PRESIDENT TRUMP left Washington Monday boosted by a pause in the trade war with China but trailed by a new controversy over an expensive gift from the government of Qatar.

Trump will be hunting new investment deals for the U.S. over the next four days in the Middle East on the first major foreign trip of his second term, with stops planned in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also making the trip.

The president boarded Air Force One on Monday as the stock market surged over news of a trade breakthrough between the U.S. and China. The two economic powers agreed to a 90-day pause on most of the retaliatory tariffs imposed since Trump’s “Liberation Day” moves last month.

The Hill’s Sarah Fortinsky writes:

“Under the agreement, the U.S. would lower its tariff rate on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent, while China agreed to lowers its tariff rate on U.S. goods from 125 percent to 10 percent. China also agreed to suspend or remove nontariff countermeasures taken against the U.S. since early last month.”

At a press conference Monday, Trump said he expects to eventually strike a deal in which China opens their markets to U.S. products, although he noted that China has backtracked on such deals in the past.

“They’ve agreed to do that but it’s going to take a while to paper it,” Trump said.

And Trump said China agreed to crack down on fentanyl production.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will discuss the contours of the deal “at the end of the week.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the ultimate aim is a “de-coupling” from China for “strategic necessities” to avoid future supply chain disruptions, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democrats accused Trump of giving in to China.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said China “got the better of Trump,” while Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said “he just caved to Xi Jinping.”

Trump’s trip comes at a fraught time for wars in Gaza and Ukraine, while a promised gift from the government of Qatar dominated headlines in the U.S.

The president says he’ll accept a free Boeing 747 from the Qatari government to serve as the new Air Force One for the remainder of his second term. The plane, which is valued at $400 million, will then be donated to his presidential library, in what is believed to be the most expensive foreign gift ever accepted by the U.S. government.

The announcement raised ethical concerns and national security questions that Democrats are promising to investigate. Senate Democrats are pushing a measure that would target the gift over questions about foreign influence and national security.

“Wannabe Kings accept corrupt gifts from foreign powers. Not the President,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) posted on X. “Prohibiting members of Congress from stock trading is clearly not the only thing we must address this year.”

Trump says he’s only accepting the plane because the current presidential aircraft is 40 years old and the new one ordered from Boeing is years behind schedule.

“They said, ‘we would like to do something’ and if we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they’re building the other ones, I think that was a very nice gesture,” Trump said.

“Now, I could be a stupid person and say oh no, we don’t want a free plane,” he added. “ We give free things out, we’ll take one too. And, it helps us out because… we have 40-year-old aircraft. The money we spend, the maintenance we spend on those planes to keep them tippy top is astronomical, you wouldn’t even believe it. So, I think it’s a great gesture from Qatar, I appreciate it very much.”

Here's what we know about the luxury jet.

• Hamas on Monday released Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage taken during the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terror attack in Israel.

“His parents are so happy…they thought he was dead,” Trump said.

Trump said he believes about 20 living hostages are still being held by Hamas.

“We hope that we’re going to have other hostages released, too,” he said.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have both indicated they’ll meet in Turkey on Thursday for direct talks about ending the war.

Trump said he’d be open to attending, depending on his scheduled meetings across the Middle East.

“I’d fly there if I thought it’d be helpful,” Trump said.

• The border between India and Pakistan was calm Monday after days of fighting.

Trump said the U.S. helped mediate talks between the two nuclear powers over the weekend.

?Perspectives:

• The Hill: China’s sinister back door threatens US national security.

• The Liberal Patriot: The shifting geography of protectionism.

• BIG: China is not why America is sputtering.

• CNN: Trump claims a ‘win’ as he leaves on first major foreign tour.

• American Greatness: The de-civilizing of America.

Read more: 

• Trump’s tariffs threaten to become his Achilles’ heel.

• Trump tacks toward Ukraine amid renewed calls for ceasefire.

• Witkoff suggests scrapping Iran nuclear talks if no progress.

• California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is calling on government officials in his state to urgently address the prevalence of homeless encampments.

