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Wednesday, October 29, 2025

Trump With Japan Prime Minister Takaichi: A New Chapter for a Strategic Alliance

The President’s meeting with the new Prime Minister who’s been dubbed the Iron Lady of Japan bore fruit in a deal over rare earth minerals and a powerful image of a defense alliance that Takaichi knows is more critical now than ever. Financial Times: Speaking beside Trump aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Takaichi warned that the two allies faced an “unprecedented severe security environment”. Stressing that “peace cannot be preserved by words alone,” Takaichi, a security hawk who took office last week, said Japan was “ready to contribute even more proactively to peace and stability in the region”….. Trump and Takaichi also signed a deal to secure the supply of rare earths and critical minerals and to invest in mining and processing, as part of a push to reduce reliance on China. Under the deal, the allies will create a rapid response group to identify priority minerals and supply vulnerabilities and to create a plan to accelerate the delivery of processed minerals (FT).

Tomorrow: Trump to Meet With China’s Xi in Seoul

It will be the first meeting of Trump and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader in his second term. CNBC: U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this week as part of his trip to Asia, as the world’s top two economies seek to dial down tensions in search of a trade deal that has so far been elusive (CNBC). What can we expect? Niall Ferguson: it will be a truce in the “battle of the choke points” that had escalated in recent weeks. In essence, we can expect a respite in the complex conflict over supply chains that pits China’s near-monopoly over rare-earth elements against the American control over the supply of the most sophisticated semiconductors…. Yet a lasting détente is unlikely to last so long as Beijing’s Damocles’ sword of rare-earth export restrictions hangs over the U.S. and its allies. For that reason, even without U.S. concessions on tariffs or export controls, Beijing is likely to exit the meeting strengthened. If so, it will be difficult to avoid the conclusion that, in the battle of the choke points, Beijing now has escalation dominance (Free Press).

The President’s Opportunity to Play “Trump Card” for Jimmy Lai

Jimmy Lai is the pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong and the founder of Apple Daily newspaper who has been imprisoned since 2020. William McGurn: Mr. Trump is the only one who can get the 77-year-old Mr. Lai, arguably the world’s best-known political prisoner, out of jail. That point is also the gist of the bipartisan letter, signed by 33 Republicans and five Democrats. It points out that this week’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea gives President Trump the perfect opportunity. The senators put it this way: “We have deep respect for your outspoken advocacy for Mr. Lai. You understand the urgency of his plight: a devout Catholic, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather; and an ardent campaigner for freedom. Now, after almost five years in solitary confinement, Mr. Lai’s trial under Hong Kong’s National Security Law is coming to an end, but time is not on his side—he must be released immediately.” No one else can do it. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the British have raised the issue—Mr. Lai is a British citizen. But the British need Mr. Trump’s help to get him out (Wall Street Journal).

China Pursuing Pro-Democracy Advocates Abroad

In the wake of the purge of pro-democracy activists in 2020, China has gone on the hunt. John Sexton of Hot Air: China hasn’t forgotten and is still looking to punish some of the pro-democracy voices who managed to escape their grasp at the time. Today the Washington Post has a story about one effort that took place in the UK, where thousands of former residents of Hong Kong escaped during the Chinese crackdown: “In 2020, after pro-democracy protests erupted across the city, Hong Kong passed a ‘National Security Law’ modeled on China’s approach that criminalized virtually any conduct deemed subversive or separatist. Three years later, Hong Kong police began announcing million-dollar bounties in Hong Kong currency — roughly 130,000 U.S. dollars — for information leading to the apprehension anywhere in the world of alleged fugitives accused of “inciting secession” or colluding with perceived enemies. Most of those on the bounties list are pro-democracy activists who played important roles in the 2019 protests before fleeing to other countries including the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. Hong Kong added 15 names to the list in July, a move denounced by the United States, Britain and other Western governments. Because of its unique status as a haven for Hong Kong exiles, Britain faces a particularly daunting security challenge. Since 2021, more than 180,000 Hong Kong nationals have moved to the U.K. under a special visa program that Britain created as an escape hatch for its former subjects.” … In any case, Hong Kong now behaves identically to mainland China, pursuing dissidents for life no matter where they are and using authority they don’t possess on foreign soil to harass and threaten them (Hot Air).

Democrats Reject Effort to Reopen Government for 13th Time

In a 54-45 vote—with all 45 votes against passing the continuing resolution coming from Democrats. Americans are going to start feeling the pain. The Hill Reports: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are days away from running out, and the largest federal worker union has called for a deal. Ten GOP senators signed on to back Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) bill to fund SNAP as the government shutdown threatens a program lapse in November. Meanwhile, one GOP senator is floating a plan to pay furloughed and essential workers. Some Democrats have signaled they are open to backing the plan (The Hill). Ed Morrissey: the Senate Majority Leader claims he has been told that “several” Senate Dems have become desperate to end the game of chicken Chuck Schumer is playing with the shutdown. The numbers from Harry Enten are bad enough, but the prospect of cutting off food stamps and another paycheck for the bureaucratic class that supports them has Schumer’s crew looking for an exit…. Thune’s right. Schumer has marched Senate Democrats into a box canyon, and maybe even right into the Valley Of Political Death. At least thus far, Schumer has risked the ire of the bureaucratic class and the poor he claims to protect, but he’s risking their economic health to attempt a repeal of the reconciliation bill’s reforms — which had been more or less a dead issue with voters. No one cares about shutdowns either until the money gets cut off, at which point the beneficiaries will get very, very angry … and not with the party offering a clean CR while budget negotiations continue…. All Thune needs is eight Senate Democrats to sound off and end debate. How many will cross the aisle tomorrow? (Hot Air).

