I T IS THE start of the most important week of diplomacy for Donald Trump since he returned to office. A meeting between the American president and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, is planned for October 30th and comes after Mr Trump’s whistlestop tour of many of his country’s most important Asian allies.

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, about a private-sector AI infrastructure investment. Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle chief technology officer Larry Ellison and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, listen. (AP)

Trump announced the increased tariffs on Oct. 25, referencing an anti-tariff ad aired by Ontario's government featuring a video of Ronald Reagan.

The Trump administration suffered a legal blow on Friday afternoon when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed an order issued on October 20 by a federal appellate court ruling it could deploy 200 National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, under federal control.

Donald Trump on Thursday drew ire for what critics called a “snide” and “rude” remark to a reporter whose accent he said he didn’t understand. Trump first asked the reporter to repeat her question “louder.”

Gallego's comments come as the U.S. has said it conducted 10 strikes on alleged drug boats since September, killing dozens of people. Two of the strikes were in the eastern Pacific, and eight strikes were in the Caribbean Sea. NBC News has not independently confirmed whether the boats were carrying drugs.

P resident Donald Trump denied a report published Thursday by the The Wall Street Journal that U.S. B-1 bombers were sent near Venezuela as tensions escalate with the nation led by President Nicolás Maduro.