MON ANIO

Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan cast the political left as "crazy" and "mean" while he hyped up his colleague, U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, at a special meeting of Des Moines' Westside Conservative Club. Jordan, a Republican from Ohio who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, was in Des Moines on Thursday, May 29, supporting Nunn. Nunn is running for reelection to the 3rdCongressional District next year. And the race has begun in earnest as Democrats begin entering the race. Democratic state Reps.Sarah Trone GarriottandJennifer Konfrsthave both announced their candidacies. And national Democrats haveonce again targeted the seat as a prime pickup opportunity. "Thanks for getting off the sidelines and getting in the game," Jordan told the group, which gathered at the Machine Shed Restaurant in Urbandale. "I learned a long time ago, good things in life don't just happen. You want to accomplish anything that matters … it takes hard work, it takes sacrifice, but most importantly, it takes a willingness to assume risk." Politics is a risky business, he said, particularly in an age of division. He said the dividing line between the parties currently is one of "common sense." "We're the party of common sense and normal," he said. "You think about the left, it is crazy to defund the police. … It's crazy to not have a border. It is crazy to have men compete against women in sports." He painted Democrats broadly as untrustworthy, pointing to decisions made during the COVID-19 pandemic to shut down schools and churches as well as the current conversation about whether former Democratic PresidentJoe Bidenwas mentally fit to serve in office. More:$1,000 to seek asylum? House Republicans propose new immigration fees "The left will tell a lie," Jordan said. "Big media will repeat the lie. Big tech will amplify the lie. And then when you tell the truth, they call you a racist or some other name. They'll attack you. They'll come at you personally because they're mean. Then pretty soon, your position will be proven accurate. So much so, in this example even, Jake Tapper wrote a book to say we were right." Tapper is the co-author of a bookthat suggests aides and confidantes close to Biden shielded him from the public to hide his declining mental state. Nunn said he had recently spoken to Republican PresidentDonald Trumpabout the importance of Iowa's congressional races in the coming midterm elections. "We were just on a conversation with the President, and he said, 'You know what, everybody looks to Iowa, and they might be looking at presidential races coming up in 2028,'" Nunn said. "But the President said, 'I am laser focused on 2026.'" Nunn again touted the tax cut and spending package that recently cleared the House of Representatives. "It adds 10,000 new ICE agents," he said. "But at this point, we almost don't even need them, because the president has been so effective, they've stopped coming over themselves." He said he believes there are people who need access to social safety net programs, but he believes the legislation, which makes massive spending cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, are for the best. "There are important things that Washington can do for Americans," Nunn said. "I'll be the first to say, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP do help Americans. But they have to be used in a way to help Americans with a hand up, not a handout." Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach her atbpfann@dmreg.comor 515-284-8244. Follow her on X at @brianneDMR. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register:US Rep. Jim Jordan backs Zach Nunn ahead of 2026 reelection bid

By Christian Lowe and Dmitry Antonov KYIV/MOSCOW (Reuters) -Ukraine on Friday resisted pressure from Moscow and Washington to commit itself to attending peace talks with Russia on June 2, saying it first needed to see the proposals Russian negotiators plan to bring to the talks. After U.S. President Donald Trump urged Moscow and Kyiv to work together on a peace deal to end their three-year-old war, Russia proposed sitting down with Ukrainian officials next week in Istanbul. Kyiv responded by saying it was committed in principle to the search for peace, but that it was waiting for a memorandum from the Russian side setting out their proposals, which it had still not received. "We are ready for dialogue, but we demand clarity - clear and, most importantly, balanced proposals," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said in remarks aired on national television. The war, the biggest on the European continent since World War Two, began when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Expectations for the talks are modest because the positions staked out so far by the two sides are far apart and work between them has yet to begin in earnest on narrowing the gap. Nevertheless, both Kyiv and Moscow are keen to demonstrate to Trump that they are on board with his efforts to end the conflict. Kyiv is seeking more U.S. military aid, while Moscow hopes he will ease economic sanctions on Russia. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian delegation would be travelling to Istanbul and would be ready for talks with Ukraine on Monday morning. "At the moment, everyone is focused on the direct Russia-Ukraine negotiations. A list of conditions for a temporary truce is being developed," Peskov told reporters. Reuters reported earlier this week that Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards. Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said earlier on Friday that Russia's concern over the eastward enlargement of NATO was fair and the United States did not want to see Ukraine in the U.S.-led military alliance. Commenting on Kellogg's statement, Peskov said: "We are pleased that these explanations by the president are understood, including in Washington." TURKISH HOSTS Turkey's government hosted a previous round of Ukrainian-Russian talks in Istanbul on May 16 -- which ended with no breakthrough -- and has again offered its services as a mediator. Speaking on a visit to Kyiv, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters: "As long as (the sides) remain at the negotiating table, progress can surely be seen." If the talks go ahead in Istanbul, the next step would be to try to host a meeting between Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, he added. But Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, who appeared alongside Fidan at a news conference, sounded a note of caution. "In order for the next planned meeting to be substantive and meaningful, it is important to receive a document in advance so that the delegation that will attend has the authority to discuss the relevant positions," Sybiha said. Sybiha did not spell out what Kyiv would do if it did not receive the Russian document, or set out a deadline for receiving it. "We want to end this war this year, and we are interested in establishing a truce, whether it is for 30 days, or for 50 days, or for 100 days," he said. Zelenskiy was later shown meeting and shaking hands with Fidan in Kyiv in footage released by the Turkish foreign ministry. Russia has said its delegation at the Istanbul talks will be led by Vladimir Medinsky, a Kremlin aide who led the Russian team at the previous round of talks. (Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, Anna Pruchnicka and Tom Balmforth; Editing by Ros Russell)

