President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States will ramp up nuclear weapons testing to be on an &#8220;equal basis&#8221; to other countries’ programs.
“The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” the president said in a Truth Social <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115499324245510580">post</a>. “This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term. Because of other countries [sic] testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.”
In an accompanying video message, Trump added, “Because of the tremendous destructive power, I hated to do it, having to do with nuclear weapons, but I really had no choice. Russia is second in line, and China is a distant third, but will be even within five years.”
The president’s Wednesday announcement appears to escalate previous moves he has made to increase U.S. research and testing into nuclear weapons. It also follows earlier warnings the president has made about U.S. intelligence on Russia and China’s testing programs.
“Russia’s testing nuclear weapons,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-sounds-alarm-china-and-russia-conducting-secret-nuke-tests">said</a> during an interview with “60 Minutes” that aired over the weekend. “And China’s testing them too. You just don’t know about it.”
“Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report,” the president said. “We’re going to test, because they test and others test.”
Trump added in the interview that North Korea and Pakistan have also been testing nuclear weapons.
In response to Trump’s comments on “60 Minutes,” Russia said that it would resume nuclear weapons testing, as well. Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Russia’s Security Council on Wednesday and claimed that while Russia has abided by the international Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, he would explore testing.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of Russia&#8217;s Security Council, said in a <a href="https://x.com/MedvedevRussiaE/status/1986108067571007832">post</a> on X, “No one knows what Trump meant about ‘nuclear testing’ (he probably doesn’t himself). But he&#8217;s the president of the United States. And the consequences of such words are inescapable: Russia will be forced to assess the expediency of conducting full-fledged nuclear tests itself.”

Donald Trump

Trump Announces Major Decision On Nuclear Weapons

Trump: U.S. Will ‘Start Testing Our Nuclear Weapons’ Equal To Other Countries

China

Russia

United States

President Donald Trump said that the reason he directed the United States to conduct new nuclear weapons tests was that countries like China and Russia were secretly doing the same thing. 
Trump made the comments during a wide-ranging interview with CBS News correspondent Nora O’Donnell on “60 Minutes” that was broadcast on Sunday. Just before he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115460423936412555">posted</a> on Truth Social that he had directed the Department of War to start testing America’s nuclear weapons. 
“You have to see how they work,” Trump said of his directive. “The reason I&#8217;m saying testing is because Russia announced that they were going to be doing a test. If you notice, North Korea&#8217;s testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We&#8217;re the only country that doesn&#8217;t test, and I don&#8217;t want to be the only country that doesn&#8217;t test.”
When O’Donnell said that countries like China and Russia hadn’t done nuclear weapons testing, Trump countered that they were doing so secretly.
“Russia&#8217;s testing nuclear weapons,” Trump said. “And China&#8217;s testing them too. You just don&#8217;t know about it.”
“Russia&#8217;s testing, and China&#8217;s testing, but they don&#8217;t talk about it. You know, we&#8217;re an open society. We&#8217;re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report,” Trump said. “We&#8217;re going to test, because they test and others test.”
Trump then suggested that Russia and China may be testing their nuclear weapons underground. 
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-trump-nuclear-weapons-tests-60-minutes-beijing-response/">denied</a> that China was conducting nuclear weapons tests. She claimed that China has “upheld a self-defense nuclear strategy and abided by its commitment to suspend nuclear testing.”
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that upcoming U.S. testing would involve systems checks, not nuclear detonations.
“I think the tests we’re talking about right now are system tests,” he <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-nuclear-weapons-testing-explosions-wright-energy-a920fc10aff85243cb6895fad55b2839">said</a> during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Briefing.” “These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions.”
Wright added that the tests would include looking at “all the other parts of a nuclear weapon to make sure they deliver the appropriate geometry and they set up the nuclear explosion.”
The last time the United States detonated a nuclear weapon was in 1992. In 1996, the United States, under President Bill Clinton, signed an international agreement not to test nuclear weapons, but the Senate voted against ratifying the treaty. The last publicly reported test of a nuclear weapon was by North Korea in 2017.

U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House

Trump Sounds Alarm: China and Russia Conducting Secret Nuke Tests

Energy

Executive

North Korea

nuclear missiles

Nuclear Weapons

Politics

President Donald Trump pushed back on &#8220;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/read-full-transcript-norah-odonnell-60-minutes-interview-with-president-trump/">60 Minutes</a>&#8221; host Norah O&#8217;Donnell during an interview that aired Sunday evening, chastising her for trying to get him to publicly broadcast secret military information.
O&#8217;Donnell pressed the president on a potential conflict that could arise with China if the United States were to take action in defense of Taiwan, and then pressed even harder when Trump kept his answers on the subject as vague as possible.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 BREAKING: President Trump BODIES 60 Minutes after she begs for his secret military plans if China were to invade Taiwan
CBS: Why not say what you&#8217;ll do?!
TRUMP: &#8220;I can&#8217;t give away my secrets! I&#8217;m not somebody that tells YOU everything because you&#8217;re asking me a question!&#8221;… <a href="https://t.co/R1MwGAOX5F">pic.twitter.com/R1MwGAOX5F</a>
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1985014616447951356?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;One potential flash point with China, probably the potential flash point with China in the coming years, is over the issue of Taiwan,&#8221; O&#8217;Donnell said. &#8220;The Chinese military is encroaching on Taiwan&#8217;s sea lanes, its airspace, its cyberspace. I know you have said that Xi Jinping wouldn&#8217;t dare move militarily on Taiwan while you&#8217;re in office. But what if he does? Would you order U.S. forces to defend Taiwan?&#8221;
&#8220;You&#8217;ll find out if it happens. And he understands the answer to that,&#8221; Trump replied.
&#8220;Why not say it —&#8221; O&#8217;Donnell asked.
Trump did not answer but instead noted that when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the topic was never broached — largely, he claimed, because they already understood each other.
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&#8220;This never even came up yesterday, as a subject. He never brought it up. People were a little surprised at that. He never brought it up, because he understands it, and he understands it very well,&#8221; Trump explained. &#8220;Taiwan is a very interesting case. It&#8217;s 69 miles away from China. We&#8217;re 9,500 miles away. But that doesn&#8217;t matter. He understands — what will happen. He and I have spoken about it. But it was never even brought up during a two and a ha — or two-and-a-half-hour meeting we had yesterday.&#8221;
&#8220;Do you mind if I ask, when you say, &#8216;He understands,&#8217; why not communicate that publicly to the rest of us? What does he understand that —&#8221; O&#8217;Donnell tried again.
&#8220;Well — I don&#8217;t want to give away — I can&#8217;t give away my secrets,&#8221; Trump shot back. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to be one of these guys that tells you exactly what&#8217;s gonna happen if something happens. The other side knows, but — I&#8217;m not somebody that tells you everything because you&#8217;re asking me a question. But they understand what&#8217;s gonna happen. And — he has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, &#8216;We would never do anything while President Trump is president,&#8217; because they know the consequences.&#8221;

