Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomes Trump with a lavish ceremony, then warns him about Taiwan. Concerns arise over a munitions shortfall for the U.S. as the war in Iran continues. And a juror in Alex Murdaugh’s murder trial said she’s shocked that the verdict was overturned.
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Here’s what to know today.
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned of “clashes and even conflicts” with the U.S., cautioning President Donald Trump that tensions over the island of Taiwan could jeopardize ties between the world’s two biggest economies.
The stark warning was delivered as the two leaders met for high-stakes talks in Beijing at the start of their two-day summit. It contrasted with the public praise offered by both men as they arrived for a grand welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital.
The rival superpowers entered the summit divided over thorny issues including Taiwan, trade disputes and the Iran war. But after a turbulent few months when Trump returned to office last year, Washington and Beijing have appeared to prioritize stability in a relationship often described as the world’s most consequential.
One potential threat to that stability is Taiwan, which Xi stressed to Trump is the most important issue in U.S.-China relations, according to a Chinese readout. If the issue is handled properly, the relationship can remain “generally stable,” said the readout, from China’s foreign ministry. “Otherwise, the two countries will have clashes and even conflicts, putting their entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Xi is said to have told Trump.
Both leaders are meanwhile seeking to extend a fragile trade truce reached last October when they met in South Korea.
Read the full story here.
Later, at a state banquet for Trump hosted by Xi, the U.S. president said that he had held “extremely positive and productive conversations and meetings today.” Follow our coverage from Beijing on our liveblog.
More coverage from the Beijing summit:
- Young Chinese facing “life pressure” are resisting the government’s push to marry.
- A judge told Elon Musk he wasn’t excused from the ongoing trial with OpenAI. He went to China with Trump anyway.
The Pentagon has no new munitions contracts amid concerns about a weapons shortage
A shortage of weapons has raised alarm inside the Trump administration, two U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter said, as the war with Iran pushes the Defense Department’s munition stocks to dangerously low levels and the Pentagon has yet to sign new contracts to replenish its supplies.
Without new contracts, U.S. defense companies may not be able to make up the shortfall of munitions for many years, according to the U.S. officials and a recent study from a Washington think tank. And without a replenished stockpile, the Pentagon may not be able to sustain many more months of operations in the Middle East, the sources said, and any new conflict in Asia could present significant challenges.
Find out how much funding Congress would need to approve to begin restoring the stockpile.
More politics news:
- The Senate approved Kevin Warsh as the chair of the Federal Reserve, but intensifying inflation could make it difficult to push through the interest rate cuts that Trump demanded.
- Vice President JD Vance announced that the Trump administration is withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid payments to California and is threatening to suspend funding from all 50 states if they don’t aggressively prosecute fraud in their programs.
- Political organizer Denise Powell has won the Democratic nomination in Nebraska’s 2nd District, setting up a matchup against Republican Brinker Harding in a top House battleground.
- A group of Miami residents sued to stop Trump’s presidential library from occupying a prime waterfront property in the city.
Murdaugh juror expresses shock at overturned verdict
A juror in Alex Murdaugh’s double murder trial called the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision to overturn his conviction “crazy,” saying she never thought the county clerk accused of improperly influencing the jury had done so. “I never felt that the clerk of court was pushing an agenda or trying to push me to come to a certain verdict,” Amie Williams said. “Never felt that way about her at all.”
But in a unanimous opinion, South Carolina’s five Supreme Court justices agreed that Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill “egregiously attacked” Murdaugh’s credibility. The opinion cited a juror who said that Hill told the panel to “not be fooled” by the evidence presented by Murdaugh’s attorneys and that the comments influenced her to find Murdaugh guilty.
The latest twist in a winding legal saga comes two years after Murdaugh was convicted in the slayings of his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Murdaugh, and their 22-year-old son, Paul Murdaugh.
Why the overturned verdict doesn’t mean Murdaugh will walk free.
Shakira, Madonna, BTS to headline World Cup final’s first-ever halftime show
Madonna, Shakira and K-pop sensations BTS will headline the first-ever halftime show at a FIFA World Cup final, organizers said. The acts will make history when they take the stage at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
Coldplay singer and halftime show curator Chris Martin, with the help of furry Sesame Street friend Elmo, made the announcement in a video.
The world’s premier soccer event, which will be held across the U.S., Mexico and Canada, kicks off June 11.
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- Utah grief author Kouri Richins was sentenced to life in prison without parole in her husband’s fentanyl death on what would have been his 44th birthday.
- A man pleaded guilty to repeatedly ramming his car into the Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in New York City, telling a judge he did so because he was intent on damaging the Jewish landmark.
- Generic versions of Ozempic are being released around the world. But the U.S. will have to wait until at least 2031.
- Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has been accused of showing “rank political favoritism” in a DUI case involving his college friend’s wife.
Staff Pick: Inside Russia’s push to recruit students as drone pilots
Russia needs people to keep its war in Ukraine going. With drone warfare increasingly becoming a crucial aspect of it, the Kremlin is looking to universities and colleges to lure in students to fill in the ranks of its drone pilots. We spoke with several students who told NBC News that they were invited to attend promotional events at their universities to join Russia’s newly launched drone force. One told us that he and his fellow students were promised high salaries, no frontline duty and a return to their studies within a year — with free tuition. “No one wants to join,” he told us, as experts warned of the dangers of signing a contact with Russia’s defense ministry.
I have followed Russia’s recruitment efforts since the 2022 invasion, and this appears to be part of the Kremlin’s expanding effort to continue to outman Ukraine on the battlefield amid growing casualties.
— Yuliya Talmazan, London-based reporter
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
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