U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order during a tariff announcement in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Credit - Jim Lo Scalzo—EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images The roller coaster that is President Donald Trump's trade war steamed ahead this week. On Wednesday, a federal district court dealt a major blow to Trumpwhen it ruledthat hissweeping global tariffswere illegal. On Thursday, an appeals courtruledthe levies could remain in place for now. And then, on Friday, Trumpaccused Chinaof violating a preliminary trade deal andsuggested he would respond. As all this unfolds and the U.S. legal systemlumbers toward a final verdict, one thing is clear: the White House needs to get a real trade strategy, and fast. Read More:The Five Small Businesses That Helped Block Trump's Tariffs Few issuesare more fundamentalto Trump's worldview than trade. For Trump, trade is not merely an economic issue, but a litmus test of whether America iswinning or losing on the world stage. Even matters of war and peace, such as Taiwan and the South China Sea, have seemingly taken a back seat toTrump's stubborn fixationon China's trade surplus with the U.S. During his first term, Trump launched a trade war against China with a goal, ashe framed it, of punishingChina's unfair trade practices. The trade war ended with aPhase-one dealwherein China promised to increase its future purchases of American products and enact structural reforms. Ultimately, this dealfailed to deliver. The Chinese underperformed on their pledges. Trumpblamedthe Biden Administration for not enforcing the deal. Unbowed by the disappointment of his first trade war with China, Trump launched a second one when he returned to office earlier this year. This time, he surrounded himself with loyalists who supported his instincts for public confrontation and rapid escalation to force China to the negotiating table. Trump's approach appeared to be built on an assumption that China's economy was brittle, and Beijing would buckle under pressure. Read More:Why Trump Will Blink First on China That bet backfired. Chinaretaliatedwith counter-tariffs. Beijing alsoimplementednovel new export controls on critical minerals and magnets upon which U.S. industries depend. Chinese policymakers moved swiftly to shore up China's economy while expanding trade ties with other partners. Rather than fold, China punched back. As the economic costs of the trade war mounted onbothsidesof the Pacific, Trumpdesignatedhis Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to negotiate a90-day truce. The Chinese accepted. Trump's trade war with China is not over. It is merely paused. Trump will continue returning to the well of grievance about America's trade imbalance with China until he can secure a deal that he can sell as a win to the American public. But therein lies the rub. Based on my recent exchanges with Chinese officials and experts, it seems Beijing has taken America's measure in recent weeks and concluded that China has greater capacity to withstand economic pain than the U.S. China's leaders lack confidence that any agreement with the mercurial Trump will last. At a more fundamental level, China's leaders are unclear on what specifically Trump seeks—and what he would offer in return. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Bessent said that U.S.-China talks were "a bit stalled" and suggested Trump and Xi Jinping "have a call." But until the Trump Administration can articulate its concrete objectives, its strategy for achieving them, and its vision of a productive process for doing so, the U.S.-China trade war will stay stalemated. Read More:It's Time for Trump and Xi to Meet To be clear, the Trump Administration has legitimate grievances about China's unfair economic practices. China'smarket access barriers,forced technology transfers, andstate-directed subsidiesto preferred industries and businesses have createdmassive global trade distortions. But grievance is not a strategy. And daily improvisation is not a formula for progress in negotiations. The 90-day trade truce gives the Trump Administration time and space to do its homework. That means discarding the failed assumptions that Xi will cave under pressure and instead doing the hard work of homing in on what specifically Trump is aiming to achieve and what he is prepared to give in return. In the end, trade policy is not about scoring points or undermining competitors. It is about making America stronger, safer, and more prosperous. If Trump wants to succeed, he will need to move beyond theatrics and prepare for the grinding process of negotiating with China that awaits. Contact usatletters@time.com.

