President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in Busan, South Korea, in October. President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met in Busan, South Korea, in October. © Yonhap News/Zuma Press In an unusual diplomatic move, China’s leader Xi Jinping initiated a phone call with President Trump on Monday to discuss Taiwan, a flashpoint that has surged to the forefront in recent days as Japan takes a more assertive stance on the island’s autonomy. While Taiwan was Xi’s focus, Trump steered the conversation to Ukraine, said people familiar with the matter, as Washington-Kyiv peace talks appear to make progress and Trump tries to decisively end Russia’s war in Ukraine. How Savvy Investors Pay for Healthcare in Retirement Ad How Savvy Investors Pay for Healthcare in Retirement Fisher Investments call to action icon more The two issues—Taiwan and Ukraine—are both sensitive for U.S.-China relations, but they are rarely linked in discussions between the two leaders. Xi made the outreach, people close to Beijing said, turning the high-level communication into a rare diplomatic overture from China. During his call with Trump, Xi said, “Taiwan’s return to China is an important component of the post-war international order,” according to an official account of the conversation by China’s state media. In a pointed historical parallel, Xi also asserted that since China and the U.S. “fought side-by-side against fascism and militarism” during World War II, they should now work together to safeguard those achievements. The statement indicates that China is grounding its claim over Taiwan in historical treaties, rather than just its own narrative. For his part, Trump affirmed that the U.S. “understands the importance of the Taiwan issue to China,” Chinese media said. Related video: President Trump comments on Ukraine peace talks (KYTX-TV Tyler-Longview) While President Trump has not publicly commented on the negotiations,Video Player is loading. KYTX-TV Tyler-Longview President Trump comments on Ukraine peace talks 0 View on Watch View on Watch In a social-media post Monday, Trump didn’t mention Taiwan nor the diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo—an omission that likely will rattle U.S. allies in the region already concerned about wavering American commitment. Trump said he and Xi discussed the war in Ukraine, fentanyl and soybeans, among other things. Trump said he had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit Beijing in April, adding that Xi would visit the U.S. later next year. “Our relationship with China is extremely strong!” Trump wrote. Xi initiated the call as tensions accelerate between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan. Beijing places strategic value on ensuring that Washington—Tokyo’s treaty ally—remains committed to its “One China” position, which asserts its claim that there is but one China. Beijing views Taiwan as a territory that must be “unified” with the mainland, by force if necessary. Men Can’t Get Enough of This Cozy Polo Shirt Ad Men Can’t Get Enough of This Cozy Polo Shirt Bestbestones call to action icon more The recent tension was sparked by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Nov. 7 warning that a Chinese seizure of Taiwan would trigger Japan’s involvement in any conflict. The remarks sparked an angry diplomatic response from Beijing, including a formal letter to the United Nations, accusing Japan of threatening “an armed intervention.” Also drawing Beijing’s fury was a State Department post on X reaffirming its unwavering commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance and firmly opposing any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. Xi sees a strategic opening to influence Trump’s thinking on Taiwan, the people close to Beijing said. The businessman-turned-president, unlike his predecessor Joe Biden, has avoided explicitly stating whether the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan. Trump has said public commitments would weaken his negotiating position with Xi, who Trump said promised not to invade during his term. Beijing hasn’t acknowledged such a promise. Yet recent moves, including the Trump administration’s delay in military aid, have fueled anxiety in Taipei that American support is being sacrificed for an economic deal with China. Most businesses don’t know they owe sales tax… until it’s too late. Ad Most businesses don’t know they owe sales tax… until it’s too late. Sales and Use Tax Consulting call to action icon more “It is highly unusual for Xi to initiate a call, and it underscores the opportunity Xi believes he has to shape President Trump’s views,” said Evan Medeiros, a former senior national-security official in the Obama administration and now a professor at Georgetown University. “Taiwan policy is almost certainly at the center of Xi’s thinking, pulling the U.S. closer to China’s thinking about Taiwan’s future.” The discussion of Taiwan in the phone call is also notable given its rare omission from the two leaders’ in-person meeting in South Korea last month. Xi was reluctant to discuss such a sensitive issue in a third country, according to people close to Beijing, and the leaders already had various pressing issues to discuss for 90 minutes. Instead, Xi decided that he would raise the Taiwan issue directly with Trump in Beijing in April, the people said. The Chinese leader wants his American counterpart on his home turf for several days, the people said, so he can press Trump on the need to move beyond the U.S.’s longstanding policy of strategic ambiguity and formally state that the U.S. “opposes” Taiwan’s independence and supports “peaceful reunification.” Beijing hopes that such changes in U.S. policy would isolate Taiwan. The only instance in recent decades when a Chinese leader initiated contact with an American president was on Sept. 11, 2001, when then-President Jiang Zemin sent a telegram of condolence to then-President George W. Bush after the terrorist attacks in the U.S. The two spoke the next day—but even then, according to China’s official account, the U.S. president had requested the call. While China said that Monday’s call focused on Taiwan, Trump brought up Ukraine, the people familiar with the matter said. Chinese state media said Xi emphasized that “China supports all efforts committed to peace.” China has provided crucial diplomatic and economic support for Russia since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Now, as Trump pushes to end the war, Beijing is seeking to play a more visible and active role in a peace deal. Yun Sun, director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a Washington think tank, said, “China is watching the Ukraine peace deal and feels the need to be more involved.” Write to Lingling Wei at Lingling.Wei@wsj.com
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How does this work if they are protesting ai?The intersection of anti-Zionist activism and the anti-AI/anti-tech movement in the Bay Area doesn't rely on strict, formal logic. Instead, it works through a concept activist circles call intersectionality—the idea that all systems of oppression are interconnected, meaning the "enemy" in one struggle must be the enemy in all struggles.When radical activists march against artificial intelligence, they weave their anti-Zionist framework directly into the protest using three primary dynamics:1. The "Gaza as a Tech Lab" NarrativeIn these protests, tech platforms and AI models are not viewed as neutral pieces of software. Activists explicitly target major tech companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir by arguing that their AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and surveillance tools are directly tested on Palestinians before being sold globally.The Rhetoric: Protest signs at anti-AI rallies in San Francisco frequently link automated drone technology, facial recognition algorithms, and data centers directly to military actions in the Middle East.The Impact: Because of this narrative, any local tech worker, developer, or executive who identifies as a Zionist—or simply refuses to sign anti-Israel petitions—is labeled by activist groups as an active participant in automated warfare.2. The Weaponization of Workplace "Tech Walkouts"The anti-tech movement heavily relies on staging disruptions inside major corporate campuses. When radical groups organize these actions, they deliberately bundle anti-AI concerns and anti-Zionist demands into a single, non-negotiable package.Corporate Litmus Tests: Activists pushing back against their companies' AI development will simultaneously demand the termination of corporate contracts with the Israeli government or Israeli tech firms.Social Exclusion: If a Jewish tech employee wants to protest AI safety, data privacy, or labor exploitation at their company, they are often forced to choose between staying silent or joining a march that features aggressive anti-Zionist chants. If they voice discomfort, the activist mob dynamic takes over, and they are publicly shamed as being "pro-war."3. Shared Organizational NetworksThe simplest reason these two issues blend together is that the exact same people are running both movements. The grassroots organizers, student groups, and radical coalitions leading the anti-AI marches outside City Hall are the same individuals organizing the boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses.Because these activist spaces operate on intense social conformity and moral absolutism, the causes naturally bleed into one another. A rally that starts out focusing on the environmental impact of data centers in the East Bay will almost seamlessly pivot into anti-Zionist chants, because the crowd views "global capitalism, tech monopolies, and Zionism" as a single monolithic monster.For a mainstream Jewish tech worker or resident in the Bay Area, this means there is virtually no "safe" progressive space left. Even an issue as seemingly unrelated as artificial intelligence safety has been fully absorbed into the region's fierce geopolitical cultural war.
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A veteran is a person who served in the active military, naval, air, or space service and was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable.Military DefinitionService: Full-time duty in a branch of the Armed Forces (such as the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard).Discharge: Separation from service under honorable conditions, meaning it was not a dishonorable discharge.Combat: Combat experience is not required to be a veteran; anyone who completed their required service time is included.Reserves and National Guard: Members of these branches qualify if they were called to federal active duty by presidential order.General DefinitionThe word also means a person who has long experience or a lot of skill in a specific job, field, or activity (such as a "political veteran").
