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May 8, 2026 - World

Always one looking to make a splashy deal, Donald Trump is giving serious consideration to allowing China to make a massive investment in the U.S. — against the advice of some of his closest advisors, an expert warned Friday.In a column for the New York Times, conservative economist Oren Cass reported the president, “May be on the verge of tying the United States to China irrevocably: Mr. Trump and Xi Jinping are reportedly considering a deal to allow China to invest $1 trillion in the United States, largely to build factories on American soil.”Cass described that scenario as “an unforced error of world-historic proportions.”The reported negotiations come as Trump prepares for a trip to China and seeks to cement his legacy as a dealmaker — even if that deal undermines the very trade agenda he championed.While Trump's approach to China has frequently put him at odds with his own administration, his willingness to consider the investment stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of the relationship. Trump sees China as simply offering a bad deal — and believes the remedy is negotiating a better one, Cass wrote.And he's proceeding despite concern from advisers in the administration."I don't blame China," Trump notably told business leaders in Beijing in 2017. "After all, who can blame a country for being able to take advantage of another country for the benefit of its citizens? I give China great credit."According to the economist, this transactional worldview fails to account for the strategic reality that Chinese investment operates under fundamentally different rules than American capital flows.A trillion-dollar infusion of Chinese capital would exceed the total direct investment in the United States made by any other country since the Declaration of Independence, he wrote before adding that even a fraction of that amount would devastate what remains of American economic defenses, weakening national security and supply-chain resilience while handing the Chinese Communist Party a powerful tool to subvert U.S. markets.Unlike American companies that pursue their own goals with relatively little political interference, Chinese companies operate at the pleasure of the Communist Party. When the party decides to dominate an industry, it can offer virtually unlimited financial support and access to a virtually unlimited labor pool."Welcoming that model to our shores would be a catastrophe for the United States," Cass wrote.In recent weeks, key administration figures including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik have cast doubt on accepting Chinese investment. However, with Trump, it remains unclear whether resistance represents a firm position or simply a negotiating posture.If Trump proceeds with the deal, he risks becoming the president who did more than anyone to warn about the dangers of the China relationship — only to embed that relationship, and its dangers, into the foundation of the nation's economy, Cass warned.

May 8, 2026 - World

Trump is leaving business executives and CEOs confused and uncertain about whether they're invited to cooperate with China, according to a new report. “The president is ‘wheels up’ in about a week," Sean Stein, the president at the US-China Business Council, told Politico in a Thursday piece, referring to an upcoming summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. "There are still CEOs waiting to find out if they will be part of the president's trip." According to Politico, the White House spent "weeks" deciding how many business executives and CEOs to bring to the summit, and started sending out invitations. The Trump administration is divided over "how much to encourage private sector engagement with its biggest economic rival." It doesn't help that CEOs are saying that the White House is sending "mixed signals," Politico wrote, citing two people briefed by the White House. "Administration officials in recent weeks circulated a draft list of executives from roughly two dozen companies to potentially participate," according to Politico. "However, some officials, including U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, pushed for a group closer to half that size." Amid the indecision, "we have multiple CEOs who've been told, 'well maybe you're going to be invited,'" Stein told Politico. "The indecision has left executives interested in participating in the summit in limbo days ahead of the trip," according to Politico reporting. "One prominent American CEO, who does business in China and the U.S., had an aide recently follow up with an administration official to try to join the delegation after getting no response from the White House." "It's hard to get in this time," the official told the CEO.

May 8, 2026 - World

Stone being paid $50,000 a month to ‘rebuild’ relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed governmentThe US lobbyist Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of Donald Trump, has been condemned for accepting $50,000 a month to “rebuild” relations between Washington and Myanmar’s military-backed government.Myanmar’s leaders have been internationally isolated since seizing power in a coup in 2021, and have repeatedly been accused of atrocities that may amount to war crimes. Activists say the military rulers, which recently held widely condemned “sham” elections, are now trying to reassert themselves abroad. Continue reading...

May 8, 2026 - World

Trump described U.S. military strikes against Iran on Thursday as a "love tap," prompting scathing ridicule and skepticism that the attack didn't violate a delicate ceasefire. "President Trump tells me in a phone call the retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets are just a 'love tap,'" ABC senior political correspondent Rachel Scott posted on X. "When I asked if it means the ceasefire is over, 'No, no, the ceasefire is going. It's in effect.'" U.S. and Iranian naval forces briefly exchanged fire on Thursday. While Trump touted U.S. success in sinking Iranian ships like "a butterfly" in a Truth Social post, he downplayed the intensity to reporters to uphold the ceasefire deal. "I've also never heard someone use the term 'love tap' who wasn't also the kinda jack-- that would hit their wife," journalist and political consultant Adam Cochran responded. "Just sayin'""President Trump says the U.S. strikes that just occurred in Iran were a 'love tap' and that the ceasefire remains in place," journalist Yashar Ali wrote. "The Islamic Republic of Iran, however, says the strikes were a violation of the ceasefire and that it will respond.""The ceasefire is apparently still in effect, just with light physical affection," joked White House correspondent Nandita Bose. "At what point do exchanges of fire during a ceasefire constitute an end or violation of said ceasefire?" Foreign Policy writer John Haltiwanger demanded. "What is the threshold?""An idiot runs this country," Daily Kos reporter Emily Singer wrote. "He's insane," agreed former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

May 7, 2026 - World

Trump's reasoning for carrying on the war in Iran while facing upcoming midterms and trying to open the Strait of Hormuz for shipping doesn't make sense, said New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman."I see it as very confusing," Haberman told CNN's Jake Tapper on Thursday. "It is very hard to know what is happening. Frankly, from either government."Haberman pointed out that Iranians "are facing economic difficulties. There's no question about that," but "gauging exactly what that means is quite hard," she said."The economic issues that are being created by the energy crisis from this war are pretty measurable in terms of the cost of gas at the pump," at home in the U.S., though, Haberman added. But Haberman is perplexed that Trump's strategy with the war doesn't factor in voters' discontent with the bump at the pump."We'll see if President Trump gets more engaged in the midterms and feels as if there's some personal interest in it for him," Haberman said. "Maybe he will decide he wants to travel, but as long as gas prices remain where they are, it's not a great climate for his party."Iran and U.S. Naval forces exchanged fire on Thursday. Trump boasted U.S. military action in a Truth Social post shortly after the skirmish, writing that Iranian ships "dropped ever so beautifully down to the Ocean, very much like a butterfly dropping to its grave!