Mamdani: “greatest threat to global Jewry of the 21st century”

New York City is home to nearly one million Jews. David Christopher Kaufman—a former New York Post editor sends a warning: At the center of this threat isn’t Mamdani’s paper-trail of well-known anti-Israel slams — such as his reluctance to condemn Hamas or murderous calls to “globalize the intifada.” This is standard progressive language of the cosmopolitan, Millennial elite of which Mamdani is now the best-known caricature. What makes Mamdani so dangerous is his masterful ability to use Jews to convince other Jews he’s not antisemitic. More odious still is how he’s used this tactic to manipulate no other minority besides Jews. The most insidious element of woke culture is how it convinces perfectly reasonable people to act against their own best interests. And when it comes to New York City’s mayoral race and New York City’s Jews, this is exactly what Zohran Mamdani is counting on (YNET).

Israel Strikes Hamas After Terror Group Violates Ceasefire

Axios: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he had ordered “powerful strikes in the Gaza Strip immediately” in retaliation for what Israeli officials say was a Hamas attack on Israeli forces in the city of Rafah. The Israel Defense Forces claimed Hamas militants fired anti-tank missiles and conducted sniper fire on Tuesday against Israeli forces in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Between the lines: Before the Rafah incident, Nentayahu had already consulted with Israel’s military leaders about taking new military action in Gaza over alleged ceasefire violations by Hamas related to the returning of deceased hostages. Israeli officials told Axios that Netanyahu was seeking to get in touch with Trump — who is traveling in East Asia — to seek a green light for a military response. But the events in Rafah appear to have changed Netanyahu’s calculus (Axios). Catherine Salgado of PJ Media: Hamas has slow-rolled or outright broken provisions of the Donald Trump- and Qatar-brokered ceasefire and peace deal multiple times, including by repeatedly firing on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and dragging out the release of murdered hostages’ remains. Israel Foreign Ministry: Hamas lies. They know where the remaining hostages are. Staged excavations are not only abusive – these violations endanger the ceasefire. Drone footage shows Hamas moving & reburying body remains – then staging a false discovery for the Red Cross to witness” (PJ Media).

Elite Media Propping Up Hamas

Tom Gross in the Spectator: Hamas’s survival was achieved not only through its remaining fighters and its holding of hostages, but also thanks to a chorus of western apologists. A coalition of so-called progressives and professional activists has excused, rationalised and defended the group’s actions across universities and in newspaper editorials. The BBC, Sky, the Guardian, the FT and the New York Times have all parroted Hamas talking points…. From the outset, even before Israeli troops had entered Gaza, Hamas’s operatives and sympathisers in the West were shouting about ‘genocide’ and ‘famine’. It was a propaganda trap – and the western media walked right into it…. The good news? Large swaths of the British public aren’t buying it…. Unlike some intellectuals, they don’t lose all logic the moment the word ‘Israel’ is uttered. As George Orwell once quipped: ‘You must be an intellectual. Only an intellectual could believe something quite so stupid.’ Today, he might have aimed that line at Guardian readers or BBC news staff. In this war, it is not Israel or even Hamas that has lost its purpose, but the media (Spectator).

House Oversight Committee Recommends DOJ Inquiry on Autopen Scandal

Washington Times reports: A monthslong House investigation has concluded that President Biden “was losing command of himself” while in office and was not personally involved in many of the pardons, commutations and other executive actions signed by an autopen. The Oversight and Government Reform Committee asked the Justice Department to “address the legal consequences” of House investigators’ conclusion, which “deems void” executive actions and clemency warrants signed by the autopen during the Biden administration that do not include documentation proving the president made the decision. “The Committee requests that you investigate all executive actions taken during the Biden Administration to ascertain whether they were duly authorized by the President of the United States,” Chairman James Comer wrote (Washington Times). Just the News: “The Biden Autopen Presidency will go down as one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. As Americans saw President Biden’s decline with their own eyes, Biden’s inner circle sought to deceive the public, cover-up his decline, and took unauthorized executive actions with the autopen that are now invalid,” House Oversight Chairman James Comer said in a statement (Just the News).

10.

As AI Takes Root, Tens of Thousands of Jobs Cut

A leaner corporate America is emerging—with a growing number of people looking for work. Wall Street Journal: The nation’s largest employers have a new message for office workers: help not wanted. Amazon.com said this week that it would cut 14,000 corporate jobs, with plans to eliminate as much as 10% of its white-collar workforce eventually. United Parcel Service UPS 8.00%increase; green up pointing triangle said Tuesday that it had reduced its management workforce by about 14,000 positions over the past 22 months, days after the retailer Target said it would cut 1,800 corporate roles. Earlier in October, white-collar workers from companies including Rivian Automotive, Molson Coors TAP -0.09%decrease; red down pointing triangle, Booz Allen Hamilton and General Motors received pink slips—or learned that they would come soon. Added up, tens of thousands of newly laid off white-collar workers in America are entering a stagnant job market with seemingly no place for them…. A leaner new normal for employment in the U.S. is emerging. Large employers are retrenching, making deep cuts to white-collar positions and leaving fewer opportunities for experienced and new workers who had counted on well-paying office work to support families and fund retirements. Nearly two million people in the U.S. have been without a job for 27 weeks or more, according to recent federal data (Wall Street Journal).

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