President Trump Departs Morristown Airport En Route To Washington, DC

‘I Can’t Give Away My Secrets’: Trump Scolds CBS Host For Asking About Taiwan And Military Plans

'I Can't Give Away My Secrets': Trump Scolds CBS Host For Asking About Taiwan And Military Plans

60 Minutes

Media

Taiwan

With growing threats to higher education and state government, Wisconsin Republicans have a plan to put the Badger State at the forefront of combating Chinese Communist Party influence.
Five Wisconsin Republicans unveiled a series of bills this week to keep CCP influence out of state government and institutions of higher education. If the legislative package is passed, national security experts say that Wisconsin would become a state leader in combating China. 
“We can all agree and should be able to rally around the fact that we should not be supporting or doing anything to support organizations, such as the Chinese Communist Party, that seek to undermine the foundational things that make America exceptional,” Senator Patrick Testin told The Daily Wire. 
The bills would block partnerships between the University of Wisconsin system and China, prevent state agencies from contracting with companies controlled by China, ban critical telecommunication companies from using equipment manufactured by foreign adversaries, crack down on transnational repression, target illegal organ harvesting, and protect genetic data from countries like China.
The lawmakers behind the legislative package include Testin, Senator Cory Tomczyk, Representative Daniel Knodl, Representative Clint Moses, and Representative Alex Dallman.
Testin said that the CCP wants “to embed themselves in every element and sector” to “essentially extend their tentacles and their influence.”
The higher education bill would ban the University of Wisconsin from entering into “a collaboration agreement, academic partnership, or research partnership with a college or university based in China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, or Qatar,” according to a draft shared with The Daily Wire. 
There would be an exception if a federal law enforcement agency performs a national security assessment. 
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A recent House <a href="https://selectcommitteeontheccp.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-investigative-report-uncovers-billions-in-taxpayer-money-used-to-fund-chinese-military-apparatus">report</a> listed over a dozen Pentagon grants to the university worth tens of millions of dollars that raised concerns over links to China. The university also has relationships with <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250929185535/https://tc.seu.edu.cn/jt_en/2017/1230/c16823a206389/page.htm">Southeast University in Nanjing</a> and <a href="https://alc.wisc.edu/2019/06/18/uw-madison-celebrates-40-year-relationship-with-nanjing-university/">Nanjing University</a>, both of which have been <a href="https://www.civitas.org.uk/content/files/The-Strategic-Dependence-of-UK-Universities-on-China-.pdf">assessed</a> to have medium to high risk in terms of Chinese defense ties. 
Another bill would stop state agencies from contracting with organizations that are headquartered in certain countries, like China, or are controlled or majority-owned by the Chinese government or the CCP. 
A third bill would prohibit “telecommunications providers from purchasing, renting, leasing, obtaining, or maintaining critical telecommunications infrastructure that includes equipment manufactured by a foreign principal of a foreign adversary.”
Another bill aims to protect the genetic data of Americans. It would ban “the use of genetic software from foreign adversaries in medical and research facilities, the storage of any human genome sequencing data within the borders of a foreign adversary.”
State Rep. Clint Moses told The Daily Wire that the intent of that legislation was to ensure that genetic data was not being used for biological warfare or other “nefarious” purposes. 
Another measure part of the package would prohibit “coverage of organ transplantation and related care under health insurance policies and the Medical Assistance program if the organ is transplanted in or originates from a country known to have participated in forced organ harvesting.”
There are between 25,000 and 50,000 people in China every year whose organs are harvested against their will, according to some estimates. 
“When you start looking at what some of these countries are doing, particularly in China, where they’re getting organs for transplant usage, obviously from inmates, prisoners,” Moses said. “I think, [Americans] would find that absolutely shocking and atrocious, because it’s a humanitarian issue. It’s a crime against humanity.”
The final bill in the package would give more teeth to law enforcement in punishing those engaging in transnational repression. Other bills aiming to prevent foreign adversaries from owning land in Wisconsin and to keep Chinese software off state devices are also working their way through the legislature. 
Michael Lucci, the founder of the national security advocacy group State Armor, said that Wisconsin would become the model in the Midwest for targeting China if all of the proposals pass. He said states need to take increasingly strong action to safeguard themselves. 
“Over time, the breadth and scale of the threat has become more apparent and it has grown. It&#8217;s become clear it&#8217;s quite large,” he told The Daily Wire. “Therefore, the American response, which is both federal and state, needs to expand and become more forceful.”

