This Week in the World Affairs Brief

XI ROLLS OUT THE RED CARPET FOR TRUMP

Trump and his team doesn’t realize it, but history will look back at summits like this one and realize just how high the stakes really were, and how slight the possibility of real success there is for America, in the long term. I’m reminded of other high stakes summits in history. Like the disastrous meeting between FDR and Stalin in Yalta, during WWII. Roosevelt bent over backward to please “uncle Joe,” and turned over all of Eastern Europe to the future control of Soviet Communism. FDR and now Trump fail to realize that Communism is a deadly existential enemy, and their leaders are feigning moderation and will tell you everything you want to hear, as long as they get their way. Trump traveled to Beijing with an entourage of the rich and famous in order to lavish China with future trade deals and hopes to gain China’s help in bringing Iran to heel. Advanced trade with China will be easy, but Xi has his own much bigger ambitions and hopes to mimic Putin’s success in winning Trump over to his side. He also wants to stop Trump from giving advanced weapons to the country they will invade—in this case, Taiwan. But Xi also wants to restore his Iranian oil supply. China’s current president-for-life was the first global tyrant to discover how susceptible Trump was to flattery in Xi’s visit to Mar-a-Lago during Trump’s first term. He promptly tutored Kim Jong Un on how to fool Trump and Kim played as if Trump won him over as a “friend.” By the time Trump visited North Korea, Kim knew he could keep his nuclear program, and has grown it rapidly since. In this latest iteration of Communists fooling a US president, Xi is pulling out all the stops and giving Trump a red carpet welcome no other head of state has seen before. It’s working; Trump came away believing, like Neville Chamberlain before, that he has secured “Peace in our Time” with Red China. To receive a free, one-time sample of this brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.

Also:
  • What Happened to Trump’s Proposal to Iran Last Week?
  • Trump is Being Talked into Two Big Mistakes

Daily News

US And China Agree To Establish Trade And Investment Boards As Trump-Xi Summit Delivers Modest Wins

ZeroHedge

U.S. and Chinese leaders agreed to establish a new "Board of Trade" and a parallel "Board of Investment" during President Donald Trump’s two-day visit to Beijing - a summit that ended much as it began: with significant pageantry, warm personal rapport between the leaders, and modest, incremental progress on trade. The new boards aim to oversee bilateral purchases, manage trade differences, facilitate deals in non-sensitive sectors (with roughly $30 billion in goods identified), and provide a standing channel to prevent future escalations without constant high-level intervention.

"Send Us A Tip": U.S. Dangles $15 Million Reward For New Intel On Iran's Drone Network

ZeroHedge

There is little doubt that Iran's Shahed drone threat has become a major concern, menacing surrounding Gulf states, commercial tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and U.S. bases across the region. This backdrop helps explain why the State Department's Rewards for Justice program has now put up to $15 million for new information in connection with an already sanctioned Iranian drone-production network linked to the IRGC-Qods Force.

Bessent's "Suffocating" Iranian Regime Strategy Materializes In Kharg Island Satellite Imagery

ZeroHedge

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's description of "suffocating" the Iranian regime through economic and financial pressure, whether via sanctions or the US military blockade of the world's most critical maritime chokepoint, now appears to be showing up in the data. New geospatial intelligence indicates that Iran's main crude export terminal has gone quiet, while a separate report suggests seaborne oil exports have effectively been halted for the past month.

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary Resigns

The Epoch Times

Makary wrote in a text to Trump that he was resigning, effective Tuesday. Makary did not provide a reason for the resignation. Makary “was having some difficulty, but he’s going to go on, and he’s going to do well,” Trump told reporters outside the White House in Washington. “So much was accomplished under his leadership. He was a hard worker, who was respected by all, and will go on to have an outstanding career in Medicine,” the president added in another social media post. Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food, will be the acting FDA commissioner, according to Trump. Trump declined to say whether Makary resigned or was fired.

Iran Specifies 5 Demands To Restart Peace Talks With US

ZeroHedge

Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem has listed the following five conditions that it sees as the basis for reentering talks: Ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon Lifting all sanctions Releasing frozen Iranian assets Compensation for war damages and losses Recognition of Iran’s sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz

Trump Mulls Renewed Military Action As Ceasefire "On Life Support"; Treasury Again Targets Iran's Oil To China

ZeroHedge

US President blasts 'piece of garbage' Iran response, says ceasefire on 'life support', reportedly mulls renewed military action; US Treasury imposes yet more sanctions. Trump mulls restarting Project Freedom in Hormuz and says forcibly retrieving 'nuclear dust' is still on the table, oil jumps on headline. Iran Foreign Ministry: "Everything we proposed in the text was reasonable and generous." However, US officials insist on their "unreasonable demands." Saudi Arabia condemns Iran for its latest drone attacks targeting the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait on Sunday. Qatari LNG tanker abruptly U-Turns In Hormuz chokepoint after earlier in weekend an initial one made it through - an unprecedented first for a Qatari tanker of the war. Israeli reservist killed in Hezbollah drone attack on northern Israel as Lebanon war intensifies.

Hegseth: Senator Mark Kelly Revealed Classified Information on US Munitions Stockpiles

American Greatness

“I think it’s fair to say it’s shocking how deep we have gone into these magazines,” Kelly said, arguing that the United States had exhausted significant amounts of military hardware without a clearly defined strategy. “Because of that, we’ve expended a lot of munitions, and that means the American people are less safe.” Kelly also warned that diminished stockpiles could affect America’s ability to respond to future conflicts, including a potential confrontation involving China in the Pacific region.

Nick Shirley Shares More About His 24 Hours in Cuba

PJ Media

"... Your salary is only enough to buy a bottle of cooking oil. How do you think you can live like that? How can you live with a ration book that only gives you one or three pounds of sugar and one pound of salt? And there, every fifteen, every four, six months, seven years, they give you a chicken breast or an egg. The egg hasn't come for a year. It's been a year since we last had eggs. Imagine that."

Hantavirus: Stop the Spread Is Back

Brownstone

Let’s remember how this began last year, with of course, a hantavirus death in the family of one of America’s most beloved Hollywood actors. It was Betsy Arakawa, Gene Hackman’s wife, who died February 12, 2025, from apparent hantavirus infection from rodents in the home. Terrifying image. At that point, no regular person had ever heard of such a disease. There is a reason. It’s rare and human-to-human spread is nearly unknown.

Iran Publicly Discloses Supreme Leader's Status For First Time: 'Marginally Injured'

ZeroHedge

The Iranian government has for the first time officially weighed in on the health of new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was injured in the opening strikes of Trump's Operation Epic Fury, which killed the younger Khamenei's father and wife. "A government official claimed Khamenei, who hasn't been seen in public since that attack, is now in good health,"

North Korea’s Nuclear Arsenal Nearing Point Where It Could Overwhelm US Missile Defenses

Defense News

April 29, 2026 : North Korea’s continued expansion of its nuclear weapons program and long-range missile capabilities is approaching a level that could challenge the operational limits of the United States’ homeland missile defense system, according to a recent analysis published by Bloomberg. The assessment indicates that a combination of increasing warhead production, a growing inventory of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), and technological advancements in delivery systems is shifting Pyongyang’s posture from a minimal deterrent toward a more scalable strike capability.

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