The Latest: Trump administration limits refugee admissions to mostly white South Africans

No reason was given for the numbers, which are a dramatic decrease from last year’s ceiling set under the Biden administration of 125,000. The Associated Press previously reported that the administration was considering admitting as few as 7,500 refugees and mostly white South Africans.

The memo said only that the admission of the 7,500 refugees during 2026 fiscal year was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”

Here's the latest:

Duffy warns of Thanksgiving travel woes if the shutdown doesn’t end soon

“Our traffic will be snarled. It will be a disaster in aviation,” Duffy told reporters outside the White House after a closed-door meeting with aviation industry leaders and Vice President JD Vance.

That’s because air traffic controllers will have missed at least two full paychecks by Thanksgiving, Duffy said, which could lead to more of them calling out sick.

US orders non-essential diplomats, embassy families to leave Mali due to unrest

The State Department has ordered non-essential U.S. diplomats and their families to leave Mali due to terrorism threats and a severe fuel crisis stemming from a jihadi group’s blockade of fuel tankers entering the landlocked West African nation.

Just two days after repeating a warning from American citizens to leave Mali, the department on Thursday said it had moved to so-called “ordered departure” status for non-essential embassy personnel and families from the capital of Bamako. “Ordered departure” requires those covered to leave, although they do so at government expense.

The al-Qaida-linked Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin group, or JNIM, announced in September that it was imposing a blockade on tanker trucks entering Mali as part of its fight against the country’s military authorities. The group’s fighters have set more than 100 trucks on fire, paralyzing the country’s fuel supply.

California senators urge Justice Department to withdraw election monitors

California’s Democratic senators are demanding the U.S. Justice Department immediately cancel plans to send federal election observers to the state for its statewide election next week.

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff wrote that the plan is based on “blatantly partisan motivations” and is “clearly linked” to President Donald Trump’s most recent attack on the legitimacy of California’s elections.

“Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop Vote is!” Trump wrote last weekend on Truth Social, referring to Proposition 50, the lone issue on the state’s special election ballot Tuesday.

The senators told Bondi that Trump’s statement “is a stain on this deployment and any actions that the department might attempt to take based on it.”

They said the department should — at a minimum — provide greater transparency and coordinate with state and local election administrators “to prevent any activities that may lead to voter intimidation or interference with elections.”

Atlanta will stop water cutoffs and evictions to ease shutdown impacts

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said Thursday that because of the SNAP benefit cutoff, the city will stop cutting off water service to people who don’t pay their bills and that city-owned or funded housing will stop evicting people or charging them late fees.

Both measures will last through Jan. 31.

Dickens said the effort is intended to help people who are losing SNAP benefits or federal workers going without pay, but said eligibility would be “pretty open” to anyone requesting help.

The announcement came as the Atlanta Community Food Bank said it would spend $5 million in reserves to bolster food supplies.

Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, has declined to consider state aid for SNAP recipients, although the state has more than $14 billion in reserve cash. Dickens, a Democrat likely to be reelected on Tuesday, said “this might be a good time” to use some of that surplus.

Another lawsuit challenges suspension of SNAP benefits for tens of millions of Americans

A coalition of cities together with community, business and union organizations filed a lawsuit Thursday that aims to ensure food benefits for tens of millions of low-income Americans don’t get halted this weekend by the Trump administration.

The lawsuit comes as a federal judge in Boston heard a motion on a similar lawsuit over SNAP, saying she expected to make a ruling later Thursday. The program could be suspended as early as Saturday due to the government shutdown.

“Denying millions of Americans access to basic food security is unlawful and unconscionable, and it threatens to push local nonprofit food banks, food pantries, and other organizations beyond the breaking point,” Diane Yentel, president and CEO, National Council of Nonprofits.

The SNAP program, which costs about $8 billion per month, serves about 1 in 8 Americans and is a major piece of the nation’s social safety net.