President Donald Trump sent stock futures diving early Friday after he accused China of breaking the handshake pact the two countries made in Geneva earlier this month that had helped reset a trade standoff. In a post on Truth Social just after 8 a.m. ET, Trump wrote China "HAS TOTALLY VIOLATED ITS AGREEMENT WITH US" and signaled a tough response lay ahead. "So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!" the president said. S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures fell about 0.5%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures declined about 0.4%. The "trade win" announced by the White House May 12 was expected to lead to China removing retaliatory tariffs and a suspension of "non-tariff countermeasures taken against the United States." Both sides agreed to lower tariffs on each other by 115% for 90 days. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, speakingon CNBC Friday morningas Trump posted his message, said "this has been something that we've been discussing" since meeting with China in Geneva. "The Chinese are slow rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable," Greer added. "You make every effort to be diplomatic and professional and to do things behind closed doors. But at some point the impact on on the U.S. economy, or the trade relationship, becomes such that it's hard to withhold that anymore," he continued. On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said trade talks with China were "a bit stalled." Bessent said he believed there would be more talks in the coming weeks but "given the magnitude of the talks," Trump and Xi would likely need to "weigh in with each other" first. The matter hit a further snag Thursday after an appeals courttemporarily reinstateda set of tariffs a federal trade court had voided just hours earlier, casting fresh doubt on the path forward for Trump's tariffs gambit. The case is expected to make its way to the Supreme Court. There has been almost no resolution in the market fluctuations Trump's trade war has set off. The week's back-and-forth court opinionserasedmost of the stock gains from the first decision. Yet before Trump's Friday post, stocks were poised for a weekly gain. Since Trump took office, the S&P 500 has fallen approximately 2% — a modest decline that masks substantial weekly and even daily swings.

President Donald Trump, accompanied by Pam Bondi, speaks before Bondi is sworn in as U.S. Attorney General in the Oval Office of the White House on Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Credit - Andrew Harnik—Getty Images The Department of Justice has announced that it will be curtailing the ability of the American Bar Association (ABA) to rate candidates for tenure in the federal judiciary. This will hinder the ABA's ability to vet nominations put forth by President Donald Trump. Attorney General Pam Bondisaid in a letterto the ABA president William Bay on Thursday, May 29, that she is cutting off the association's access to non-public information about Trump nominees. Bondi referred to the non-partisan membership organization as an "activist" group. "Unfortunately, the ABA no longer functions as a fair arbiter of nominees' qualifications, and its ratings invariably and demonstrably favor nominees put forth by Democratic Administrations," said Bondi, accusing the ABA of having "bias" in its ratings process. "There is no justification for treating the ABA differently from such other activist organizations and the Department of Justice will not do so." Bondi went on to say that judicial nominees will no longer need to provide waivers to allow the ABA access to non-public information, nor will they respond to questionnaires or sit for interviews with the association. In a subsequent social media post, Bondi doubled down, saying: "The American Bar Association has lost its way, and we do not believe it serves as a fair arbiter of judicial nominees. The Justice Department will no longer give the ABA the access they've taken for granted." The move against the ABA came a day after Trump announced six new judicial nominees, which included top Justice Department official Emil Bove being put forward to serve as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.In a post on Truth Social, Trump saidthat Bove "will end the weaponization of Justice, restore the rule of law, and do anything else that is necessary to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN." Bove defended Trump during his hush-money trial,during which the President was convicted on 34 counts. Trump also nominatedKyle Dudek,John Guard,Jordan E. Pratt, andAnne-Leigh Gaylord Moeto serve as Judges on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, andEd Artauto serve as a Judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The President has previously threatened to revoke the ABA's status as the federally-recognized accreditor of law schools in anExecutive Order signed on April 24. As part of his wide-scale crackdown onDEI efforts, Trump said that the ABA has required law schools to demonstrate commitment to diversity and inclusion, something which he says is a "discriminatory requirement" and that "similar unlawful mandates must be permanently eradicated." Critics have recently raised concerns over current practices at the Department of Justice."I think what's happening in the Department of Justice right now is that it's being transformed into Donald Trump's personal law firm,"said Liz Oyer, the DOJ's former pardon attorney. "The Attorney General has made it clear that directions are coming from the very top, from the President, and she is there to do his bidding." Read More:Democrats Grill AG Pick Pam Bondi Over Whether She Can Defy Trump Founded in 1878, theABA works on the"commitment to set the legal and ethical foundation for the American nation," according to the organization's website. Its main three areas of focus revolve around advocating for the legal profession, eliminating bias and enhancing diversity, as well as advancing the rule of law. It is theABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciarythat typically oversees and conducts the judicial nominee vetting process, something it has done since 1953. According to the ABA, the committee "makes a unique contribution to the vetting process by conducting a thorough peer assessment of each nominee's professional competence, integrity, and judicial temperament." The organization asserts that these assessments are non-partisan, providing the Senate and sitting Administration with "confidential assessments of the nominee's professional qualifications." Contact usatletters@time.com.