| Until about 24 hours ago, though American officials might say differently, the trade standoff between the US and China has been marked by the silent treatment. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he’s waiting for a call from China’s Xi Jinping to address talks about easing his escalating tariffs on Chinese goods. And despite assertions by Trump and other officials that the US and China were talking at some level, Xi’s foreign ministry shot down the idea that negotiations were underway. Then suddenly late yesterday China said that outreach from American officials has opened the doors to assessing possible discussions between the world’s two biggest economic players. It was the first sign of a possible break in the US-China trade war triggered by Trump’s dizzying mass tariff rollout last month.  Trump last month Photographer: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP US duties on Chinese imports now sit at 145%, which China responded to by levying 125% tariffs on US goods. It’s a long way from here to a deal, but even the prospect of negotiations with China could have ripple effects for discussions with other nations, according to Richard Stern, who leads the Heritage Foundation’s centers for economic and budget policy. “A lot of the conversation everywhere is about China,” Stern said. It was enough, for now, to help lift some of the gloom in financial markets. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 both rose today, a second straight week of gains that erased losses that followed Trump’s tariff escalation last month. But many are still holding their breath. “It’s a hard place to be starting negotiations,” said Phil Luck, director of the economics program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who described the dynamics thus far between the nations as a “battle of egos.” Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said “it would be premature to declare a thaw.” “Trump wants concessions. Xi wants relief first,” he said. “Until that asymmetry is resolved, the tariffs — and the underlying mistrust — aren’t going anywhere.” Other developments this week: - Waltz out: Mike Waltz, who inadvertently added a journalist to a group chat about a Yemen airstrike, became the first high-profile official ousted from his assignment in Trump's second term. The president named his former national security adviser as his new nominee for the US ambassador to the United Nations - filling a spot left vacant after Representative Elise Stefanik was convinced to remain in her House seat to prevent the possible loss of a key Republican vote. The job is subject to Senate confirmation. That will give Democrats their first, perhaps only, chance to grill him under oath about the group chat and the role of other administration officials in it.
- Court chronicles: An updated class action lawsuit is taking aim at the State Department’s efforts to revoke thousands of visas for international college students, Bloomberg Law’s Andrew Kreighbaum reports. It also challenged the agency’s decision to remove student records from federal databases. The Trump administration has sought to deter international students from participating in protests against the war in Gaza and cracked down on hate speech on college campuses, sparking a debate about free speech and due process for immigrants.
- Double down: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who faced questions about his support for women in the military during his confirmation hearings, said this week that his department would pull out of participation of a bipartisan initiative designed to increase women’s participation in armed conflict resolution. The move underscored Hegseth’s deep opposition to anything suggesting race or gender is part of the equation. Notably, Trump signed it into law during his first term and it was co-sponsored in Congress by two members of his current cabinet.
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