TOPSHOT-CHINA-EXPO2010

Crouching Badger, Hidden Dragon: How Wisconsin Republicans Are Fighting China

Chinese Communist Party

University of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

As history shows, nearly every civilization has progressed and evolved using some form of alcohol. But no civilization in history has ever experimented with the types of industrialized THC products Western countries are now recklessly legalizing, commercializing, and normalizing. We might pause to ask ourselves why zero Asian countries have done so and why China is so anxious <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/06/24/1238497863/chinese-marijuana-farms-new-mexico">to promote</a> this cultural suicide weapon here.
A 2023 <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01917-8/fulltext__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaIIr-JHw$">global study</a> on life expectancy showed we are back to pre-pandemic levels with one notable exception: Teens and young adults in Western countries are dying at higher rates, driven largely by suicides and substance use.
Traffic fatalities continue to be a major cause of death in young adults, which is one reason The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh has been vocal about <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mattwalsh_/video/7559991047514836237">his opposition</a> to the legalization of marijuana. In fact, a recent study of dead drivers in a major Ohio county morgue found that 42% of them tested <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/fatal-crash-report-finds-nearly-half-deadly-wrecks-tied-illegal-drug">positive for THC</a>. 
Pot apologists quickly jumped to their defense, noting that THC can be detected for up to a month after use. But the national past 30-day marijuana use rate <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/08/facts-about-marijuana/">is only 16%</a>, yet these drivers had average THC levels 5 to 10 times the state legal limits.
Some will argue, “Well, it&#8217;s no worse than alcohol.”
Marijuana use, however, is associated with <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6296897/#:~:text=Analyses%20revealed:%201)%20daily%20marijuana,marijuana%20use%20and%20negative%20consequences.">more alcohol</a> consumption, and marijuana users are <a href="https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/marijuana-smokers-five-times-more-likely-develop-alcohol-problem">five times</a> more likely to become alcoholics. It has also been reported that up to 40% of marijuana users <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/daily-marijuana-use-is-now-more-common-than-daily-alcohol-use-in-the-u-s-new-study-finds">use daily</a>, and up to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/marijuana-use-disorder__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAta8e51DO8$">30% meet criteria for addiction</a> — both far higher percentages than for drinkers. Using alcohol to excuse marijuana use or legalization is simply an exercise in lazy whataboutism.
Speaking of which, THC strongly induces suicidality even in patients who were not depressed to begin with, and state legalization has led to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.pn.2025.01.1.15__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAta6a4o0FY$">sharp increases</a> in youth suicides. Up to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/heavy-cannabis-use-linked-to-schizophrenia-especially-among-young-men/__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaHeiA8hc$">30% of schizophrenia</a> cases in young men are attributable to THC use now.
Marijuana smoke is also causing the same <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/08/health/marijuana-head-and-neck-cancer-wellness/">type of cancers</a> as tobacco smoke, while also <a href="https://www.tctmd.com/news/cannabis-use-again-tied-increased-cvd-risk-young-people">dramatically increasing</a> the risk of heart attacks and strokes in younger users. Further, as the American College of Cardiology <a href="https://www.acc.org/Latest-in-Cardiology/Journal-Scans/2025/06/04/14/21/Chronic-Marijuana-Smoking">reports</a>, THC has been shown to cause damage to major blood vessels regardless of the mechanism of ingestion.
Add to this the well-known adverse effects on <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/124806/long-term-cannabis-blunt-brains-motivation-system/">motivation</a> and <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4586361/">educational</a> achievement, and the costs of the cannabis culture to government budgets are simply staggering. One study on the costs of legalization in Colorado, for example, conservatively <a href="https://centennial.ccu.edu/briefs/marijuana-costs/">estimated</a>, “For every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization.” And that’s even at a 15% sales tax rate.
While there is simply no conservative case for the legalization of marijuana, the libertarian case suffers from serious flaws. First of all, the utopian assumption that legalization would lead to a “safe and regulated” product that would eliminate the black market has now gone 0-for-24 in our marijuana legal states. Many legal THC products are <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://viiahemp.com/collections/high-thc__;!!JA_k2roV-A!F0P_XFB6ND8ziqH2ovImdot2Tze_kgHA6TLYEc8Ifkn-grY-c9CqSJv-NPamf6v0PFrGk-6w--NkTAtaX4gqjCQ$">more potent</a> than ever before, even more than the now highly potent plant itself. The industry has defied <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VkrWO8H08Q">regulation</a>, and the black markets are <a href="https://alcoholstudies.rutgers.edu/cannabis-black-market-thrives-despite-legalization/">thriving</a>. Legalizing marijuana to eliminate the black market is like giving your dog ticks to rid it of fleas. You just double the infestation.
More importantly, substances like THC are the exception that proves the libertarian rule. Libertarianism works when people are free to act in their own best interest and, by extension, their family, community, and country. Chemicals like THC are designed to promote the opposite type of citizen. Libertarians should be the most opposed to the drug culture because it undermines the very foundation of their ideology.
The <a href="https://learnaboutsam.org/2025/06/leading-experts-warn-marijuana-rescheduling-driven-by-politics-in-stunning-jama-psychiatry-report/">politically</a> driven potential rescheduling of marijuana will only fuel this destructive industry with tax breaks and marketing privileges. Republicans should note that young male voters <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-young-men-voters-election-latinos-democrats-ff30e38698a41132cf90345fffabe579">moved to the Right</a> last November while radical Democrats were still enticing them with more weed.
Much attention has been paid to the influence of transgender ideology on the radicalization of Charlie Kirk’s assassin. But as we saw with the transgender school shooter in Minneapolis, THC may have also played a role. As discussed in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/Z1b3TYJli5A?si=vXQjsRYLTa6VQdWz&amp;t=1252">recent episode</a> of the Liz Wheeler show, a close friend of the suspected Utah assassin reported rampant drug use in his apartment and that “We’d have a mostly weekly magic night at the apartment where everyone would come drink, get high and play magic.”
Charlie Kirk gave his generation more credit than some in the GOP. Despite the criticism, he stood up to the lies of the THC industry. Republicans will never outbid Democrats in the race to the drug culture bottom. Nor should they, as <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/648821/americans-views-marijuana-effects-worsen.aspx">polls show</a> we may have already reached the bottom, with public sentiment now turning against marijuana.
Charlie knew that minds can be changed, but facts cannot. Truth and the future of this great country are worth standing for, regardless of the cost. 
Principled conservatives should do more than eulogize Charlie. They should emulate him.
* * *
Matt Poling is a physician, Medical Director of Citizens for a Safe and Healthy Texas, and Faculty Advisor for Texas A&amp;M Young Americans for Freedom. <a href="mailto:mpoling@sw.org">mpoling@sw.org</a>
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire. 
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Close-up of young adult man rolling a marijuana joint on blur background.

