussions over troop deployments are happening throughout the year.
“These are major decisions that appear to many of the members of this committee to be last-minute decisions,” Scott said.
Justice Department to seek death penalty for man charged with killing 2 Israeli Embassy staffers
Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they left an event at a Jewish museum last May, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.
Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” during the shooting and later told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
The charges against Rodriguez include a hate crime resulting in death. His indictment also includes notice of special findings, which allows prosecutors to pursue the death penalty.
The hate crimes charges mean prosecutors will have to prove that Rodriguez was motivated by antisemitism when he opened fire on Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple who were about to become engaged. Milgrim was a U.S. citizen. Lischinsky was an Israeli citizen working in the U.S.
Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen ending reelection campaign after redraw of his Memphis district
His career was upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s Supreme Court decision.
Earlier this month, Republicans in Tennessee enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections.
“I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me,” Cohen told reporters in his Washington, D.C. office.
Cohen is challenging the state’s redistricting effort in court and said he would reenter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district.
Texas high court rejects removal of Democratic lawmakers who led quorum break over redistricting
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers who briefly fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Trump had vacated their office.
The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.
Abbott had argued in a lawsuit filed directly to the state’s highest civil court that state Rep. Gene Wu, the leader of the House Democratic caucus, and others had effectively abandoned their office.
China says two sides to set up trade and investment boards to address ag goods trade and tariffs
The two countries agreed to establish boards on trade and on investments to address each other’s concerns on agricultural goods’ market access and to promote expanded trade under a framework of reciprocal tariff reductions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
The two sides have yet to announce any concrete trade deals, but the boards are expected to serve as a channel of communications to address economic and trade issues.
Wang said the economic and trade teams from the two sides have reached results that are “overall balanced and positive.”
l mulling US arms sale to Taiwan
President Donald Trump says he’s not yet made a determination on whether a major U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan can move forward, following his three-day visit to China.
Speaking to reporters as he flew back on Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he’d not decided on the sale, but added, “I will make a determination.”
The Trump administration has authorized the sale but it has yet to move forward. China opposes the deal and has suggested that Washington’s relationship with the self-governing island is the key factor in China-U.S. relations.
