12:30 Report is The Hill’s midday newsletter. Subscribe here or in the box below:
It’s Thursday. Don’t forget that clocks are changing this weekend!
In today’s issue:
• Trump, Xi reach trade truce
• President orders nuclear weapons testing
• Top Trump officials move onto military bases
• Food stamp freeze could trigger shutdown off-ramp
• Taco Bell ultramarathon comes to DC
🌏 IN THE WHITE HOUSE
Trump’s good news-bad news day:
Let’s start with the lighter news: President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached a truce on trade in what the U.S. president hailed as an “amazing” 90-minute meeting. The U.S. will scale back tariffs, while China will delay export controls and resume some soybean purchases.
Trump cut fentanyl tariffs in half, while overall import levies on Chinese goods are down from 57 percent to 47 percent. Plus, Trump reached a deal on rare earth minerals. Trump called it a “truly good” meeting. 🔎 Details of the deal
Read more: 5 deals Trump, Xi struck in South Korea
The meeting was held in the shadow of a key nuclear announcement: Shortly before his meeting with Xi in South Korea, Trump instructed the Pentagon to immediately begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with China and Russia, ending more than a 30-year hiatus of the program. 🔎 Read Trump’s directive
For context: Russia claims that it tested its new nuclear-capable cruise missile last week, sparking international condemnation.
➤ RELATED READS:
Analysis in The New York Times:The Art of Letting Trump Claim a Win, While Walking Away Stronger
The Atlantic: Trump Is Very Confused About Nuclear Weapons
Foreign Affairs: America and China Can Have a Normal Relationship
➤ NEW REPORTING — TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS ARE GETTING NEW DIGS:
The Atlantic’s Michael Scherer, Missy Ryan and Ashley Parker report that at least six top officials in the Trump administration are moving onto military bases and into homes that housed senior military officers.
Who?: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and others.
Why?: To be protected from possible political violence and protests.
💡 Why this matters: “It is an ominous marker of the nation’s polarization, to which the Trump administration has itself contributed, that some of those top public servants have felt a need to separate themselves from the public.” Read via The Atlantic
🍇 GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
Are we reaching an off-ramp?:
The effects of the government shutdown are getting dire as tens of millions of Americans prepare to lose food assistance this weekend.
Senators are beginning to feel exasperated by the nearly monthlong impasse, and The Hill’s Alexander Bolton reports they are trying to hammer out a proposal to reopen the government.
Who would blink first?: It could be centrist Democrats, according to Bolton, who reports that these Democrats “argue behind the scenes that their party has successfully highlighted rising health care costs and it’s time to end the stalemate.”
👀 What’s happening on Capitol Hill today?: Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Angus King (I-Maine) were seen walking into Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s (N.Y.) office, per Semafor’s Burgess Everett. Plus, Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) were seen in Senate GOP Leader John Thune’s (S.D.) office.
A date to keep on your radar: Election Day is Tuesday. “Some Democratic senators are privately speculating that if their party does well in the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia scheduled for Tuesday, they can declare a political victory and begin to finalize the endgame for reopening government.”
Read more: ‘Senate GOP, Democrats looking for ‘off-ramp’ to end shutdown next week’
By the way: Members of the U.S. military *will* be paid on Friday by tapping into three separate funding sources.
➤ TIDBIT — THUNE WAS FUMING:
The GOP leader erupted on the Senate floor over the shutdown.
“This isn’t a political game,” Thune yelled. “These are real people’s lives that we’re talking about. And you all just figured out 29 days in that, ‘Oh, there might be some consequences. There are people who’ll run out of money.’” 📹 Watch
👟 CAMPAIGN TRAIL
We’re less than a week away from Election Day:
There’s new polling on key races happening Tuesday.
In New York: New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (D) holds a whopping 25-point lead over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), according to a new Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) bashed Mamdani this morning, calling it a “win for the Marxists.” “Mamdani winning NYC would be the biggest win for the Marxists, the socialists, in the history of this country,” he said.
In New Jersey: Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and former GOP state Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli are essentially tied, per a new Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill poll. Sherrill has 49 percent support and Ciattarelli has 48 percent, but there’s a 3-point margin of error.
Election preview: Decision Desk HQ’s Scott Tranter gave a useful breakdown of key Election Day races. It’s worth watching. 📹 Watch
➤ WHAT AN IMAGE:
Check out this new cover of The Economist: Yes, that’s President Trump and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani standing on the Empire State Building like King Kong. 📸 The cover
➤ A HOUSE CANDIDATE HAS BEEN CHARGED:
A progressive Illinois House candidate has been charged from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protest.
Her two counts: conspiracy to impede or injure an ICE officer and assaulting or impeding them while they engaged in their official duties.
➤ MORE READS:
The Washington Post: U.S. agencies back banning top-selling home routers on security grounds
The Wall Street Journal: How a Billionaire Felon Boosted Trump’s Crypto Company en Route to a Pardon
The Hill: Vance talks UFOs, suggests ‘spiritual forces working on the physical world’
COMING UP
The House is out. The Senate is in. President Trump is en route back to Washington from his Asia trip. (All times EDT)
1:45 p.m. A Senate confirmation vote. 🗓️ Today’s agenda
3:05 p.m. Trump returns to the White House.
5:30 p.m. Trump and first lady Melania Trump participate in the White House Halloween event.
Nov. 4: Election Day.
INTERNET BUZZ
🌽 Celebrate: Today is National Candy Corn Day.
🌮 I love Taco Bell, but this sounds … awful: The Taco Bell 50K is coming to the Washington, D.C., area. Participants must run 31.07 miles, stopping at nine Taco Bell locations to eat at least one menu item. Read more from Washingtonian: ‘A Bizarre Taco Bell-Fueled Ultramarathon Is Coming to DC’
🌀 Holy moly: A scientist at the University of Miami posted video of what it was like to fly through the eyewall of Hurricane Melissa. That is absolutely terrifying, and I’m getting motion sick just watching it. 📹 Watch
AND FINALLY
To leave you feeling festive for Halloween, here’s one of my favorite videos I’ve seen in a while. What a perfect photoshoot. 10/10, no notes.
