President Trump in Beijing – As President Xi Jinping dazzles President Trump with his country’s pomp & circumstance without public protest that lesser authoritarians sometimes suffer, the Chinese government has gone straight to the point of its number one goal of this historic two-day summit.
Taiwan.
This is the fifth paragraph of China’s readout of the first in-person meeting of Xi and Trump since 2017:
“President Xi stressed that the Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations. If it is handled properly, the bilateral relationship will enjoy overall stability. Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy. ‘Taiwan independence’ and cross-Strait peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water. Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the US. The US side must exercise extra caution in handling the Taiwan question.”
Pump up the pomp … President Trump told President Xi months ago he wanted the biggest display in the history of China, and he got it, according to NPR’s Tamara Keith. Trump and his entourage of 17 corporate leaders/oligarchs, plus Melania director Brett Ratner, who reportedly is scouting locations for his Rush Hour 4, stepped off Air Force One onto a red carpet while a military band played.
The entourage was greeted by China’s vice president and 300 Chinese teens in matching outfits colored in Air Force One’s iconic livery, who were waiving US and Chinese flags in-sync. Trump would look forward to bilateral talks, about trade in the wake of the president’s Liberation Day tariffs from April of last year, plus teas and a grand banquet.
Trump is hoping for announcements of big Chinese purchases of US goods, including possibly oil, US access to China’s rare earth resources and a crackdown on fentanyl coming into the US. Melanie Hart, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub told Keith on All Things Considered this adds up to the type of made-for-TV gala Trump relishes.
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Trump’s Fed Chief Confirmed – The Senate Wednesday confirmed President Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, by 54-45 vote, The Hill reports. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only senator to cross the aisle and vote with the 53 Republicans.
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Uh-oh – We assiduously cover the Consumer Price Index and the monthly jobs reports issued by the US Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. But Wednesday evening APM’s Marketplace alerted us to another monthly number reported by the BLS, the Producer Price Index, that deserves attention. This is the inflation rate for producers that typically, eventually, get passed on to consumers when their goods come to market.
And for April, the PPI is not pretty: Up 1.4% for the month and a rate of 6% year-over-year, highest since a 6.4% annual figure as supply chains began to open up during the pandemic, in December 2022. April’s CPI rose to 3.8%, ICYMI.
You’re up next, Fed Chair Warsh.
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At the Pump – National average for a gallon of unleaded regular hit $4.534 Thursday, up 2.3 cents over Wednesday and $1.552 over February 27. Diesel is $5.667, up 0.8 cents over Wednesday and $1.87 over February 27. –Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa