Trump’s in Beijing, Inflation’s at a Three-Year High, and He “Doesn’t Think About” It
Plus: Makary out at the FDA, South Carolina Republicans torpedo redistricting, and Kash Patel and Van Hollen end up arguing about margaritas.
Hey Friends!
Last week, I shared that I launched the newsletter “The Bookie” to document my summer goals to make reading physical books a habit again. Yesterday, I binged the last of my latest read, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.
The Bookie | The Secret History Is Just Pretty in Pink with a Body Count
I used to read. Not voraciously — I had a serial killer phase, the kind where you tear through a whole series in a couple weeks — but I read. Then the algorithm got me. Somewhere between the 200-character posts and the 2-minute clips, I stopped picking up books.
I will be sharing my thoughts on the book in the next edition of “The Bookie” and locking down my summer reading list, which I warn you up front is the antithesis of a summer reading list. But I will explain my reasons. If you are on Fable, follow me there. I am the only “Meseidy” on the platform. LOL
Let’s get into the news!
In today’s Brief:
Trump lands in Beijing with Musk, Cook, Hannity, and a Rubio tracksuit moment that’s not subtle.
Marty Makary is out at the FDA. The pro-life camp is throwing a party.
April inflation hit 3.8%, worst in three years. The president says he doesn’t think about it.
South Carolina Republicans just told Trump no on redistricting. Missouri’s court said yes.
Kash Patel and Chris Van Hollen spent a Senate hearing accusing each other of being drunk. We’re not making this up.
Beijing or Bust
Trump landed in Beijing Wednesday morning local time for his long-delayed summit with Xi Jinping. The trip got pushed from March because of the Iran war. Boatloads of Chinese-bound oil sit trapped behind the Hormuz blockade. China buys about 90% of Iran’s oil.
Before he left, Trump told reporters Iran wasn’t a top discussion item because the U.S. has it “very much under control.”
The delegation is the part everyone’s talking about. Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Goldman’s David Solomon, filmmaker Brett Ratner, and Sean Hannity. Eric and Lara Trump were also on board.
Eric Trump is the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization. So, of course, Democrat talking heads jumped on this, pointing out Hunter Biden’s trips to China with his father to do business, but the Trump Organization swears Eric isn’t doing business. It’s like everyone forgets the concept of optics.
Then there’s Marco Rubio’s Air Force One loungewear. The Secretary of State boarded in a Nike tech tracksuit, and the internet immediately clocked it as a direct nod to the tracksuit Nicolás Maduro was wearing after his arrest. Communications director Steven Cheung shared the photo. The White House social accounts did their thing.
This administration troll game remains on point.
What Trump wants out of Beijing: trade announcements he can post about by tomorrow, movement on fentanyl and rare earths, and Chinese pressure on Iran to reopen Hormuz. What Xi wants: time, stability, and Taiwan eventually. Foreign policy experts say China believes it won the 2025 trade war and walked in confident.
The Makary Era Ends. The Pro-Life Movement Cheers.
Marty Makary resigned Tuesday as FDA commissioner after 13 months. The official trigger was Trump’s frustration over Makary slow-walking flavored vape approvals. The unofficial reason is much more interesting.
Anti-abortion groups have been calling for Makary’s head for months. He was widely viewed as soft on mifepristone. The FDA was sitting on a safety review of the abortion pill that Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America publicly demanded for over a year. Sen. Josh Hawley didn’t mince words:
Worth flagging: Rachael Bade scooped this firing a week ago at her Substack The Inner Circle. Give her a follow. Bade reported the vape angle was the public excuse, but the internal knife was sharpened by Makary’s clashes with the West Wing and his alienation of both MAHA and the pro-life camp. Both wings of Trump’s 2024 coalition wanted him gone. The president obliged.
Kyle Diamantas, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for food, takes over in an acting capacity. He’s already close to RFK Jr. This is the fourth Cabinet-level exit since January, following Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
Inflation at 3.8% and Trump on Americans’ Finances In Waging Iran War
April’s CPI rose 0.6%, pushing year-over-year inflation to 3.8%. Highest annual reading since May 2023. Energy alone drove 40% of the rise. Gas hit $4.50 a gallon nationally. Beef is up 14.8% year-over-year. Grocery prices climbed 0.7% in a single month. Real wages dropped 0.5%.
The Iran war is the engine. Brent crude sits at $107, up from $62 in February. The Hormuz blockade is closing in on two months.
Then the Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese asked Trump whether Americans’ wallets were motivating him to make a deal with Iran:
“Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran, they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody.”