Refugee organizations denounce drastic cuts made in the slashed refugee admittance cap

Refugee advocacy groups are sharing strong reactions to the Trump administration’s new limit on entries from last year’s ceiling of 125,000 set under Democratic President Joe Biden to 7,500, who will mostly be white South Africans.

“By privileging Afrikaners while continuing to ban thousands of refugees who have already been vetted and approved, the administration is once again politicizing a humanitarian program,” Sharif Aly, president of IRAP, said in a statement.

“Concentrating the vast majority of admissions on one group undermines the program’s purpose as well as its credibility,” said Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President & CEO of Global Refuge.

Human Rights First condemned the decision as a “new low point” in U.S. foreign policy.

“This decision will further destabilize front-line states that host over two-thirds of the world’s nearly 43 million refugees, undermining U.S. national security in tandem,” said Uzra Zeya, president of Human Rights First.

Democratic senators say Trump’s ballroom is ‘likely a misuse of federal authority’

The top Democrats on three Senate committees are suggesting to Trump that his proposed White House ballroom is “unauthorized, unprecedented” and a “likely misuse of federal authority.”

The senators raised conflict-of-interest concerns about major government contractors being among the donors contributing to the $300 million project, saying it presented a “profound risk of pay-to-play corruption.”

In a letter sent to Trump, they request an itemized list of donors, the amounts they gave and if any are foreigner individuals or entities. They also ask for a detailed breakdown of the ballroom plan’s finances, They also ask what steps are being taken to preserve furniture and other historical items previously in the East Wing.

The letter’s signers were: Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, ranking member of the environmental committee, Martin Heinrich, ranking member of the energy committee and Gary Peters, ranking member of the government affairs committee.

Illinois governor’s ask to halt immigration crackdown for Halloween dismissed

Illinois Gov JB Pritzker’s request to “suspend” a Chicago area immigration crackdown during Halloween has been shutdown by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Pritzker made the request this week after federal agents deployed a chemical agent in a Chicago neighborhood preparing up for a Halloween parade. Neighbors said several children were affected and U.S. citizens were among those handcuffed.

The crackdown that started nearly two months ago has led to tense clashes and roughly 3,000 arrests across Chicago’s metro area, which includes parts of Indiana.

Pritzker says Illinois families “deserve to spend Halloween without fear.”

But Noem says immigration agents are keeping communities safe and blasted Pritzker’s request as “shameful.” She spoke to reporters in Gary, Indiana, after highlighting recent arrests.

UN official blasts Trump’s announcement that US will restart nuclear weapons testing

The top U.N. official on Thursday blasted President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will restart its testing of nuclear weapons.

Antonio Guterres, the U.N. Secretary General, said in a statement that “current nuclear risks are already alarmingly high” for any other countries to join in.

“We must never forget the disastrous legacy of over 2,000 nuclear weapons tests carried out over the last 80 years,” he said, according to his deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haqq. “Nuclear testing can never be permitted under any circumstances.”

Kamala Harris voted for California’s partisan plan to redraw US House maps

The former vice president said Proposition 50 is California’s chance to fight back against President Donald Trump’s plan to gain more GOP seats in Texas and other states.

“We as Californians are standing up to level the playing field,” Harris said in a social media post.

Voting concludes Nov. 4. If passes, it would realign district boundaries to make as many as five additional seats winnable for Democrats in next year midterm elections. Republicans currently hold nine of the state’s 52 congressional seats.

Warner calls partisan briefing on boat strikes ‘outrageous’

The top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee said that the Trump administration’s gradual efforts to block Democrats from briefings on national security matters is “against every norm of how national security policy has worked” and “an erosion of trust” with the public.

Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Thursday that a partisan briefing on the U.S. military’s boat strikes in waters off South America this week was “outrageous” and should have never happened.

“Every United States senator ought to read in,” Warner told reporters. “And until that happens, I don’t know how you even begin to rebuild trust.”

Warner criticized Republican senators who attended the meeting, including members of leadership and more moderate members of the GOP conference. He said that “somebody should have walked out.”

The briefing came as the Senate is expected to vote next week on a war powers resolution that would prohibit strikes in or near Venezuela, unless Congress approves the military action.

Oklahoma agency plans worker furloughs in response to federal shutdown

The head of the Oklahoma Human Services agency notified employees via email Wednesday that as a result of the federal shutdown they plan to furlough employees who make more than $50,000 annually, effective Nov. 2.

The agency also plans to implement a hiring freeze for most positions, eliminate most travel and overtime, and reduce or suspend some of its contracts, according to the email from OHS Director Jeffrey Cartmell.

“As you know, nearly 75% of OKDHS’ funding comes from federal sources,” Cartmell wrote in the email obtained by The Associated Press.

“After exhausting every available option to minimize the impact on staff and sustain essential operations, the continuing lapse in federal appropriations leaves us no choice but to implement these temporary measures.”

Last-minute scramble over pay takes a toll on military families during the shutdown

The government shutdown is exacting a heavy mental toll on the nation’s military families, leaving them not knowing from week to week whether their paychecks will arrive.

Alicia Blevins, whose husband is a Marine, said she’s going to see a therapist in large part because of the grinding uncertainty.

“I don’t feel like I have the tools to deal with this,” said Blevins, 33, who lives at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base near North Carolina’s coast. “I don’t want to dump all this on my husband. He’s got men that he’s in charge of. He’s got enough to deal with.”

Even though the Trump administration has found ways to pay the troops twice since the shutdown began on Oct. 1, the process has been fraught with anxiety for many Americans in uniform and their loved ones. Both times, they were left hanging until the last minute.

Trump administration limits number of refugees to 7,500 and they’re mostly white South Africans

The Trump administration is restricting the number of refugees it admits into the country to 7,500 and they will mostly be white South Africans, a dramatic drop after the U.S. previously allowed in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and persecution from around the world.

The administration published the news Thursday in a notice on the Federal Register.

No reason was given for the numbers, which are a dramatic decrease from last year’s ceiling set under the Biden administration of 125,000. The Associated Press previously reported that the administration was considering admitting as few as 7,500 refugees and mostly white South Africans.

The memo said only that the admission of the 7,500 refugees during 2026 fiscal year was “justified by humanitarian concerns or is otherwise in the national interest.”

▶ Read more about refugee admissions

Vance and Duffy will hold roundtable to discuss shutdown impacts on aviation

Vice President JD Vance will lead the closed-door meeting at the White House on Thursday, according to a White House official who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to share details of the meeting.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has warned in recent days that flight delays could grow as air traffic controllers who are missing paychecks because of the shutdown call out sick. Duffy and Vance will be joined at the roundtable by former New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, and leaders from the aviation industry, according to the official.

— Michelle L. Price

Cuba hawk Rubio says US ready to help Cuban people recover from Hurricane Melissa

Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the United States is ready to help the Cuban people recover from devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa despite long-standing hostility between Washington and Havana, the U.S. emargo on the communist island nation and Rubio’s own harsh criticism of the Cuban government.

In a statement released Thursday, Rubio said the State Department is issuing “a Declaration of Humanitarian Assistance for Cuba and is prepared to provide immediate humanitarian assistance directly and via local partners who can most effectively deliver it to those in need.”

He noted that current U.S. law allows for exemptions on exports to Cuba that include private donations of food, medicine, other humanitarian goods to Cuba and disaster response.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials said several dozen disaster relief workers and urban search and rescue teams are being deployed to Caribbean nations affected by the storm but didn’t mention Cuba.

US sanctions alleged human smuggling network operating out of Mexico

Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on a Cancun-based human smuggling organization that has allegedly smuggled thousands of people from Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Asia into the U.S.

Bhardwaj Human Smuggling Organization and its leader Vikrant Bhardwaj and a group of firms are also accused of being involved in drug trafficking, bribery, and money laundering.

Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said the Trump administration “will continue to target and dismantle terrorist transnational criminal organizations to protect the American people.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson says the shutdown ‘has to end’

Johnson, a Republican, says it’s no surprise talks are picking up in the Senate on ways to end the government shutdown, particularly with SNAP food aid about to end Saturday.