   

• French President Emmanuel Macron decried the spread of misinformation after conspiracies emerged about him doing drugs on a train with other European leaders.

©  Alex Brandon, Associated Press

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order aimed at slashing prescription drug costs.

The Hill’s Alexandra O’Connell-Domenech writes:

“The U.S. has paid more than other similarly wealthy countries for prescription drugs for decades, with a 2024 study…finding that Americans in general pay 2.78 times more for prescription drugs than 33 other nations.”

The government plans to negotiate with drug companies and roll out a “favored nation” policy that would allow the U.S. to pay the same cost as “the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World.” 

At a press conference announcing the action, Trump said "we’ll no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma.”

The price caps have been a progressive wish-list item for years.

“I grew up in the Democratic Party and every major Democratic leader for 20 years has been making this promise to the American people,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said at the press conference. “This was the fulcrum of Bernie Sanders’s run for president…but none of them were doing it, it’s a promise politicians make to their constituents knowing they’ll never have to do it because Congress is controlled by the pharmaceutical lobby.”

Conservatives have long criticized price controls as a failed socialist experiment that will reduce research and development and lead to shortages.

“They’ve been justifying this crap for years saying it’s research and development,” Trump said. “Well other countries should pay research and development too, it’s for their development.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said they'd support a bill codifying the executive order into law.

"If Trump is serious about making real change rather than just issuing a press release, he will support legislation I will introduce to ensure we pay no more for prescription drugs than people in other major countries," Sanders said. "If we come together, we can get it passed in a few weeks."

“I support @realDonaldTrump effort to ensure Americans do not pay more for drugs than those in other countries,” Khanna posted on X. “But instead of an EO that will get challenged again by Big Pharma, why not work with @BernieSanders & me to make this law.”

?Perspectives:

• New Yorker: Is Bezos selling out the Washington Post?

• The American Spectator: The Democrat-media codependency.

• The Guardian: Trump can stop the horror in Gaza.

Read more: 

• Federal government reducing flights out of Newark airport.

• Hegseth sparks fears as he moves to ax generals.

• Trump’s firing of FEMA leader plunges disaster agency into uncertainty.

©  AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

The House Ways and Means Committee on Monday released the 389-page bill containing President Trump’s legislative priorities, igniting a showdown over spending and taxes that has divided Republicans.

The two biggest sticking points ahead of the Tuesday markups are proposed cuts to Medicaid and how much to raise the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction cap.

Republicans are proposing an increase in the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000 for single and joint filers who make $400,000 or less, even after key GOP lawmakers rejected that plan last week.

The GOP’s SALT absolutists from high-tax states wanted a deduction cap of $62,000 for single filers and $124,000 for joint filers, so Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has a ways to go to find consensus.

Several Republicans in blue states have said they'll vote against any deal that doesn't have a sufficient SALT cap increase.

But Republicans got a boost Monday when the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found the House proposal surpassed its target of finding $880 billion in savings to help pay Trump’s tax cuts. The full GOP bill would make Trump’s 2017 income tax cuts permanent.

The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports that the proposal would slash Medicaid spending, but won’t include some of the most controversial cuts.

“It appears to cater more to the moderate wing of the party than the conservatives, who had been agitating for drastic cuts to the program. But it remains to be seen if leaders found the right balance between the two factions.”

The GOP’s budget reconciliation bill would raise the debt ceiling by $4 trillion and eliminate taxes on tips, while slashing green programs and bolstering fossil fuels.

?Perspectives:

• The American Prospect: The big, beautiful bill is hanging by a thread.

• The Wall Street Journal: A common sense budget reconciliation bill.

• The Bulwark: The hard calls Dems must make to regain power.

• Josh Hawley: Don’t cut Medicaid.

Read more: 

• DHS suggests House Demos could face arrest over ICE facility protest.

• White House ‘actively looking’ at suspending habeas corpus.

• Birthright citizenship debate erupts as Supreme Court arguments near.

• US to begin admitting white South African refugees.

• Senate Democrats, worried about Fetterman, discussing ways to help.

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