Trump breaks silence on reports he's seeking ‘Summit' with Chinese President Xi Jinping; ‘I may go to China, but…'
'The Fake News is reporting that I am SEEKING a 'Summit' with President Xi of China. This is not correct, I am not SEEKING anything!' Trump said in a post on Truth Social from Scotland, where he concluded a five-day trip on Tuesday.
'I may go to China, but it would only be at the invitation of President Xi, which has been extended. Otherwise, no interest! Thank you for your attention to this matter.'
According to a Reuters report this week, Trump and Xi's staff have discussed arranging a meeting between the two leaders, possibly during the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in South Korea, which is scheduled for October 30–November 1.
It's unclear if there have been any conversations about Trump visiting China in person.
Also Read: NYC shooter Shane Tamura mentioned top neuroscientists, 'frontline documentary' in his suicide note
Trump boasts 'good relationship' with China
Following a months-long stalemate that has temporarily lowered levies from up to 145% on Chinese exports to the US and 125% on American goods, the US and China have to finalize a full-fledged trade agreement until August 12.
A third round of negotiations between Beijing and Washington is taking place in Stockholm this week.
Speaking to reporters at his Turnberry resort on Scotland's west coast on Monday, Trump said that 'We have a good relationship with China,' adding that 'China's tough'
In addition to trade disputes, US officials have frequently issued warnings about Chinese intrusions, like the Salt Typhoon operation that compromised US telecom networks.
Taiwanese President's Central America visit canceled
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te was scheduled to make a diplomatic trip to Central America later this year, but the Trump administration prevented him from making a stop in New York City, according to a report published by the Financial Times on Monday.
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John Quackenbush, a professor of computational biology and bioinformatics at the School of Public Health, has spent the past few months enduring cuts on multiple fronts. In April, a multimillion dollar grant was not renewed, jeopardizing a study into the role sex plays in disease. In May, he lost about $1.2 million in federal funding for in the coming year due to the Harvard freeze. Four departmental grants worth $24 million that funded training of doctoral students also were canceled as part of the fight with the Trump administration, Quackenbush said. 'I'm in a position where I have to really think about, 'Can I revive this research?'' he said. 'Can I restart these programs even if Harvard and the Trump administration reached some kind of settlement? If they do reach a settlement, how quickly can the funding be turned back on? Can it be turned back on?' The researchers all agreed that the funding cuts have little or nothing to do with the university's fight against antisemitism. Some, however, argue changes at Harvard were long overdue and pressure from the Trump administration was necessary. Bertha Madras, a Harvard psychobiologist who lost funding to create a free, parent-focused training to prevent teen opioid overdose and drug use, said she's happy to see the culling of what she called 'politically motivated social science studies.' Madras said pressure from the White House has catalyzed much-needed reform at the university, where several programs of study have 'really gone off the wall in terms of being shaped by orthodoxy that is not representative of the country as a whole.' But Madras, who served on the President's Commission on Opioids during Trump's first term, said holding scientists' research funding hostage as a bargaining chip doesn't make sense. 'I don't know if reform would have happened without the president of the United States pointing the bony finger at Harvard," she said. 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