Saturday, September 26th

What happened

President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a three-day state visit that ended with a state dinner, White House tea and a National Archives stop. The visit produced no major breakthrough on trade, Taiwan, artificial intelligence or China’s ties to Iran, while the main policy result was a short trade-truce extension to January. The summit landed amid criticism from Democrats, some Republicans and press-freedom advocates, who said the spectacle outweighed substance and came with White House media limits. Trump and Xi praised cooperation, while Xi pressed Washington on Taiwan and Trump officials floated closer AI communication channels. Trump said they would meet again twice this year.

What happened

The Supreme Court let the Trump administration use its revamped SAVE citizenship database while a lawsuit continues. The unsigned order said federal law requires responses to state and local citizenship checks, and said the blocked program was the government’s chosen tool. SAVE, short for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, is a Homeland Security database expanded to include Social Security data and bulk searches for voter checks. The administration said the changes help states confirm citizenship and stop noncitizen voting, while critics said errors could wrongly flag eligible voters. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented with Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. The case now returns to lower courts.

What happened

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked Missouri from using its 2025 Trump-backed congressional map for the 2026 midterm election. The state must instead use the 2022 map. The order was the court’s third action this month in the fight. The Missouri Supreme Court had said a citizen referendum petition kept the 2025 map from taking effect unless voters approved it. Republican leaders and GOP challengers said the primary used the 2025 map, so the general election should too. Opponents said ballots had already been printed, mailed, or cast under the 2022 map. The court said another switch would cause “electoral chaos.” Missouri officials said they would comply. The ruling likely keeps Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City seat competitive.