The High Cost Of Getting High: How Legal Weed Is Destroying A Generation

Cannabis: A Cultural Suicide Weapon

Alcohol

Cancer

Drugs

Marijuana

Mental Health

Opinion

President Donald Trump said he discussed numerous issues with Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping on Thursday, including a potential trade deal and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump and Xi spoke for about an hour and 40 minutes in South Korea, the last leg of Trump&#8217;s weeklong trip to Asia. During the summit, Trump was joined by multiple top White House officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
“Overall, I guess on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump said.
The president said that he and Xi have &#8220;come to conclusions on very many important points,&#8221; adding that a trade deal could be signed &#8220;pretty soon.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his meeting with President Xi: &#8220;I thought it was an amazing meeting&#8230; a lot of decisions were made, too — there wasn&#8217;t too much left out there, and we&#8217;ve come to conclusion on many very important points.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/cr81Yojr24">pic.twitter.com/cr81Yojr24</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983911291866538068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Here are the key points that Trump and Xi discussed:
<h3>Rare Earth Minerals</h3>
Trump secured an important win for the United States and the rest of the world on rare earth minerals, with Xi agreeing to pause export controls for one year. Trump said China&#8217;s pause could be “very routinely extended as time goes by.”
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&#8220;Now, every year we’ll renegotiate the deal, but I think the deal will go on for a long time, long beyond the year,&#8221; he said. &#8220;But all of the rare earth has been settled, and that’s for the world.”
&#8220;That roadblock is gone now,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;There&#8217;s no roadblock at all on rare earth. That will hopefully disappear from our vocabulary for a little while.&#8221;
<h3>Tariffs and Fentanyl</h3>
Trump said that tariffs on China will be slashed from 57% to 47% after Xi promised that his country would take more action to prevent fentanyl from being trafficked into the United States.
&#8220;On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow,&#8221; Trump told reporters as he flew back to the United States on Air Force One. &#8220;It&#8217;s a very complex subject because it&#8217;s used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics and things, but he&#8217;s going to work very hard on it.&#8221;
Trump added that he is hopeful that China will take &#8220;some real action.&#8221; After Xi promised to address the issue, Trump said that his 20% tariff on China that was imposed in response to fentanyl trafficking will be reduced to 10%, dropping the overall tariff rate on the communist country to 47%, &#8220;effective immediately.&#8221;
<h3>Trump Trip to China</h3>
President Trump said he will travel to China in April for continuing talks, while Xi will visit the United States &#8220;some time after that.&#8221; Trump said he expects a trade deal with China to happen &#8220;pretty soon.&#8221;
&#8220;The whole relationship is very important, and I think [the meeting] was very good,&#8221; Trump added.
<h3>Oil and Gas</h3>
While no deal was reached on China purchasing oil and gas from Alaska during the summit, Trump said he&#8217;s optimistic that an agreement will be signed in the future. The president added that Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum will meet with Chinese officials to continue oil and gas negotiations.
<h3>Computer Chips</h3>
Xi promised to discuss the potential purchase of computer chips from U.S. tech companies, such as Nvidia, according to Trump.
&#8220;I said that&#8217;s really between you and Nvidia, but we&#8217;re sort of the arbitrator or the referee,&#8221; Trump said, adding that it would be &#8220;good for us&#8221; if China bought more chips from the United States.
<h3>Ukraine-Russia War</h3>
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia &#8220;came up&#8221; during Trump&#8217;s meeting with Xi, and the two leaders &#8220;talked about it for a long time,&#8221; according to Trump. Xi has been friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and China has been accused of sending military equipment to Russia during the war.
&#8220;We&#8217;re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;We agree that the sides are locked in fighting, and sometimes you have to let them fight, I guess. But he&#8217;s going to help us, and we&#8217;re going to work together on Ukraine.&#8221;
China also buys large amounts of oil from Russia, but Trump said that topic didn&#8217;t come up during the meeting.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
&#8220;Ukraine came up very strongly. We talked about it for a long time, and we&#8217;re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,&#8221; says <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his meeting with President Xi.
&#8220;We&#8217;re going to work together on Ukraine.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/ygzOKy9Gvn">pic.twitter.com/ygzOKy9Gvn</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983915198147612876?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h3>Taiwan &#8216;Not Discussed&#8217;</h3>
Trump also said that Taiwan &#8220;never came up&#8221; during the meeting. Xi has long had his sights set on Taiwan, a vital island nation that currently manufactures around 90% of the world&#8217;s most advanced semiconductors.
&#8220;It was not discussed, actually,&#8221; he said.
<h3>Farm Products</h3>
Xi promised that China would purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added during an interview with Fox Business that China would buy 12 million metric tons of American soybeans before the end of the year and 25 million metric tons over the next three years.
Listen to Trump&#8217;s remarks below:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One, Oct. 30, 2025" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KjqKGq3-C9Q?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Donald Trump/Xi Jinping

Trump Calls Xi Summit A ’12’ Out Of 10 – Here’s What Went Down

Economy

rare earth minerals

Tariffs

trade

U.S.

Xi Jinping

President Donald Trump cut tariffs on China overnight after President Xi Jinping promised to purchase large amounts of farm products from the United States and crack down on fentanyl trafficking. 
Trump said the tariff rate on China would be reduced from 57% to 47% after a high-stakes meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea. In return, he said China promised to purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two Countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting. “We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to resolved.”
Trump added that China had agreed to “continue the flow” of rare earth minerals used in products ranging from cell phones to fighter jets. China had been looking to implement strict export controls on the minerals.
“Very significantly, China has strongly stated that they will work diligently with us to stop the flow of Fentanyl into our Country. They will help us end the Fentanyl Crisis,” Trump added on Truth Social. “China also agreed that they will begin the process of purchasing American Energy. In fact, a very large scale transaction may take place concerning the purchase of Oil and Gas from the Great State of Alaska.”
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He said that Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum would look into whether an energy deal was possible. 
Trump’s meeting with Xi, which lasted for about an hour and 40 minutes, included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, and Susie Wiles, his chief of staff. 
“Overall, I guess on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12,” Trump told reporters about the meeting, adding that he expected a trade deal to be signed “pretty soon.&#8221;
Bessent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/oct/30/donald-trump-xi-jinping-meeting-live-updates">told</a> Fox Business on Thursday morning that he expects finalization &#8220;as soon as next week.&#8221; He also said that China would purchase 25 million metric tons of soybeans over the next three years and 12 million metric tons before the end of the year.
Trump is also expected to travel back to China in April to meet with Xi.