You can read that two ways. Charitable: Iran with a nuke is a worse problem than $5 gas, full stop. The other read: a president who ran on affordability told an inflation-burned electorate he isn’t thinking about them. Six months out from the midterms, that clip is going to get airtime.
South Carolina Just Told Trump No
Five South Carolina Republican state senators tanked the redistricting push Tuesday, voting with Democrats and killing the two-thirds majority needed to extend the legislative session. The map would have unwound Jim Clyburn’s district, the state’s sole Democratic seat. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey led the charge.
His floor speech was something:
Massey also said he had “too much Southern blood” to surrender to Trump’s demand. A sitting Republican Senate Majority Leader compared presidential pressure to Yankee invasion. On the floor. Out loud.
Trump urged the chamber on Truth Social to “BE BOLD AND COURAGEOUS.” The five Republicans who defied him (Sean Bennett, Chip Campsen, Tom Davis, Greg Hembree, plus Massey) aren’t up until 2028. Last week’s Indiana primaries, where Trump-endorsed challengers crushed five GOP incumbents who’d sunk redistricting there, didn’t move them. Gov. Henry McMaster could call a special session, but he hasn’t.
Related
Desk Notes: Callais Is Reshaping the House Map - Here's How
Friday is for errands and casually scrolling my feed in the checkout line. What I have seen today is a lot of misinformation, ignorance, and panic from the Democrats. Go into any comment section, and the left is convinced redistricting is rigged, illegal, or proof that the republic is collapsing.
Better news for the White House: the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously upheld the GOP map carving up Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City district. Louisiana’s Senate is moving on a new map that could erase one or both of its Democratic seats. James Blair, Trump’s midterm strategist, told Politico’s Dasha Burns his strategy is simple: “attack, attack, attack. And when in doubt, attack some more.”
Margaritas, Sobriety Tests, and a Senate Hearing That Got Weird
This story exists. We have to cover it.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen pressed Kash Patel Tuesday on a recent Atlantic piece alleging the FBI director drinks so heavily his security detail has broken into his home to wake him. Patel sued The Atlantic for $250 million over it.
Van Hollen asked if Patel would take a dependency audit. Patel agreed, then pivoted:
“The only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted, gang-banging rapist, was you. The only person that ran up a $7,000 bar tab in Washington, DC, at the Lobby Bar was you.”
The El Salvador reference is Van Hollen’s April 2025 trip to visit Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the deported alleged MS-13 affiliate, where photos showed margaritas on the table. Van Hollen has long insisted the drinks were a “staged hoax” by President Bukele. The $7,128 Lobby Bar tab was real. His campaign paid it at a December 2025 fundraiser. Legal, sure. Still seven grand at the bar.
Both men agreed to take sobriety tests, side by side. The Senate is now operating on a bar-fight standard.
Quick Rundown
Key Bridge indictment. The DOJ indicted Singapore’s Synergy Marine and its technical superintendent Tuesday over the 2024 Dali crash that killed six workers and took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Eighteen counts, including conspiracy and false statements. Maryland separately landed a $2.25 billion settlement.
Denver runway death. The Frontier Airlines trespasser sucked into a jet engine was Michael Mott, 41, a career criminal with 20+ arrests, including a 2005 attempted murder conviction. Authorities believe he intended to kill himself. He cleared the 8-foot perimeter fence and reached the runway in two minutes.
Canvas pays the hackers. Instructure, the parent company of school platform Canvas, struck a deal with ShinyHunters to delete data stolen from 9,000 schools and 275 million students. The company says the hackers sent “digital confirmation” the data was destroyed.
Massie’s $60K problem. Axios reportedly confirmed a $60,000 settlement and NDA tied to Rep. Thomas Massie, with allegations he threatened a woman named Cynthia West at a Cracker Barrel in Kentucky. His office hasn’t said much. Won’t stay quiet long.
The Reflecting Pool saga. Trump’s $13 million plan to repaint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool “American flag blue” is 35% done with 12 days to deadline. Joint-replacement work sits at 0%. Started at $1.8 million. Trump now says he doesn’t know the contractor he originally recommended.
Let’s Talk About It
Trump told a reporter he doesn’t think about Americans’ finances when he thinks about Iran. Is that honest, tone-deaf, or both? Tell me how that quote landed for you.
Margaritas, $7,000 bar tabs, sobriety tests on the Senate floor. Who else is over these performative hearings?
See you Friday.
The Brief publishes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Forward to someone who needs to understand what’s actually happening.