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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 27, 2026· Updated

Xi's State Visit Ends With a Two-Month Extension of the Trade Truce, a New "Board of Trade" and a Pair of Pandas for Atlanta — Trump Calls It "One of Friendship, Strength, and Success," 21 Senate Democrats Say the Summit "Failed to Deliver," and Chuck Grassley Warns Trump Is "Making a Great Big Mistake by Having a Showcase of a Communist Autocrat"

Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington produced no signed Boeing, soybean or fentanyl deal and no White House readout. On Sept. 23, the day Xi arrived, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Fox that the "Busan Agreement" trade truce, due to expire Nov. 10, would be extended to Jan. 10, 2027, and USTR Jamieson Greer described a new U.S.-China "Board of Trade" to cut tariffs on lists of goods. The Sept. 24 summit also produced an AI crisis dialogue and two pandas for Zoo Atlanta. Trump called it "a great meeting" and on Sept. 25 posted that he and Xi would meet again in November in China and in December at the G20 in Miami. Reaction split largely along party lines. Twenty-one Senate Democrats led by Jeanne Shaheen said the summit "failed to deliver" and called the truce extension "a temporary band-aid on a crisis of the President's own making." Ron Wyden and Richard Neal said China was breaking its purchase promises while Trump punished allies. Farm-state Republicans welcomed the stability but wanted enforceable purchases, and Chuck Grassley said a truce extension alone would make the visit "a great big mistake."

“Yeah, of course it's a step forward. … Scott Bessent had set this up weeks before the actual visit of President Xi occurred. … We all know that nothing terribly meaningful came out of this conversation. And look, Xi himself is waiting for 37 days when he will now face a president of the United States who has been rebuked by his own people. … But like I said, let's not be too harsh. Anytime we're talking to the Chinese and stopping misunderstandings and making incremental progress on things like AI or not starting another trade war, you know, it's a valuable couple of days.”
James Himes (D-CT) · Sep 27, 2026

Sep 24, 2026· Updated

Diesel Hits a Record $6.51 and Farm-State Republicans Tell Trump to Stop Exporting It — Chuck Grassley Posts That Prices "ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME," Trump-Backed Senate Nominees in Iowa and Michigan Say the Iran War "Needs to End," John Cornyn Calls a Ban "a Gimmick," and Trump Says "I've Called for It Within My People"

The national average price of diesel reached a record $6.51 a gallon on September 21, 2026, up roughly 80% on the year, as the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, together with the war in Ukraine, cut refinery output and fuel shipments worldwide. Iowa diesel passed $6.50 and Michigan reached $6.81. Farm-state Republicans have spent the past week pressing President Trump to embargo U.S. diesel exports to keep more supply at home. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) filed two bills on September 17, one banning diesel exports through January 2027 and one that would trigger a ban whenever the national average tops $5. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on September 15 that he was "open to exploring it," and later that the export ban "makes probably more sense to me" than suspending the federal gas tax. On Saturday, September 19, Sen. Chuck Grassley posted that "High diesel prices ARE KILLING FARMERS INCOME" and asked why Trump didn't embargo diesel the way 1970s presidents embargoed farm exports. On Monday, September 21, two Trump-backed Republican Senate nominees, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa and former Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan, each called for a diesel export pause and a gas-tax suspension, and each said the Iran war needed to end. Hinson has voted against every House resolution to halt the war. Their Democratic opponents, Josh Turek and Abdul El-Sayed, answered that the two were reversing themselves weeks before the election. Oil-state Republicans and the administration's own energy officials pushed back. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas called a ban "a gimmick," Sen. Lisa Murkowski said it "doesn't really move the needle," and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration would consider one only "if we thought that actually might lower prices, but that's not the case." Refiners and analysts warned that the United States already produces more diesel than it uses, so a ban could glut the Gulf Coast while prices rose elsewhere. Then on September 22, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Trump said he had pushed for a ban inside his administration, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration was "examining" whether it was feasible.

“We are working with the industry … to increase the supply of diesel … without using blunt instruments. … Nobody wants a full blanket ban or zero exports of diesel. … What's being discussed is what's the most efficient way to get more diesel into the United States.”
Chris Wright (R-CO) · Sep 24, 2026

Trump Signs an Executive Order Starting the Removal of Gray and Mexican Wolves From the Endangered Species List — "But You Can Shoot Them as of Today," He Tells Ranchers, and His Agriculture Secretary Has to Explain That They Still Cannot

On Friday, September 4, 2026, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Supporting America's Ranchers" that gives Interior Secretary Doug Burgum 90 days to determine whether the gray wolf and the Mexican wolf have met the recovery criteria for delisting or downlisting under the Endangered Species Act — and, if he finds they have, to begin the delisting process. The order also directs greater state involvement in wolf management and changes to how livestock depredations are investigated and how ranchers are compensated for confirmed kills. At the signing event Trump told ranchers they could shoot wolves "as of today." Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, standing with him, explained that the animals remain federally protected and that ranchers can only "sit and watch them destroy their herd" while the listing stands — the order starts a review, it does not itself lift protections. The wolf order was signed alongside a second rancher-directed order on meat processing, antitrust enforcement under the Packers and Stockyards Act, and a review of mandatory country-of-origin labeling for beef — the White House's answer to the backlash from cattle producers over its decision to waive tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef. Republicans who have pushed delisting bills for years welcomed it. As of the following day no Democratic member of Congress had gone on record against the wolf order; the opposition on the record came from conservation groups.