U.S. Donald Trump Meets With China’s President Xi In South Korea

Trump Cuts Tariffs, China Opens Wallet For U.S. Agriculture

Global Politics

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to agree on lower U.S. tariff rates for action on fentanyl when the two meet on Thursday, but more could be addressed.
When the two leaders meet in South Korea at 11 a.m. Thursday morning local time, Xi is expected to promise more export controls of precursor chemicals used in fentanyl production. In return, Trump will agree to cut down a 20% fentanyl-related tariff on Chinese goods by as much as half, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/china/trump-xi-to-discuss-lowering-china-tariffs-for-fentanyl-crackdown-8094fe83?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqdZGfINai9uxsEPHGTRYpoJv9WxRyHOBhXp8ve5eSzOW0TUt9VVEDHZk_PUqJI%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69027259&amp;gaa_sig=OAkZEKsPpoXahukKgqXwAHNdGp2LE0J_ncwTmpZ38P1-QHWUrdaxvNNbri2VUW9x4USH6dDS0AkgT0N_ggztxg%3D%3D">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
During a panel discussion at the White House last week, Trump <a href="https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1981453246746017940">said</a> that in his meeting with Xi, the U.S. president would put fentanyl “right at the front of the list.” But Washington and Beijing have many points of friction that have been exacerbated by a trade war that began in Trump’s first term, and has ramped up since Trump took office again.
Trump was <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-reveals-xi-jinping-meeting-timeline-while-discussing-kim-jong-un-relations-south-korea">caught</a> on a hot mic Wednesday at a state dinner in South Korea saying that he expected the meeting with Xi to run “three to four hours.”
“We’re going to have something that&#8217;s going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us. I think we&#8217;re gonna have a — I think it&#8217;s going to be a very good meeting. I look forward to it tomorrow morning when we meet,” said Trump.
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The hours-long meeting could leave time for many issues beyond fentanyl. Here’s a few that could make talks:
Soybeans
China has placed an effective embargo on purchases of American soybeans, squeezing farmers and putting political pressure on the Trump administration to deescalate tensions over trade. China is usually the top customer for American soybean farmers, but since Beijing placed high tariffs on U.S. soybeans in May, trade has disappeared.
Instead, Chinese buyers have sourced soybeans from Argentina and Brazil, raising concerns among American farmers and agriculture interests that the U.S. has been nudged out of a major market because of the trade war.
Ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting, a Chinese state-owned company purchased about 180,000 metric tons of soybeans from the U.S., about three shiploads. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins <a href="https://x.com/SecRollins/status/1983511209333690631">celebrated</a> the purchase as a “great start” to a better system of trade and a triumph of Trump’s negotiations with Xi.
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa appeared more skeptical.
“China thinks it can move the needle at the last minute, but these small purchases are not nearly enough to address the serious threats facing the ag economy,” said Grassley in a statement, according to the <a href="https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2025/10/29/reports-china-buys-several-shiploads-of-u-s-soybeans-ahead-of-trump-trade-meeting/">Iowa Capital Dispatch</a>. “While this may be a positive sign, it’s critical that the Chinese market more fully reopens to American soybean growers soon.”
Rare Earth Minerals
China <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/business/china-rare-earth-export-controls.html">supplies</a> an estimated 90% of the world’s rare earth minerals that are used in products that range from cell phones to fighter jets. With so many high-value products dependent on a steady supply of rare earths, the White House has been limited in its ability to leverage China on trade.
During his Asia tour this week, Trump has prioritized covering the United States’ rare earth weakness through trade pacts with other countries. On Sunday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-signs-slew-of-trade-critical-minerals-deals-on-southeast-asia-tour">signed</a> trade deals with Malaysia and Thailand that in part aim to diversify U.S. supply chains for the critical minerals. On Tuesday, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/more-trump-trade-wins-u-s-and-japan-strike-rare-earth-pact-announce-strategic-investment-deal">signed</a> another deal with Japan in which the allies agreed to stockpile rare earth minerals in an effort to shore up supply chains in the case of global disruption.
Even with the trade deals, China still reserves major advantages in the supply of rare earths. China is the sole global producer of samarium, a mineral used in the production of many military technologies. Also, China is the only country that has managed to refine ultrapure dysprosium, used in the production of high-end chips.
Negotiators from Washington and Beijing have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-and-china-sketch-out-rare-earths-tariff-pause-for-trump-and-xi-to-consider">reportedly</a> come to an initial agreement on a rare earth minerals deal ahead of the Trump-Xi meeting. Under the proposed structure, the United States would pause a rise in steel tariffs and China would lift some export controls.
Detained Americans
On October 22, a group of GOP lawmakers <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/5579605-republicans-urge-trump-xi-prisoners/">sent</a> a letter to Trump calling on him to negotiate a release of Americans held in China. Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Reps. John Moolenaar of Michigan and Chris Smith of New Jersey pushed Trump to secure the release of seven detained Americans, including Ezra Jin, who was arrested earlier this month for his role leading an underground church.
Other cases argued for by the lawmakers include two Americans who they say are victims of trafficking, a lawful U.S. resident who was arrested for making artwork critical of the Chinese regime, the families of reporters for the U.S. state broadcaster Radio Free Asia, and the sister of a Uyghur human rights activist.
This includes two Americans accused of drug-smuggling who lawmakers say are victims of trafficking; a lawful permanent U.S. resident arrested for creating artwork critical of the Chinese government; the families of journalists who worked for the U.S.-government outlet, Radio Free Asia; and the sister of a Uyghur human rights activist based in the U.S.
2020 “Phase One” Trade Deal
In January 2020, the U.S. and China struck a “Phase One” <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/research/us-china-phase-one-deal-backgrounder">deal</a> in which China agreed to purchase an extra $200 billion-worth of U.S. agricultural, energy, and other goods over the next two years, as well as increase protections for intellectual property. China <a href="https://www.piie.com/research/piie-charts/us-china-phase-one-tracker-chinas-purchases-us-goods">failed</a> to meet its obligations over the course of 2020 and 2021, falling short in its purchases of U.S. goods by over 40%.
Beijing blamed the failure on the COVID-19 pandemic while the Trump administration has been quick to criticize its predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for insufficiently policing the agreement.

Donald Trump, Xi Jinping

Here’s What To Know Ahead Of Trump’s High-Stakes Meeting With Xi

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had “pretty much” finalized the details of a trade deal with South Korea that is expected to bring hundreds of billions of dollars in investments into the United States. 
Trump’s announcement came after he arrived in South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. The regional economic forum will be the last stop on Trump&#8217;s trade-focused Asia tour before he returns to the United States. 
“We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea,” Trump said. “Pretty much finalized a trade deal, and we discussed some other things having to do with national security, etc. And I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &#8220;We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea — with lots determined&#8230; We pretty much finalized a trade deal and we discussed some other things having to do with national security.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/I3KWsgAhFf">pic.twitter.com/I3KWsgAhFf</a>
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983492447146533227?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Under the terms of the agreement, South Korea is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/29/trump-announces-trade-breakthrough-with-south-korea-on-asia-trip.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to invest a total of $350 billion in the United States, including $200 billion in cash and $150 million in shipbuilding. Tariffs on cars will also be slashed from 25% to 15%, according to South Korean officials. 
Upon his arrival in South Korea, Trump was given a series of elaborate gifts by officials, including a replica golden crown and a laurel leaf medal. 
Later, during a dinner with officials, Trump spoke about the rocky relationship between North and South Korea. 
&#8220;I won&#8217;t forget the trip and we&#8217;ll be working together and you have a little bit of a cloud over your country, and we&#8217;re going to get that cloud solved. You have a neighbor that hasn&#8217;t been as nice as they could be, and I think they will be. I know Kim Jong Un very well, and I think things will work out very well.&#8221;
Trump said he was open to meeting Kim during the trip, but the North Korean dictator has so far declined to engage.
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Trump’s meeting with South Korea comes ahead of a much-anticipated Thursday meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 
“We&#8217;ve been talking a lot over the last month, and I think we&#8217;re going to have something that&#8217;s going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us. I think we&#8217;re going to have… I think it&#8217;s going to be a very good meeting. I look forward to it tomorrow morning,” Trump said. 
Trump echoed those remarks on Truth Social, saying his Asia trip would bring back trillions of dollars to the United States and that his meeting with Xi would be “great” for both nations. 
Earlier this month, Trump threatened to cancel his planned meeting with Xi after he accused China of taking “very hostile” actions on trade.