“We’re just fed up with it,” he said at his daily news conference at the Capitol, on day 30 of the shutdown. “Turn this thing back on.”

The speaker has kept the House out of legislative session for more than a month, a remarkable closure preventing other business during the shutdown.

US stocks mixed as Wall Street sees both good and bad in Big Tech profits, US-China relations

The U.S. stock market is drifting around its record heights Thursday, as Wall Street sifts through mixed developments on everything from the U.S.-China trade war to profits for Big Tech behemoths.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% and edged a bit further from its all-time high set Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 199 points, or 0.5%, as of 10 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.6% from its record set the day before.

Stocks also dipped in Europe, following a mixed finish in Asia, coming off a much anticipated meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies. President Trump hailed his talk with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, as a “12” on a scale of zero to 10, and Trump said he would cut tariffs on China. But while the talks may offer some stability for the near term, major tensions remain between the two countries.

▶ Read more about the financial markets

Trump’s schedule for Thursday

The president is en route back to Washington and is expected to arrive a little after 3 p.m. ET. This evening, he and first lady Melania Trump will host the annual Halloween parade at the White House.

Xi agreed to buy 25 million metric tons of soybeans annually for next 3 years, Bessent says

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added that as part of the deal President Trump struck with Xi, China will start by purchasing 12 million metric tons of soybeans from the U.S. between now and January.

“So you know, our great soybean farmers, who the Chinese used as political pawns, that’s off the table, and they should prosper in the years to come,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria.”

New Trump administration rule bars student loan relief for public workers tied to ‘illegal’ activity

The Trump administration is forging ahead with plans to eject some nonprofits from a popular student loan forgiveness program if their work is deemed to have a “substantial illegal purpose” — a move that could cut off some teachers, doctors and other public workers from federal loan cancellation.

New rules finalized Thursday give the Education Department expanded power to ban organizations from the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. The Trump administration calls it necessary to block taxpayer money from lawbreakers. Critics say it turns the program into a tool of political retribution.

Set to take effect in July, the policy is aimed primarily at organizations that work with immigrants and transgender youth.

It grants the education secretary power to exclude groups from the program if they engage in activities including the trafficking or “chemical castration” of children, illegal immigration and supporting terrorist organizations. “Chemical castration” is defined as using hormone therapy or drugs that delay puberty — gender-affirming care common for transgender children or teens.

▶ Read more about the Trump administration and student loans

Surgeon general nominee goes into labor, delaying confirmation hearing

A Senate hearing for Trump’s surgeon general pick, Casey Means, has been postponed because she went into labor.

The news from a spokesperson for the Senate health committee comes just hours before Means was scheduled to appear virtually before the committee for her confirmation hearing. It wasn’t immediately clear when the hearing would be rescheduled.

Means, a Stanford-educated physician-turned-wellness influencer, has been expecting her first child.

Trade takeaways from Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping

1. Rolling back tariffs: Trump told reporters while heading home on Air Force One that he had agreed to cut his 20% tariff increase, imposed over China’s role in producing fentanyl and chemicals used to make it, to 10%. China confirmed that it will take average tariffs on Chinese goods to 47%, down from 57%. The two sides agreed to continue to work on cracking down on illicit flows of the drug into the U.S.

2. Sales of computer chips to China: Trump said he discussed U.S. sales of computer chips to China. Trump and former President Joe Biden had imposed restrictions on access to the most advanced chips such as those used for artificial intelligence. China will speak with Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia about purchasing its computer chips, he said. That won’t include its next-generation Blackwell AI chip, he said, “but a lot of the chips.”

3. U.S. soybeans and other farm exports: Trump said the Chinese side has committed to buying “a tremendous amount” of American soybeans, sorghum and other farm products. The Chinese side did not provide any details.

4. No TikTok deal yet: Beijing said it will work with the Trump administration to resolve issues related to TikTok’s ownership.

