A week of high diplomacy and higher drama: Xi Jinping’s first Washington visit in a decade, a Senate vote that exposed cracks in Trump’s own party over Iran, a chaotic UN General Assembly, a storm that shut down the Northeast, and a court ruling that briefly reopened the White House to three banned news outlets.
Xi Jinping Comes to Washington
Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first US state visit in more than a decade, arriving with First Lady Peng Liyuan for three days of talks, a state dinner, and a South Lawn arrival ceremony. The substance was narrower than the pageantry: the two countries agreed to cut tariffs on $30 billion of “non-sensitive” goods — covering US agricultural products, seafood, wood, cosmetics, and medical devices — and to extend their broader trade truce by two months, to January 10, 2027, while a bigger deal remains under negotiation. China is still roughly $17 billion behind on a separate agricultural-purchase pledge despite meeting its soybean target. The two sides also agreed to launch a formal AI dialogue, with the first session set for November — a direct response to the same industry safety warnings that pushed Trump to announce his “AI Force” last week. Trump, who refers to advanced AI as “super intelligence,” gave Xi a preview of the White House ballroom construction site during the visit and presented him with a bald eagle sculpture at the state dinner.
Senate Narrowly Rejects Curbing Trump’s Iran War Powers
The Senate voted 49-50 to reject a resolution that would have directed Trump to end US military action against Iran without congressional authorization — the 14th time the chamber has considered such a measure since the war began in February. Four Republicans, Rand Paul, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Thom Tillis, broke with the party to support it; Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman was the lone Democrat to vote no. The vote came two days after Trump told the UN General Assembly he was weighing whether to “annihilate the Islamic Republic” or allow a rebuilt Iran to emerge, and said any deal with Tehran likely wouldn’t come before the midterms. The war’s cost at the pump keeps climbing: national gas prices have risen from under $3 a gallon before the conflict to $4.50 now, while diesel hit a record $6.52 this week.
The UN General Assembly Turns Into a Diplomatic Battlefield
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opened the week’s fireworks on Tuesday with a speech condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank, prompting Israel’s delegation to walk out while Palestinian officials applauded. Two days later, the tables turned: as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the podium, delegates from roughly 70 countries left the chamber in protest, leaving much of the hall empty. Netanyahu responded by telling remaining delegates to leave if they hadn’t already, calling those who walked out “moral cowards,” and accusing New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani of antisemitism. Outside UN headquarters, dueling protests filled the streets; New York police arrested more than 100 people, including actors Susan Sarandon and Hannah Einbinder, a city councilman, and a congressional candidate, most tied to a Jewish Voice for Peace sit-in blocking a road near the UN.
A Powerful Nor’easter Shuts Down the Northeast
A rare, rapidly intensifying fall nor’easter battered the coast from Delaware to Massachusetts over the weekend, prompting New York and New Jersey to declare states of emergency. More than 400 flights were cancelled, over 100,000 homes and businesses lost power at the peak, and Atlantic City saw its highest tide since Superstorm Sandy in 2012. The storm forced the cancellation of New York’s Global Citizen Festival and two Ed Sheeran shows at Gillette Stadium outside Boston, along with AC/DC’s MetLife Stadium concert, which was rescheduled.
A Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s Press Ban
CNN, MS NOW, and Politico were briefly let back onto White House grounds this week after federal Judge Timothy Kelly — a Trump appointee — issued a temporary restraining order finding their week-old ban “likely unconstitutional” under both the First and Fifth Amendments. Kelly rejected the Justice Department’s national-security justification for lack of evidence and ordered access restored for at least 14 days while the outlets’ lawsuit proceeds; it is not a final ruling. The ban had already triggered an unusual show of media solidarity: Fox News, ABC, CBS, and NBC joined the banned outlets in suspending their White House TV pool coverage entirely for several days, a first in the pool’s history, before the court order eased the standoff.
Source Links
- Al Jazeera — Trump-Xi summit agenda and arrival ceremony
- CNBC — the $30 billion tariff-cut and AI dialogue agreement
- The Hill — Trump’s “super intelligence” framing and the November AI talks
- NPR — the Senate’s 49-50 war powers vote
- NBC News — Trump’s UN speech and gas/diesel price context
- Al Jazeera — Erdogan’s UN speech and Israel’s walkout
- Middle East Eye — the mass walkout during Netanyahu’s speech
- Al Jazeera — arrests at UN-area protests
- Al Jazeera — nor’easter flight cancellations and power outages
- CNN — storm emergency declarations and cancelled events
- NBC News — the court order restoring press access
- Mediaite — the Fox-led press pool boycott