SKOREA-POLITICS-APEC

Trump’s Asia Tour Delivers: South Korea Deal ‘Pretty Much Finalized,’ China Talks Next

South Korea

Editor&#8217;s Note: This is the second installment in the five-part series “American Maoists: Warnings From The Cultural Revolution.&#8221;
In <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/license-to-kill-what-turns-normal-people-to-political-violence">Part I</a>, Xi Van Fleet and Sasha Gong — both activists, scholars, and survivors of Mao&#8217;s communist uprising — explain how extremist movements plant the seeds for revolution by slowly acculturating ordinary citizens to political violence.
In today&#8217;s installment, the authors explore something all too familiar to anyone who&#8217;s seen the American Left in action: the endless cycle of victimization, which fuels perpetual revolution.
***
History is full of paradoxes. None is more striking than the revolutionary promise to rescue the downtrodden, only to end in destruction for all.
From the French Revolution to Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the pattern is familiar: revolutionaries first elevate “the victims,” granting them moral superiority. Those newly anointed victims are then encouraged to victimize their designated enemies. What begins in the name of liberation almost always degenerates into tyranny.
It is a story as old as revolution itself. The Jacobins invoked the poor and the persecuted, then set the guillotine to work on nobles, priests, and eventually their own comrades. Lenin vowed to free workers and peasants from Tsarist oppression, only to unleash the Red Terror that consumed millions, including many of his followers.
Mao empowered the youths to denounce their teachers, parents, and neighbors. In those frenzied years, almost everyone alternated between being a victim and being a victimizer, and frequently embodied both roles simultaneously. As Georges Danton, himself a leading figure of the French Revolution, devoured by the machine he helped build, lamented: “Revolution devours its own children.”
In China, we witnessed this cycle firsthand. The story of Bian Zhongyun, the first teacher beaten to death by her students in August 1966, illustrates it in all its cruelty.
Bian had been a faithful revolutionary. She joined the Communist Party in 1941 and later helped carry out land reform in a village where she was involved in the stoning to death of four landlords — including a woman who once cared for her child. She was later rewarded with the post of principal at Beijing’s most prestigious girls’ high school, which primarily served the children of CCP elites.
Yet her students, daughters of top Party leaders, killed her within hours in the first frenzy of the Cultural Revolution. They were fueled by Mao’s call to “rebel.” That month alone, thousands of teachers across China were killed. Millions more were publicly humiliated and beaten.
What became of the new victimizers? After serving as Mao’s instruments, the rebelling youths were discarded: the girls were sent into exile in China’s remote regions for grueling labor. The cycle turned anew. 
This wheel of misfortune follows a grim logic. Authorities pick assumed “victims” and designate enemies. The chosen victims are given power beyond the law, while enemies are stripped of any protection. Victimhood becomes not a misfortune but a privilege. People scramble to claim it — often by victimizing others. The scope of enemies then expands endlessly. Eventually, the beast devours everything.
We would be foolish to believe this tragic dynamic cannot repeat here. In recent years, America has seen smaller but chilling echoes: the #MeToo movement, Black Lives Matter, pro-Hamas and anti-ICE protests, and so on.
Who are the victims? Those once deemed “victimizers” — men, White people, and law enforcement personnel. Though our democracy tempers the scale, the revolutionary zeal is real, and has already produced a vast number of victims. 
Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger recently exhorted her supporters: “Let your rage fuel you.” Rage justifies escalation: exaggerated allegations, destruction of reputations, looting, even violence. We saw the consequences in the murder of Charlie Kirk.
The other fuel is thrill. Lenin once called revolution the “festival of the masses.” It is intoxicating to watch hierarchies topple, reputations destroyed, enemies dragged into the public square. Today, whole groups are urged to define themselves by grievances, while the list of oppressors grows without limit. Yesterday’s ally becomes today’s enemy; yesterday’s victim becomes today’s victimizer. Unfortunately, a society built on grievance politics collapses under its own contradictions.
China paid dearly: Mao’s Cultural Revolution killed tens of millions of people, including revolutionaries themselves, and brought the country to its knees. In America, Leftist ideology has condemned inner-city communities to crime, drugs, and welfare dependency that deepens poverty rather than relieves it. The paradox endures: revolutions that begin in the name of justice often end in greater injustice. Movements that elevate victims often produce mass victimization. Ideologies that promise to heal history’s wounds often end up deepening its scars.
The lesson is clear. A healthy society must recognize suffering without weaponizing it, redress injustice without creating new ones, and honor dignity rather than grievance. If we fail, the cycle will repeat — as it has so many times before. And once again, revolution will devour everyone, including those who started the revolution.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/license-to-kill-what-turns-normal-people-to-political-violence">READ MORE: American Maoists, Part I: License To Kill: What Turns Normal People To Political Violence?</a>
Xi Van Fleet is a survivor of Mao’s Cultural Revolution, activist, and author of “Mao’s America: A Survivor’s Warning.”
Sasha Gong is a writer, scholar, journalist, and filmmaker. A dissident in Mao’s China, she holds a PhD from Harvard University and was previously Director of the China Branch at Voice of America.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Untitled design (54)

