Shiroi Kiba JutSu: 🇺🇸 Trump Strikes Breakthrough Deal with China

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Happy Thursday, Patriots!

President Donald Trump closed out his high-stakes Asia tour Thursday with what he called an "amazing breakthrough," slashing tariffs on Chinese imports by 10 points after President Xi Jinping vowed to crack down on fentanyl and pause rare-earth export limits for a year.

Meeting in Busan, South Korea, Trump and Xi unveiled a one-year trade framework that includes massive Chinese farm purchases, new talks on energy deals in Alaska, and renewed cooperation on technology and security.

"This is the start of something very special," Trump said, calling Xi a "friend" and signaling plans for a reciprocal visit to China in April—the next chapter in what could reshape U.S.–China relations.

Don't miss the rest of today's Trump headlines below!

—Nick

In today's email:
🔔 Trump Strikes Breakthrough Deal with China
🏛 Trump Celebrates 1,700 Arrests in Memphis Crackdown
📊 Senate Republicans Defy Trump on Tariffs
🚨 Trump Orders Nuclear Testing to Begin Immediately
⚖️ Trial Begins Over National Guard Deployment to Oregon

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✅TRACKING TRUMP✅

Curated by Mike Luso

President Trump closed out a historic Asia tour that delivered massive economic victories for America, capping it with a breakthrough meeting with President Xi Jinping in South Korea that saw both nations ease their trade war. The President secured trillions in deals across Malaysia, Japan, and South Korea while becoming the first U.S. president to receive South Korea's highest honor.

Back home, the administration is celebrating major wins in Memphis, where a one-month federal surge has resulted in more than 1,700 arrests and rescued dozens of missing children. With a trial now underway to determine whether National Guard troops can be deployed to Oregon, the administration's law-and-order approach may soon expand to other crime-ridden cities.

Check out all the latest developments and more below!

🏛 Trump Celebrates 1,700 Arrests in Memphis Crackdown
Law enforcement officers have made more than 1,700 arrests in Memphis in the one month since the Trump administration began surging resources to the notoriously crime-ridden city. People were arrested for homicides, drugs, gun charges and sex offenses, and they included 126 known gang members, while 77 missing children were located and 293 firearms seized as part of the Department of Justice-led effort. Attorney General Pam Bondi thanked Memphis' Democratic leadership for its cooperation and touted the department's successes, stating that "residents of our cities do not have to live in fear of violent crime." A city dashboard reflected a recent improvement, showing that since Sept. 1, serious crime in Memphis has dropped 46%. More than a dozen federal agencies are participating in the surge, which Trump announced as a "Memphis Safe Task Force" from the Oval Office last month, and a person familiar with the operation said the federal presence will remain in Memphis for now with no set end date.

📊 Senate Republicans Defy Trump on Tariffs
A small contingent of Senate Republicans joined with Senate Democrats to reject President Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods, advancing a resolution to terminate the emergency powers Trump used to declare retaliatory tariffs against Canada earlier this year. Roughly the same core group of Republicans—Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—joined Senate Democrats to reject the duties, with Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina voting against this attempt. The votes against Trump's tariffs on Canada came after Vice President JD Vance warned Republicans that it would be a "huge mistake" to break with the White House on the president's tariff strategy. Paul, one of the co-sponsors of the resolution, argued that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the U.S. rather than on foreign countries and that the message it would send to the White House was "that a rule by emergency is not what the Constitution intended." McConnell staked his position against the tariffs in a statement, arguing that retaliatory tariffs have negatively affected Kentucky farmers and distillers, saying "tariffs make both building and buying in America more expensive."

🚨 Trump Orders Nuclear Weapons Testing to Begin Immediately
President Trump announced he has ordered the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing "immediately," saying he directed the Department of War to match other nations' programs and calling the move a necessary step to maintain global parity. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country, accomplished during his first term, but that Russia is second and China is a distant third that will be even within five years. The announcement comes days after Trump warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that the U.S. has a nuclear submarine stationed "right off their shores" following Russia's recent missile tests. Trump made comments aboard Air Force One saying the U.S. is "not playing games" with Putin after Russia said it had tested a new missile that can go more than 8,000 miles. Russia's defense ministry said it successfully tested a nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, claiming it can travel more than 8,000 miles and pierce defense systems, with Putin saying Russia is moving to deploy the weapon.

⚖️ Trial Begins Over National Guard Deployment to Oregon
The Trump administration will face off with Oregon state leaders in court over whether the president can federalize National Guard troops and deploy them to Portland, a city President Trump has said is "war ravaged" and in need of military reinforcements. Judge Karin Immergut will preside over the trial, which began at 9 a.m. local time and is expected to stretch through the rest of the week, with the administration wanting to deploy 200 National Guard soldiers as added protection for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and other federal officers. In court papers filed ahead of the trial, DOJ lawyers said the deployment to Portland was "amply justified," noting that agitators assaulted federal officers and damaged federal property, spray-painted violent threats, blockaded the vehicle entrance to the Portland ICE facility, trapped officers in their cars, and threatened to kill them on social media. State lawyers claimed Congress' laws governing National Guard deployment allow the president to federalize the reserved troops against the will of state governors only as a last resort, arguing that "the ordinary challenges of governing cannot justify the extraordinary measure Defendants employed here." Also looming in the background is a related case pending before the Supreme Court, where the high court is weighing whether to take up Trump's National Guard deployment in Chicago, which could have far-reaching effects on the president's similar fights in other states, including Oregon and California.

