Washington, DC

1. No US-China AI breakthrough
2. A no-deal summit
3. Young asks for AI oversight
4. Senate plans data center vote
5. Overton’s window opens

Mortgage rates exceed 7% for the first time since January 2025.

Trump shuts down AI guardrail talk

Any hope that China and the US would reach a breakthrough on AI safety cooperation was quickly deflated by the start of the Chinese leader’s visit to the White House today. Decisions around what President Donald Trump is now calling superintelligence “can promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come,” the US president said alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House. But a post on Truth Social made clear that he wants to leave AI “exactly where it is.” Trump continued: “That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!” The Chinese leader seemed more open to safety coordination, saying the US and China have a responsibility to “ensure the development of AI is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people.” There’s skepticism in Washington around China’s willingness to meaningfully engage on the issue, however.

— Ashley Gold

Trump-Xi meeting light on substance

Trump and Xi’s full day in Washington has so far yielded few announcements, despite a host of thorny issues on the table. Xi arrived at the White House this morning for an Oval Office meeting with Trump, where the pair were expected to discuss everything from trade to counternarcotics to artificial intelligence. But little has emerged since, including any details on a “bigger” trade deal between the countries. As Trump showed Xi the new White House helipad, he stopped only to emphasize how much the Chinese leader “likes granite.” Xi, for his part, announced that two pandas will soon arrive in Atlanta. Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, continued to caution against overt friendliness. “If the president wants to buy President Xi a meal, I’m fine with that,” Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said. “But … if you turn the other cheek with this guy, he’ll stab you right in the neck.”

— Shelby Talcott and Eleanor Mueller

Republican presses White House for more AI oversight

Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio today asking for formal discussions between the National Security Council and AI developers and cyber experts to help them better understand national security threats posed by AI, according to a letter shared first with Semafor. “Recent developments involving frontier AI models have further demonstrated the ability of advanced systems to circumvent safeguards, interact with external systems, and substantially enhance offensive cyber capabilities,” Young wrote to Rubio, who leads the NSC. “These incidents underscore the need for the US government to better understand and address emerging threats before they result in more serious consequences.” He warned that AI-enabled attacks could potentially target hospitals, electric grids, and other infrastructure. Such talks should address risks from both American and Chinese AI models, channels for reporting AI security incidents, and safeguards for reducing the risks of such attacks, Young argued.

— Ashley Gold

Senate finalizes pre-election agenda

The Senate will return next week with narrower to-dos, after senators punted permitting reform until after the election and the Senate voted down a resolution curtailing Trump’s Iran war powers this afternoon. The Senate is expected to finish the bipartisan college sports bill early next week, then hold an initial vote on a bill from Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, intended to shield consumers from utility spikes due to data centers. Senate Democrats are criticizing the proposal for lacking teeth. There’s also talk of holding a vote on congressional stock trading restrictions — likely including a voter ID requirement that will prompt Democrats to vote it down. And Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is set to talk over the weekend about passing a bill from Sens. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., that would ban Chinese cars and connected auto parts in the US.

— Burgess Everett

Trump’s FDA nominee courts skeptics

Heidi Overton just might sneak through committee to get a vote in the Senate on her nomination to lead the FDA. Republicans have a one-member majority on the Senate HELP Committee, where Overton faced three GOP skeptics in a hearing today. Chief among them is Chair Bill Cassidy, R-La., who pressed her on her commitment to vaccines. “I’d rather withhold comment until after I’ve had a chance to review everything,” Cassidy said after the hearing — a signal the top Republican may yet lend her his support. Though Cassidy tweeted in August that her involvement in an executive order on childhood vaccines is “almost disqualifying,” he has backed other health nominees after raising questions about their vaccine views. Overton also worked to win over Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who support abortion access. Overton has previously called the abortion pill mifepristone dangerous.

— David Lim

White House

• The Trump administration launched a new TV ad featuring President Trump speaking out against communism with a disclaimer that it was “paid for by the US Government.”
• Reporters from three news outlets regained access to the White House following a judge’s ruling in their favor in the fight over the Trump administration’s ban.

Campaigns

• After the Supreme Court struck down federal caps on political party spending in June, Republican committees dramatically increased spending, outpacing Democrats.
• The White House has pushed federal agencies to accelerate their review of at least 47 state voter rolls to identify possible noncitizen voters. — Reuters

Courts

• Angie Nixon, the Democratic nominee for a Florida Senate seat, resolved a trespassing case over her sit-in outside the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
• New York sued Polymarket, alleging the site was illegally running a gambling operation.

Foreign Policy

• Private-sector figures, US government representatives, and Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, gathered on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss strategies for increasing investment in Ukraine.
• Danish intelligence warned that Russia could launch a limited military attack against a NATO country in the coming months.
• Saudi Arabia shot down six ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis at the kingdom, in one of the largest cross-border attacks in recent months.

Immigration

• A US citizen was left injured on the side of the road in Chicago after a confrontation with immigration enforcement agents who mistook him for a fugitive.

Energy

• EU officials said the bloc is in talks with the Trump administration over a potential diesel export ban, warning of significant impacts to European markets.

Polls

• Democrats appear to be holding off Republican efforts to flip Senate seats in Michigan and New Hampshire, but are behind in Maine, according to a New York Times/Siena University poll.

Technology

• Google plans to send a satellite into orbit to test running AI queries in space. — NYT
• Amazon is spending more than $100 million on a new robotics manufacturing facility.

— Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held up a Starlink device as he spoke to the UN.

Laura McGann, editor

With help from Elana Schor, senior Washington editor, and Morgan Chalfant, Washington briefing editor

Graph Massara and Lauren Morganbesser, copy editors

Contact our reporters:

Burgess Everett, Ashley Gold, Eleanor Mueller, Shelby Talcott, Nicholas Wu, David Weigel, David Lim