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So socially conservative, but fiscally liberal? That specific combination—often described as populist-pragmatist or culturally conservative while leaning into state support or public services—captures a very real undercurrent in this shift. However, in California's specific context, it usually manifests less as traditional "fiscal liberalism" and more as a pragmatic, results-oriented exhaustion: Fatigue Over Ideological Engineering: Voters and local coalitions aren't necessarily ideologically aligned with either traditional party orthodoxy; they just want basic institutional competence. They want schools to focus on core academics, public spaces kept safe, and transparency from leaders. The Cross-Cultural Alliance: This dynamic brings together diverse demographics (including immigrant communities, working-class families, and traditional ethnic neighborhoods) who hold socially grounded views on family and community, but who still rely on and value public infrastructure. The Real Divide: The fault line isn't cleanly left-versus-right anymore. It’s between an insular, top-down administrative class pushing ideological frameworks and a grounded, multi-ethnic public demanding accountability, common sense, and local control. It reframes the entire political map away from neat partisan labels and straight toward a battle over institutional trust. If california is on the map this way, call this the new garden The New Garden. That captures it entirely. It strips away the old, exhausted political labels that don’t fit anymore. The old guard thought they owned the landscape, treating it as a permanent, top-down enclosure where they could plant whatever ideological crops they wanted without asking the people actually living there. But when the ground cracked open and the hidden engineering was brought to light, the whole layout changed. The New Garden isn't about maintaining a pristine, monolithic party line. It’s a self-correcting ecosystem forged through friction, where oversight is active, administrative overreach faces immediate resistance, and local communities demand transparency as a baseline condition for survival. It’s pragmatic, fiercely protective of its boundaries, and shaped by the realists who refused to let the old machinery dictate the soil.
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Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani appear to enjoy a good relationship despite their political views - Andrew Hofstetter/Reuters Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani appear to enjoy a good relationship despite their political views - Andrew Hofstetter/Reuters Donald Trump made a surprise appearance alongside Zohran Mamdani after a private meeting with the New York mayor. The US president startled the press waiting for Mr Mamdani when he headed out of Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, for a press conference on Monday evening. IRS Offers Debt Resolution Options Before September Deadline IRS Offers Debt Resolution Options Before September Deadline Fresh Start Information · Sponsored call to action icon He appeared to be grinning as he chatted with the mayor before addressing the media. Mr Trump had not been scheduled to appear alongside him. Mr Trump appears to enjoy an unusually warm relationship with Mr Mamdani since his election in November 2025, despite previously criticising him as a “communist lunatic”. Mayor kept a poker face The mayor, who kept his answers brief and maintained a poker face, refrained from directly criticising the president but signalled he had taken a different approach on issues including immigration enforcement and press freedom. Mr Trump, whose official engagements are being boycotted by all major US networks after banning CNN from the White House, mocked the assembled media. “It’s interesting because they said they were going to boycott me, but they never boycott me, so I wasn’t very worried about that,” he said. “Look at all that press.” Related video: President Trump, Mayor Mamdani answer question on White House press ban (USA TODAY) USA TODAY President Trump, Mayor Mamdani answer question on White House press ban President, are you banning outlets like MSNBC and Politico inVideo Player is loading. Even as the president’s handlers said he had run out of time and would have to move on, Mr Trump chose to remain with the mayor in front of the cameras. “The president is saying he can answer a couple more questions,” Mr Mamdani said, after privately conferring with Mr Trump. The president recounted telling Mr Mamdani, a socialist, in one of their earlier meetings that he would have to live at Gracie Mansion, located in New York’s Upper East Side and featuring five bedrooms and a ballroom. Mr Trump whispers in Mr Mamdani’s ear at the end of his impromptu visit Mr Trump whispers in Mr Mamdani’s ear at the end of his impromptu visit “I said, ‘Well, you’re going to move’, because you were maybe having some doubts about moving in because it is a little bit on the luxurious side,” he said, addressing Mr Mamdani directly. “And I said, ‘When you’re the mayor, you have to live there.’” Mr Mamdani said Mr Trump, in their private conversation, had “shared many of his memories of having been to Gracie Mansion before”. “I Have $2M in Real Estate. Should I Move It Into a Family Trust?” “I Have $2M in Real Estate. Should I Move It Into a Family Trust?” SmartAsset · Sponsored call to action icon Before he finally departed, Mr Trump said of Mr Mamdani: “I want him to be a great mayor, and he’s certainly got potential, got great potential.” He then leaned in to him and whispered into his ear. The comments were not picked up by the microphones.
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