President Donald Trump, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose together ahead of their summit talk at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.

🔔 Trump Strikes Breakthrough Deal with China 🔔

President Trump emerged from his highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, declaring victory after securing major concessions that led to an immediate 10-point tariff reduction on Chinese goods. The meeting in Busan marked the final stop of Trump's Asia trip, which also included stops in Malaysia and Japan, and focused on cooling the economic standoff between Washington and Beijing.

Trump announced he would cut the tariff rate on Chinese imports from 57% to 47%, with an aide clarifying the rates would be closer to 45-47%, in response to Xi's promise to crack down on the flow of fentanyl into the United States. The two sides reached an understanding on rare earth exports, as China agreed to pause planned export controls for a year, with both leaders agreeing to revisit the arrangement next year.

Trump said Xi agreed to begin immediate purchases of U.S. soybeans and other farm goods and that China would work "very hard" to block fentanyl from entering the U.S. The U.S. president also said he spoke to Xi about chip technology, noting that China would be in discussions with Nvidia about additional semiconductor purchases but that the company's newest generation of advanced processors were not part of the conversation.

The president described the outcome as a one-year framework agreement aimed at being renewed annually, telling reporters "we have a deal" that will be renegotiated each year. Trump also announced plans for reciprocal visits, with the U.S. president traveling to China in April and Xi visiting the U.S. later this year.

The meeting, which lasted roughly an hour and forty minutes, concluded with a brief photo opportunity before the two leaders went their separate ways. Trump told reporters he and Xi had "an amazing meeting" and that both sides had reached "an outstanding group of decisions" on key economic and security issues. On a scale of zero to 10, Trump gave the meeting a 12, praising Xi as "a great leader" and saying the two had agreed on "almost everything." Xi acknowledged in his opening remarks that occasional friction between major powers is natural, adding that the U.S. and China "can still find ways to thrive side by side."

Trump later posted on Truth Social that he was "extremely honored by the fact that President Xi authorized China to begin the purchase of massive amounts of Soybeans, Sorghum, and other Farm products," and that China agreed to continue the flow of rare earth elements and work diligently to stop the flow of fentanyl into the country.

The deal represents a major diplomatic breakthrough for Trump, who has used tariffs as leverage to secure better terms from America's biggest economic rival while bringing home concrete wins for American farmers and manufacturers.

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🍟 Quick Bite News 🍟

🔥 Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth announced the U.S. military struck another boat carrying people he claims were narco-terrorists, with the strikes carried out in the Eastern Pacific region at the direction of President Trump, killing four men on board. This is the 14th strike on suspected drug boats carried out since September, with a total of 61 reportedly killed while three survived, though the Pentagon has refused to release the identities of those killed or evidence of drugs on board. The Trump administration has been scrutinized in recent weeks over the strikes, including by Sen. Rand Paul, who raised concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people.

💬 Progressive podcaster Jennifer Welch suggested that the Democrat Party needs to "jump on board" with calling for conservatives to be killed, playing a clip of a woman saying she was "glad" that Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk is dead. Welch told her audience "so listen up Democratic establishment: you can either jump on board with this sh*t or we're coming after you in the same way that we come after MAGA, period." The comments came ahead of a hearing held by a Senate subcommittee regarding political violence in the United States.

🗳 Vice President JD Vance appeared on the New York Post's "Pod Force One with Miranda Devine," where he was asked about a potential presidential ticket with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in 2028 after President Trump called the pair "unstoppable" while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. Vance revealed that he spoke with Trump about the prospect of running alongside Rubio in 2028 over lunch about six months ago, but expressed that it "feels so premature because we're still so early" in the current administration.

⚖️ President Trump successfully got his lawsuit against Iowa pollster J. Ann Selzer and The Des Moines Register to land in Iowa State Court after a federal judge who denied his initial request was overruled by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. Trump's legal team has accused the defendants of "brazen election interference" with their final 2024 Iowa presidential poll that showed him trailing Democrat Kamala Harris, though he won Iowa by more than 13 percentage points. Attorney Danny Karon believes Trump's team played it perfectly by getting the case moved from a federal court with an Obama appointee to a state court, calling it "good strategy" rather than improper "forum shopping."

🏛 More than a dozen Republican senators want to see the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk included in President Trump's proposed National Garden of American Heroes, a massive project of 250 life-size statues of some of the country's most notable figures. In a letter to Trump led by Sen. Bill Cassidy, the lawmakers requested that Charlie Kirk be included in the garden, where he would join the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Kobe Bryant, Martin Luther King Jr., Amelia Earhart and Albert Einstein among several others in the proposed statuary park in South Dakota near Mount Rushmore.