China and the U.S. to pause tit-for-tat port fee measures for a year

China’s Commerce Ministry said on Thursday that the U.S. will pause its measures under its Section 301 investigation against China’s shipbuilding and maritime industries for one year.

It said China will pause its relevant countermeasures against the U.S. for a year in response after the U.S. suspensions take effect.

The U.S. imposed new port fees on Chinese-owned or -operated ships calling at American ports from Oct. 14 resulting from its Section 301 investigation, which it said found China’s practices in maritime and shipbuilding were “unreasonable” and a burden to American commerce.

Beijing, in response, slapped retaliatory port fees largely mirroring the U.S. fees on American vessels calling at Chinese ports that came into effect the same day.

Separately, China’s Commerce Ministry also said it will “properly” resolve TikTok related issues with the U.S.

Atomic bombings survivors in Japan denounce Trump's nuclear test comments

Japanese survivors of U.S. atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end World War II condemned Trump’s comments Thursday suggesting the U.S. will restart testing of its nuclear weapons.

“The act vehemently opposes all countries that are endeavoring to achieve a nuclear-free and peaceful world and absolutely could not be tolerated,” said Jiro Hamasumi, secretary general of Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots organization of the survivors that won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.

The group demanded in a statement that the U.S. respond to calls for nuclear disarmament and take a leadership role in the movement.

China calls on US to refrain from nuclear weapon tests

Foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in Beijing that China hopes the U.S. will fulfill its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and honor its commitments to suspend nuclear tests.

His comment came in response to a social media post by Trump that suggested the U.S. might resume the tests.

Trump made the post minutes before the highly anticipated meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea.

China says it will suspend rare earth controls for one year

China has agreed to suspend its new export control restrictions on rare earth minerals for one year and study and refine them, the Commerce Ministry said.

In return, the U.S. will suspend for one year a rule that expanded its controls to all subsidiaries that are at least 50% owned by Chinese companies on an export control list.

The two moves in the U.S.-China trade war had alarmed companies globally.

The ministry statement didn’t mention rare earths by name, but said that China would suspend measures announced on Oct. 9, when the rare earth restrictions came out.

Chinese Commerce Ministry confirms tariff reduction

China confirmed Trump’s comment that the U.S. would slash the fentanyl-related tariff rate by 10 percentage points in a statement from the Commerce Ministry.

It also said that both sides would extend a temporary tariff rate pause on each other for a year.

The pause was initially announced in May after both sides threatened each other with sky high rates.

Xi calls for cooperation on AI and immigration

Xi, stressing that dialogue is better than confrontation, listed a range of issues where China and the U.S. could work together, including combating illegal immigration and telecom fraud, anti-money laundering efforts, artificial intelligence and infectious disease response.

He called for more dialogue and exchange on these potential areas of cooperation.

He also said the U.S. and China should have positive interactions on the global stage that demonstrate their responsibility as major powers to achieve positive results for their countries and the world.

He noted that China will host the APEC leaders meeting and the U.S., the Group of 20 summit, next year.

Xi calls on both sides to finalize consensus on trade

The first official Chinese comment on the meeting suggested any deal is not done.

Xi noted that negotiating teams from both countries had reached a consensus, a likely reference to talks held in Malaysia last weekend, according to a report on the meeting distributed by state media.

The Chinese leader said the teams should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that will provide “peace of mind” to China, the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The recent twists and turns in the relationship offer lessons for the U.S. and China, Xi said.

“Both sides should take the long-term perspective into account, focusing on the benefits of cooperation rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation,” he said, according to the report.

China's views on Trump's tariffs

There was no immediate comment from China on the results of the meeting, but the fentanyl-related tariffs have been a particular sticking point.

China saw them as an act of bad faith because it had been working with the Biden administration on tightening its controls over the flow of the ingredients for the drug to Mexico.

Trump demanded that China do more.

A look at past Trump-Xi meetings

Thursday's meeting between the U.S. and Chinese leaders in Busan, South Korea, ran about an hour and 40 minutes, fairly similar in length to some of their meetings during Trump’s first term.