The Wheel Of Misfortune: Victims, Victimhood, And Victimization

Communism

Marxism

The consequences of the government shutdown rear their ugly heads, a congressional hearing to examine the origins of political violence, and Trump continues his Asia tour as the Left melts down over his East Wing renovations.
It’s Tuesday, October 28, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251028">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shutdown-fallout-mounts-congress-probes-political-violence/id1576594336?i=1000733841804" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Government Shutdown Repercussions</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-992091" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Shutdown-Turbulence-Builds-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Shutdown-Turbulence-Builds-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Shutdown-Turbulence-Builds-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Shutdown-Turbulence-Builds-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Shutdown-Turbulence-Builds-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Shutdown-Turbulence-Builds.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The government shutdown is dragging on, and pressure is mounting on Democrats to end it.
About 13,000 air traffic controllers are set to miss their first paycheck on Tuesday, which is bound to make a bad situation significantly worse. Some reports say air traffic controllers are taking second jobs as DoorDash drivers to supplement their income.
Roughly 18,700 flights were delayed on Sunday. On Monday, more than 3,000 flights were delayed, and more than 100 were canceled. Airports have become a flash point of the shutdown. Air traffic controllers and TSA agents were some of the first employees to see their pay disrupted, and Americans are generally united in hating flight delays.
Uh-oh, Democrats: A couple of major airline pilot unions last week called for an end to the shutdown, and that turned out to be only a precursor of what was to come. Now, the largest union representing 800,000 federal workers, the American Federation of Government Employees, has issued a statement calling for the Senate to pass a continuing resolution to end the shutdown.
Union President Everett Kelley said it&#8217;s time for leaders to focus on solving problems for the American people rather than on who is going to get the blame for the shutdown. He is calling for back pay for every single employee who has been forced to stay home.
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AFGE is a Democratic stalwart. It pushed to stop the Trump administration from making federal workers return to the office, it endorsed Joe Biden for president, and just last week, it blamed Trump and congressional Republicans for keeping the government closed. But while this statement doesn’t lay the blame on one party in particular, the union calls for a clean CR, which Republicans have put forward over a dozen times and Democrats keep rejecting.
Oh SNAP: In addition to flight delays and organized labor turning against them, Democrats also have to contend with the fact that food stamps benefits will lapse starting on Friday.
The expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will impact 40 million people. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said on Monday that not only is this affecting airports, but that some states, such as his own, will now have to be forced to cut off SNAP benefits—an example of SNAP becoming one of the big talking points this week.
Food stamps are not an explicitly partisan issue, and lawmakers from both parties will have to explain this disruption in benefits to their constituents. Democrats are working to shift the blame to Republicans. The California Department of Social Services is texting residents, blaming the imminent SNAP disruption on Trump and the GOP.
Republicans dismissed the attack, as California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is using taxpayer money to spread political propaganda. But each new disruption is likely going to hit Democrats harder than Republicans, increasing the likelihood that some members of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s caucus break ranks in the coming days.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Hearing On Politically Violent Attacks</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-992089" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Exposing-Political-Violence.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The assassination of Charlie Kirk has prompted a congressional hearing for Tuesday, organized by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), on &#8220;Politically Violent Attacks.” The hearing seeks to examine the origins of political violence and extremism, which have come mainly from the Left in recent years. 
Morning Wire spoke with Sen. Schmitt and Michael Knowles, host of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-michael-knowles-show">The Michael Knowles Show</a>” on The Daily Wire, about the nature of political violence in the United States today. (The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Morning Wire: Senator, you’ve organized this hearing, and this issue is obviously a high priority. What are the goals of the proceedings today?
Schmitt: The assassination of Charlie Kirk brought left-wing political violence really front and center, and I think it needs to be exposed. This isn’t a one-off thing. This is sort of an ideology that’s taken hold now. When you have 25% of those who describe themselves as “very liberal” believe political violence is justified, over 55% of those on the left believe it&#8217;s at least somewhat justifiable to assassinate President Trump, there’s a problem. And I think if we’re ever going to get on the other side of this and get to healing – where we can say, free speech, yes, political violence, no – we have to expose the truth, which is that this is overwhelmingly coming from one side.
Morning Wire: Senator thanks for joining us. Among those testifying at the hearing today is Daily Wire host Michael Knowles. Michael, good to have you back on. You obviously were invited to this hearing for specific reasons – tell us about that, and what you plan to address.
Knowles: I was invited largely because I was the target of leftist violence on a few occasions, but of organized leftist violence, specifically two years ago. This was at the University of Pittsburgh. I was doing a debate on the topic of transgenderism, and there was a large demonstration. They burnt me in effigy, lit the street on fire, and then two Antifa operatives showed up and threw smoke bombs at the attendees and the police. And then threw a large explosive firework at the police and seriously injured one female police officer, gave her life-altering injuries that took her out of work for at least a year – and also injured other police officers as well. … Happily, there was one intrepid FBI agent in the crowd, and he had noticed the uptick in left-wing violence at these conservative speaker events. … It was only because he really pushed this up through the DOJ that any charges were brought at all. … So these are two people who are members of an anarchist cell, part of the Torch Antifa Network. The guy had set off TSA scanners with explosive material multiple times. It’s an illustrative example of violence because if you look up left-wing ideologically motivated violence in any of the databases that concern it or at the federal government level, you won&#8217;t find it. It won&#8217;t turn up. That just doesn&#8217;t exist, and this is true for a lot of examples of left-wing violence, perhaps most notably the BLM riots, which are just simply not classified as left-wing violence. … So we’re going to call attention to that fact, as well as to the fact that now even the honest liberals can not hold up the lie that the violence is coming from the right.
Morning Wire: What do you think the federal government’s role should be in addressing politically motivated violence — is there a line which they should not cross?
Knowles: I don’t think we’re at fear of over-policing left-wing terrorists, okay? I think we’re barely policing them at all. And so then the question becomes, well, what tools are at the federal government&#8217;s disposal? And there are plenty. You know, President Trump has said that he will classify Antifa as a domestic terror organization. Now, the government is more limited in its resources to go after domestic terrorists as opposed to foreign terrorists. However, we&#8217;ve done it before. The federal government has successfully dismantled the Ku Klux Klan, has successfully dismantled organized crime using all sorts of statutes; going after them for RICO, for conspiracy, for all manner of things all the way up to tax evasion, I suppose. President Trump putting this renewed focus on it is very important because the Left has dismissed this as a concern by lying and saying that the political violence is a right-wing phenomenon, and it has allowed this problem to fester so much so that we saw its tragic apotheosis in the murder of Charlie Kirk – and we cannot allow that to continue anymore.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump Hunts For A Deal</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-992087" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/More-Deals-Inbound.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: President Trump continues his swing through Asia as Democrat and media backlash builds following his White House renovation.
Japan: After signing a big peace deal Sunday between Thailand and Cambodia and rolling out new trade deals elsewhere, Trump headed to Japan, where he received royal treatment. Famous landmarks across Tokyo were lit up with red, white, and blue displays.
The Trump administration and Japan reached a deal on rare earth minerals on Tuesday and unveiled a list of projects included in a $550 billion investment proposal stemming from a July trade agreement.
The rare earth deal, which President Donald Trump signed alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, establishes a mutual stockpiling arrangement and stipulates that the United States and Japan will cooperate with international partners to protect the supply chain, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-takaichi-agree-rare-earth-critical-minerals-supply-2025-10-28/">reported</a>. Trump has been pushing to better secure the rare-earth supply chain and cut into China&#8217;s stranglehold over rare-earth minerals.
Along with the rare-earth deal, the United States and Japan released a list of proposed projects to boost Japanese investment in the U.S. economy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983119054983287061">said</a> at a press conference alongside Trump on Tuesday that the proposals &#8220;are driven by the Japanese strategic investment initiative, which was created by [Trump&#8217;s] tariff policy and by [Trump&#8217;s] historic trade agreement with Japan.&#8221;
The White House credited the threat of tariffs with pushing our trading partners to make deals favorable to the United States. Deals were announced with Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam on Sunday, and now Japan has been added to the list on Monday. But the world is still waiting to see what will come of this meeting with China on Thursday. 
China: Officials from both sides have continued to meet to hammer out the framework of a deal. The White House says it&#8217;s confident both sides will agree to dramatically lower tariffs and possibly strike a permanent solution to the battle over TikTok ownership.
Trump put it more bluntly: “I think we&#8217;re going to come away with a deal.”
While Trump’s optimism has not always preceded deals, investors seem to think this is good news. Gold, cryptocurrency, and oil prices all spiked on Monday as global markets rallied to all-time highs across Asia.
On Wall Street, the DOW, NASDAQ, and S&amp;P 500 all hit record highs on Monday. Leading the way were tech companies like Nvidia, which have been hobbled this year by massive tariffs on semiconductors. Stateside, shares of domestic mining companies fell, a sign that investors believe China is about to reopen the flow of rare earth minerals as part of a looming deal.
White House remodel: The East Wing of the White House has now been demolished to make way for a 90,000 square foot ballroom. The administration says it’s a matter of practicality and safety, noting that in the past, if a president wanted to hold a large event honoring foreign dignitaries, they were often forced to erect makeshift tents on the White House lawn.
Former presidents such as Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, FDR, Harry S. Truman, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama added items to the White House, made renovations, or removed items. Though that has not stopped criticism from being leveled at Trump over his plans for a ballroom.
There are already some on the Left attempting to mount a legal challenge to block the project. A Virginia couple filed a motion in a D.C. federal court last week seeking a temporary restraining order against the demolition, arguing it violates the National Historic Preservation Act. The administration says it’s well within its authority to make renovations, the same way so many presidents have done before.

