'Tale of two readouts': White House statement curiously breaks from China's in taut summit

A White House statement about Trump's discussion with Chinese leader Xi Jinping curiously took on a different tone from what counterparts put out, reporters noticed.

Politico correspondent Phelim Kine posted on X that the White House statement touted discussions of Chinese investment in the United States, fentanyl, the Strait of Hormuz, purchasing oil from the United States, and an agreement that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon.

"A Tale of Two Readouts: Here's what's in the WH readout of the Trump-Xi meeting but conspicuously absent in the Chinese readout: 1. Chinese investment into the U.S. 2. fentanyl 3. Hormuz 4. Chinese purchases of U.S. oil. 5. Agreement that Iran "can never have a nuclear weapon," Kine said.

However, Kine found that any mention of these discussions was "conspicuously absent in the Chinese readout."

Semafor journalist J.D. Capelouto wrote that it "exposed the sharp divides in their foreign policy postures," adding that "experts also noted that Beijing's briefing included a stark warning over Taiwan, which Washington's didn't mention."

Michael Froman, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, also noticed the diverging readouts in a Thursday piece, and wrote that it showed how the summit is "unlikely to alter the character and course of the US-China relationship long-term."

Democrats are fretting as several members of their caucus were absent for a crucial vote on President Donald Trump's war powers in Iran, Axios reported on Thursday.

"Any lawmaker could have tipped the outcome — and half a dozen were absent," noted the report, with Democrats privately raging and one member telling Axios, "People cannot miss votes."

One of the absent lawmakers was 83-year-old Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), who has been absent for weeks due to major eye surgery.

"House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged Wilson in a recent phone call to return to Washington, D.C., as quickly as possible, according to the senior House Democrat and another source familiar with the matter," said the report. "'You've got to come. The numbers are too small,' the Democratic leader said, referring to Republicans' narrow House majority."

Wilson reportedly told him she will be back next Wednesday.

Democrats are not alone in being frustrated by absences. The GOP has also seen several, and one member, Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ), has been missing for months due to an unspecified medical illness that even Republican leadership hasn't been informed of.

All of this comes amid mounting pressure on Trump to end the war, particularly as it has gone past the 60-day deadline that gives Congress authority to disapprove.

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President Donald Trump is expected to drop his massive, $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, but not for reasons some might expect, according to a new report.

ABC News reported on Thursday that Trump plans to drop the lawsuit in exchange for creating a $1.7 billion fund that he can use to pay allies who claim they were wrongfully targeted by the Biden administration. Those allies include recently pardoned Jan. 6 rioters like the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers, as well as lawmakers who were investigated by Biden's Department of Justice.

"The settlement terms are expected to prohibit Trump from directly receiving payments related to those three legal claims; however, entities associated with Trump are not explicitly barred from filing additional claims," the report reads in part.

Trump initially sued the IRS for $10 billion, claiming the agency should have done more to prevent his tax returns from being released during his first administration. The lawsuit raised conflict-of-interest concerns among some political analysts and observers because the IRS is an executive agency that Trump oversees.

A Trump spokesperson told ABC News that the IRS has "wrongfully" allowed a "rogue" employee to leak Trump's tax returns.

"The arrangement would be an unprecedented use of taxpayer dollars with little oversight," the report reads. "Under the terms of the potential settlement agreement, President Trump would have the authority to remove members of the commission running the fund without cause, and the commission would be under no obligation to disclose its procedures or decision-making process for awarding more than a billion dollars, the sources said."

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Tensions flared during Trump's visit to Beijing on Thursday as Chinese officials tried to disarm one of his Secret Service agents outside an historic site, according to reports.

The New York Post described the scene outside the Temple of Heaven, where "Chinese officials refused to admit a Secret Service agent accompanying the presidential press pool into the secure area because the agent was carrying a firearm."

With a press pool around them, the agent refused to disarm, and the American delegation didn't want to leave one of their own behind, which led to "the Chinese version of a Mexican standoff," the Post wrote. "After a thirty-minute delay and many arguments, another Secret Service agent who had already been cleared to proceed was summoned to escort reporters inside while the first agent stayed behind."

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy described it as a "very physical standoff." He also suggested it wasn't an isolated incident, adding that "there have been some heated and physical clashes between the Secret Service and the Chinese police at basically the backdoors of these events."

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