Their last meeting six years ago at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka, Japan, was under an hour and a half, as Trump went from his meeting with Xi straight to a separate sit-down with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

At a separate G20 summit — this time in 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina — Trump and Xi met for a dinner that ran more than two hours.

Their two meetups in 2017 were more elaborate. First, Trump invited Xi to Mar-a-Lago, his south Florida club and residence, for two days of discussions in April of that year.

Xi then returned the favor later that November when he welcomed Trump for a lavish state visit that included an arrival ceremony, a private tour of the Forbidden City as well as a dinner there, a military parade and a state banquet.

Asian markets are lower despite Trump comments on trade with China

Trump’s meeting with Xi appeared to draw an initially skeptical reaction from investors despite Trump’s upbeat comments to reporters afterward.

Chinese share prices fell back when markets reopened after their midday break Thursday.

Share prices retreated across the region, with Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 down 0.3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sinking 0.7%.

The Shanghai Composite index lost 0.7%.

U.S. futures and oil prices also declined.

Trump says nuclear testing ‘will be announced’ but doesn’t offer any more details

The president, while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, seemed to be conflating the testing of missiles that deliver a nuclear warhead and the testing of nuclear weapons.

Trump said that other countries “seem to all be nuclear testing” but when it comes to the U.S., “We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don’t do testing.”

The U.S. tests its missiles, as does China and Russia. But the U.S. has not done an explosion test on its nuclear warheads since 1992 and no country outside of North Korea has done those tests on their weapons since the 1990s.

“I see them testing and I say, well, if they’re going to test, I guess we have to test,” Trump said.

Trump was asked where the tests would occur and he said, “It’ll be announced. We have test sites.”

Tariffs on Chinese exports are now 47%, Trump says

The new rate comes from Trump deciding not to move forward with his latest tariff threat, which would have created a 157% levy.

Trump decided to reduce the current rate from 57% to 47% because China agreed to help more on reducing the flow of fentanyl ingredients.

Trump says he’ll work with Xi on Ukraine war

“We’re both going to work together to see if we can get something done,” he said.

However, Trump suggested that “there’s not a lot more we can do.”

He said, “The sides are locked in, fighting, and sometimes you’ve got to let them fight, I guess.”

Trump said they did not discuss China’s purchase of Russian oil, which boosts Moscow’s economy during the conflict.

China and Nvidia will talk about chips, Trump says

The U.S. president said China will speak with Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia about purchasing their computer chips.

“We make great chips,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “Nvidia’s the leader.”

It wouldn’t include the next-generation Blackwell AI chip, “but a lot of the chips,” Trump said.

Trump says he’d return for a Kim Jong Un meeting

The U.S. president, speaking with reporters after departing South Korea, said he did not connect with the North Korean leader during his Asia trip.

He stressed that the two leaders maintained a good relationship and said he’d be willing to return for a Kim visit.

“I’d come back with respect to Kim Jong Un,” Trump said.

The two men met three times during Trump’s first term.

A thaw with Canada?

Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shared a dinner table last night in Gyeongju, where there were both visiting.

“We had a very nice conversation with him last night,” Trump said.

The president has been angry at Canada, even increasing tariffs, because of a critical television advertisement about his trade policy.

Trump says Taiwan wasn’t discussed

There was speculation ahead of the meeting that Xi would push Trump to reduce U.S. support for the self-governing island of Taiwan, which China views as part of its territory. But Trump said they didn’t talk about it.

“Taiwan never came up,” he said.

Trump updates his travel plans

The president said he would go to China in April, and then Xi would visit the U.S. after that.

It’s the most specific he’s been about plans for next steps between the two leaders.

Trump says he’s reached deals with Xi

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said China would end restrictions on rare earth exports and buy American soybeans.

He also said the U.S. would reduce tariffs that were implemented earlier this year as punishment for the flow of fentanyl ingredients.

When discussing how he would rate the meeting on a scale from 1 to 10, Trump said it would be a 12.