MRN_251028_V1

Morning Brief: Shutdown Fallout Mounts & Congress Probes Political Violence

Morning Brief: Shutdown Consequences Coming, Leftist Political Violence, And Trump's China Deal

Charlie Kirk

Democratic Party

Eric Schmitt

Government Shutdown

Japan

Michael Knowles

Morning Wire

Washington D.C.

White House

The Trump administration and Japan reached a deal on rare earth minerals on Tuesday and unveiled a list of projects included in a $550 billion investment proposal stemming from a July trade agreement.
The rare earth deal, which President Donald Trump signed alongside Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, establishes a mutual stockpiling arrangement and stipulates that the United States and Japan will cooperate with international partners to protect the supply chain, Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/trump-takaichi-agree-rare-earth-critical-minerals-supply-2025-10-28/">reported</a>. Trump has been pushing to better secure the rare-earth supply chain and cut into China&#8217;s stranglehold over rare-earth minerals.
Along with the rare-earth deal, the United States and Japan released a list of proposed projects to boost Japanese investment in the U.S. economy. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983119054983287061">said</a> at a press conference alongside Trump on Tuesday that the proposals &#8220;are driven by the Japanese strategic investment initiative, which was created by [Trump&#8217;s] tariff policy and by [Trump&#8217;s] historic trade agreement with Japan.&#8221;
Lutnick added that the initial investment totals $490 billion, which he called the &#8220;launch phase,&#8221; Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-28/trump-hails-japan-alliance-offers-takaichi-anything-you-want">reported</a>. After the &#8220;launch phase,&#8221; more projects would then be considered for the total $550 billion project. The proposed Japanese investments were a key part of the U.S.-Japan trade deal agreed upon in July, when President Trump lowered tariffs on Japanese auto imports from 27.5% to 15%, and in exchange, Japan <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/business/japan-investment-trump-tariffs.html">agreed</a> to invest $550 billion in the United States.
The two allies announced numerous investment projects spanning energy and critical minerals, as well as artificial intelligence development. Among the proposed projects is a plan to invest up to $100 billion for the construction of nuclear reactors and small modular reactors in the United States. That proposal would involve the American manufacturing company Westinghouse and include the &#8220;involvement of Japanese suppliers and operators, such as Mitsubishi, Heavy Industries, Toshiba Group, and IHI,&#8221; according to a Japanese government <a href="https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2025/10/20251028002/20251028002-a.pdf">handout</a>. Another $100 billion energy proposal would build more small modular reactors in the United States with some investment from Japanese companies.
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“These are great companies, many of them household names — that you would expect — that are going to build infrastructure and improve the national economic security of the United States,” said Lutnick.
President Trump also <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1983080708055900442">said</a> that Toyota planned to invest more than $10 billion in U.S. auto plants. During a speech to U.S. troops in Japan, Trump said, &#8220;I was just told by the prime minister that Toyota is going to be putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of over $10 billion.&#8221;
&#8220;And that&#8217;s a lot to do with because we have all the AI plants, we have so many things happening in the United States,&#8221; Trump added. &#8220;And it&#8217;s because of November 5th election day, but it&#8217;s also because of tariffs.&#8221;
The Toyota investment was not mentioned in the government fact sheet released on Tuesday.
Other investment proposals mentioned included a $30 billion proposal for Mitsubishi Electric to supply generators, transmission, and distribution systems, as well as equipment for AI data centers. A $15 million proposal included Panasonic supplying &#8220;energy storage systems, and other electronics, to contribute to strengthening supply chains in the U.S.&#8221;
The major U.S.-Japan announcements on Tuesday come just two days before Trump is expected to meet with Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping in South Korea, a meeting Trump hopes will lead to a trade deal.

President Trump Meets With Prime Minister Of Japan

More Trump Trade Wins: U.S. And Japan Strike Rare Earth Pact, Announce Strategic Investment Deal

Howard Lutnick

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