“You're not allowed to protect yourself, right? Or your company, your cattle. So how do you like the idea that I'm letting you do that?”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 4, 2026

endangered-species-act

Trump Waives Tariffs on 300,000 Metric Tons of Foreign Ground Beef to Cut Grocery Prices — and Nearly Every Republican From Cattle Country Turns on Him, With One Calling It "Worse Than Socialism"

On Friday, August 21, 2026, President Trump announced that for the next 90 days the United States will allow up to 300,000 metric tons of lean beef trimmings for ground beef to be imported with no out-of-quota tariff. He said foreign exporters had committed that "this beef will be sold at 25 percent below current market prices," and framed it as relief for grocery bills eleven weeks before the midterms: "This deal will reduce prices for Americans while giving space for our Great American Beef Herd to grow again." An executive order was expected within two weeks. The USDA touted the move as proof of Trump's commitment to "lowering the cost of everyday goods for the American people." The backlash came the same afternoon, and it came almost entirely from his own party. Both Nebraska senators, all three Nebraska House Republicans, Montana's Republican senator, Iowa's senior Republican senator and two of the House GOP's most vocal backbenchers went on the record against it within hours. Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) said he had privately advised Trump against the policy "for a year" and warned that the ranchers it would hurt are "most of whom are MAGA Republicans." Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) called it "Worse than socialism!" Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) said she was "extremely disappointed by this decision from the White House." The substantive objection was consistent across party lines: the U.S. cattle herd is at historically low levels, and ranchers argue that suppressing prices with imported product removes the incentive to rebuild it. National Cattlemen's Beef Association CEO Colin Woodall said the move "sacrifices long-term stability for short term messaging." Democrats attacked from a different angle — Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) tied it to the administration's earlier expansion of the Argentine beef quota. Trump, asked about the rancher complaints, said: "I love the ranchers; they've done a fantastic job. But they admit that we need a little help, and, in order to get the prices down, so that's what we're doing."

“For the first time ever, we’re going to give farmers and ranchers the right to process their own food. They’ll have inspectors. They’ll have everything, just like these big plants. I would be willing to say that our ranches will be more sanitary than those plants.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 4, 2026

Tyson Shuts Its Joslin Beef Plant With No Warning and 2,500 Union Workers Find Out at the Start of Their Shift — Illinois Democrats Call It Devastating While Republicans Blame the State

On August 13, 2026, Tyson Foods announced it was ending beef operations at its plant in Joslin, Illinois, and closing its case-ready facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah, while putting its Pasco, Washington beef plant up for sale. About 2,500 workers in Joslin and 723 in Eagle Mountain lost their jobs — roughly 3,200 in all. Joslin workers said they learned the plant was closing when they arrived for their shift the next day and were handed letters; the facility had operated for 43 years. Pay continues into the fall, but health insurance does not. Tyson attributed the closures to "one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced." The U.S. cattle herd has fallen to its lowest level since the 1950s after years of drought, high input costs, and the northward spread of New World screwworm, which has restricted imports from Mexico. Retail ground beef hit record highs in 2026. CEO Donnie King is consolidating beef into three plants — Dakota City, Nebraska; Holcomb, Kansas; and Amarillo, Texas. The closure landed a week before President Trump waived tariffs on 300,000 metric tons of imported ground beef, and it became a proxy fight over who is responsible. Illinois's two Democratic senators and the Democrat who represents Joslin called the shutdown devastating for union workers facing a rising cost of living. Gov. J.B. Pritzker called it a tragedy driven by the national cost of beef and said the state was in talks with Tyson about repurposing or selling the site. Illinois Senate Republicans used the closure to attack the state's business climate, with one senator arguing Tyson was simply moving production to friendlier states. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), citing the Joslin closure, said he was worried about cattle markets even before Trump's beef import decision.

“We, the Illinois State General Assembly and the governor’s office, have to create the climate that is good for large and small businesses to be in Illinois.”
Chris Balkema (R-IL) · Aug 23, 2026

Senate Agriculture Committee Deadlocks 10-11 on the Agricultural Act of 2026, Stalling "Farm Bill 2.0" Over SNAP Error-Rate Cost Shifting

On August 6, 2026, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry failed to advance the Agricultural Act of 2026 — the five-year farm bill reauthorization branded "Farm Bill 2.0" — on a 10-11 party-line vote, leaving the package stranded in committee. The bill collapsed over a single unresolved fight: how quickly states would be forced to pick up a share of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit costs based on their payment error rates. Chairman John Boozman (R-Ark.) had negotiated directly with the White House to soften the nutrition title, agreeing to delay the state cost-sharing requirement by one year and to let states use whichever of their fiscal 2026 or 2027 error rates was lower. Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) pushed for a two-year delay, arguing the one-year window let the highest-error-rate states escape cost-sharing entirely while states that had already cleaned up their numbers were penalized. Luján's amendment to extend the delay — scored by CBO at roughly $19 billion — failed, and with it the bill. Most of the farm title enjoyed bipartisan support, and a mandatory country-of-origin labeling amendment drew Majority Leader John Thune along with Sens. Deb Fischer, John Hoeven, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst. But the SNAP impasse held, Democratic amendments were defeated along party lines, and the final vote failed. Boozman pointedly recessed rather than adjourned the committee, signaling he intends to bring the bill back after the August break. House Agriculture Chairman Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-Pa.) blamed Senate Democrats. Agriculture groups including the National Corn Growers Association, the American Soybean Association and the Farm Credit Council all voiced disappointment, warning the delay pushes a five-year farm bill further out of reach.

“America's farmers and ranchers have pleaded for more farm in the farm bill. Republicans provided it and Democrats rejected it.”
John Boozman (R-AR) · Aug 6, 2026