2/ First, let's remember how this started. Trump rolls into office proclaiming that China is stealing U.S. manufacturing jobs and he's going to put tariffs on Chinese goods in order to force China to play by trade rules and bring jobs back to the U.S..
3/ So where were are we at going into the Trump-Xi meeting? The U.S. put tariffs on Chinese goods. The cost to an Americans family of Trump's tariffs have been about $3800 so far this year. Just devastating.
4/ So China stopped exporting critical minerals and importing soy beans. More devastation.
Without these minerals, the U.S. couldn't make everything from cars to fighter jets. Without China's soybean market, American farmers were getting pummeled. nytimes.com/2025/09/25/bus…
5/ Trump's policy was a TOTAL FAILURE. China didn't stop its unfair trade practice and U.S. factory jobs are DECLINING, not growing. All that is happening is an escalating trade war that's hurting American families, farmers and businesses. cbsnews.com/news/jobs-manu…
6/ So Trump went to Xi to surrender. Trump rolled back the tariffs, paused the new restrictions, and in exchange Xi made a vague commitment to buy some soybeans and start exporting some minerals.
Xi had now proven that he could win a trade war with Trump.
An embarrassment.
7/ But IT GETS WORSE (and here comes the corruption story).
As a sweetener, Trump tells Xi he might lift export restrictions on selling China the most advanced AI microchips.
This would be a disaster, allowing China to catch us in the AI race. msn.com/en-us/money/ma…
8/ Why? Maybe because chip maker Nvidia's CEO paid Trump $1 million for a private meeting and made a HUGE donation to help build the ballroom. Now Trump says he's open to helping China get access to Nvidia's chips - which Biden wouldn't sell to China. finance.yahoo.com/news/nvidias-h…
9/ What isn't part of Trump's "deal" with China. No commitments from Xi to stop financing Russia's war against Ukraine. No protections for Taiwan. No restrictions on China's export of fentanyl ingredients.
10/ So bottom line: 8 months after Trump starts a massive trade war with China:
- U.S. factory jobs declining
- U.S. families paying thousands for tariffs
- China makes not a single concession
- The world watches Xi bully Trump into surrender
Trump's supporters say we call his policies "racist" too casually.
But let me tell the story of a new policy - about to be unveiled - that is racist on its face.
1/ A short thread on Trump's reported new "whites only" refugee policy. It's truly vile. nytimes.com/2025/10/15/us/…
2/ We began formally accepting refugees in the aftermath of WWII. Since then, we’ve provided lifesaving shelter for millions displaced by persecution and war, many targeted for their faith.
In modern times, President Reagan saved the most refugees, admitting around 210,000.
3/ Trump plans to drastically slash the numbers of refugees admitted.
But it gets worse. The new policy reportedly will effectively allow only white foreigners to qualify. If you're not white, you get turned away.
We aren't on the verge of an authoritarian takeover. We are in the middle of it.
But I worry people don't see the whole scheme. They just pay attention to each new daily outrage. So I went to the Senate floor to explain Trump's plan.
Here's a 🧵of the speech. It's important.
Step 1 of the plan:
Turn the justice system into a political witch hunt operation that punishes critics for free speech and immunizes loyalists for actual criminality.
Step 2 of the plan:
Use government power to compel the media to tell only the regime's narrative and to silence critics.
The Kimmel suspension is a much bigger deal than you know.
It's really about a growing alliance between Trump and the companies that own America's local TV stations - like Nexstar - to turn local TV into Trump propaganda.
1/ Let me tell you the short story. It's chilling.
2/ In August, Nexstar announced they wanted to buy another TV station company, Tegna.
But that's illegal - because it would give Nexstar control of stations in nearly half the country. FCC rules prohibit ONE company from having THAT much control over local TV content.
3/ Why? Because one company shouldn't control local speech in half the country.
Also, we want our local TV stations to be run by local actors to preserve local identity and prevent our culture from becoming soullessly flattened - which Nexstar was already doing!
The murder of Charlie Kirk could have united Americans to confront political violence. Instead, Trump and his anti-democratic radicals look to be readying a campaign to destroy dissent.
2/ Leaders across the political spectrum have spoken out about the need to depoliticize our fight against violence. GOP Governor Spencer Cox has led the way.
3/ Here is the latest post from Laura Loomer, who clearly has the ear of President Trump, calling on Trump to use dictatorial powers to destroy his political opposition. This kind of rhetoric is gaining traction in MAGA world, and Trump is now echoing it.
1/ The beating heart of a free society is the ability for citizens to engage in political life with no fear of violence. Once we lose this freedom, few will step forward, and our entire democratic experiment unwinds into chaos and recrimination.
2/ Political violence in America is spiraling - January 6th, the attempting assassination of President Trump, the beating of Paul Pelosi, the murder of the Minnesota legislators, the shooting of Brian Thompson, and now the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
3/ We can spend today arguing who is at risk more - the right or the left. Or we can decide that our entire democratic enterprise is at risk if we don't draw a line in the sand today. What does that exercise look like?