DL Open Thread: Thursday, May 14, 2026

Who’s The Boss?:

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, delivered a warning on Taiwan to President Trump as they met for a summit in Beijing on Thursday, saying that the issue, if handled poorly, could lead to conflict and “an extremely dangerous situation.”

The summit, the first U.S. presidential visit to China in nearly a decade, could determine whether a détente between the two countries will continue — and what concessions, if any, either side is willing to make.

The talks that followed lasted more than two hours. Mr. Xi called for the two countries to “be partners, not adversaries.” Mr. Trump said that he and Mr. Xi spoke on the phone to work out problems and called him “a great leader.”

Later, at an ornate state banquet in the Great Hall, Mr. Xi said in a toast: “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.” Mr. Trump thanked Mr. Xi for a “magnificent welcome like none other,” and formally invited Mr. Xi to visit the White House on Sept. 24.

Beneath the warm words, Mr. Xi’s warning on Taiwan was a stark reminder of longstanding tensions. “If handled poorly, the two countries will collide or even clash, putting the entire U.S.-China relationship in an extremely dangerous situation,” Mr. Xi said while referring to Taiwan, according to a readout from Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

Asked, and answered.  Gotta admit, I have no problem with China becoming the ‘World’s Greatest Superpower’ at the moment.

White House To Hold 9-Hour Prayer Fest, Paid For With Your Tax Dollars:

The White House is planning to host a nine-hour Christian prayer festival at the National Mall on Sunday that pushes the view of the United States as a Christian nation.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, are slated to speak at “Rededicate 250: National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” which is partly funded by taxpayer dollars set aside for the country’s 250th birthday celebrations.

The other speakers are overwhelmingly Protestant Christian, with notable exceptions being Catholic leaders Bishop Robert Barron and Cardinal Timothy Dolan, as well as Rabbi Meir Soloveichik. The Reverend Paula White-Cain, President Trump’s spiritual adviser, said in a webinar about the event on April 28 that the festival “is about the history and the foundations of our nation, which was built on Christian values, on the Bible.… This is really truly rededicating the country to God.”

White-Cain, who has compared Trump to Jesus, added that the celebration would not include leaders “praying to all these different Gods.”

No multiple false Gods there, only one God. Who doesn’t exist.

Trump Worships At The Feet Of The Tobacco Industry:

Over lunch at his golf club in Jupiter, Fla., on the first Saturday of May, President Trump got an earful from a group of tobacco executives and lobbyists unhappy with the way the Food and Drug Administration was regulating their industry.

Eventually Mr. Trump had heard enough. He interrupted the conversation to call Dr. Marty Makary, the F.D.A. commissioner.

No answer.

Furious, the president then dialed Dr. Makary’s boss, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and another top health official, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He complained to them about the F.D.A.’s regulation of e-cigarettes, according to three people briefed on the meeting who were not authorized to discuss it.

The message was received. Less than one week later, the executives got what they wanted.

On Friday, the F.D.A. issued new guidance that could pave the way for major tobacco companies to begin selling flavored vapes and to snare a chunk of the $6 billion e-cigarette market away from illegal Chinese competitors. The new policy bypassed the F.D.A.’s regular rule-making process.

In the intervening week, Dr. Makary continued to argue against approving flavored vapes as support from Mr. Kennedy and others collapsed around him. Health and Human Services Department staff began to draft the new plan, according to two people familiar with the events.

On Tuesday, Dr. Makary resigned, telling associates he could not in good conscience remain the head of an agency that backed such a policy.

The FDA’s spokesperson has also resigned, for the same reason.  Presumably, no spokesperson was available to comment.

How Trump Schemed To Bypass Public Process To Build His Triumphal Arch.  Might work, too:

The Trump administration planned to start work at the site of the president’s proposed Triumphal Arch by piggybacking on an existing, unrelated contract for engineering services at the White House grounds more than a mile away, emails obtained by The Washington Post show.

The move would allow the administration to bypass a potentially lengthy public bidding process, and experts said it was unusual because the arch site is on National Park Service land across the Potomac River and is not part of the White House complex.

Park Service acting director Jessica Bowron wrote to White House officials last month asking whether the agency could extend a contract between the White House and engineering firm AECOM Services for an environmental assessment for the proposed 250-foot arch.

In her email, Bowron acknowledged that the proposed arch isn’t adjacent to the White House like Lafayette Square, another site AECOM has worked on under the same agreement, but she wrote that using the existing contract would allow work to “align with the Administration’s timeline.”

“I realize its a little further afield than Lafayette Park, but given the engagement on this project from the WH, I thought I’d check,” Bowron wrote on April 22, using initials to refer to the White House.

An hour later, the White House gave NPS a green light. “Yes of course,” wrote Heather Martin, an official in the Executive Office of the President.

It’s not clear from the emails whether the Park Service ultimately followed through with the plan to use the White House contract. But site testing was to begin this week, according to a timeline laid out by the Trump administration in federal court last week. Heavy machinery was at the site Monday.

A spokesperson for the Department of Interior, which oversees the Park Service, responded to a detailed list of questions about the proposed arrangement by saying The Post’s “assertion on contract sourcing is incorrect.”

“Any correspondence that has been leaked to the Washington Post was draft/deliberative conversations and is not the final determination,” the spokesperson said in a statement without providing further explanation.

What do you want to talk about?