Weekly News Roundup - 5/16/25
Trump retreats from trade war with China and goes to Middle East // Israeli steps up airstrikes in Gaza // Walmart says tariffs are driving up its prices
This is the 20th Weekly News Roundup of 2025. The archive for all weekly news roundups is here.
These weekly dispatches are designed for those who may not have time to do more than glance at the headlines, or those who want to stay informed without becoming obsessed by politics and news. These roundups are a targeted way to get a sense of the shape of the past week on the national level. Without such a map, we can be disoriented, not knowing where we have been over the past several days, or where we may be going.
But by spending concentrated, limited time thinking about the big picture, we can devote more of our time to where “agency and justice begin and end,” as Karen Swallow Prior put it: “on the ground, bodily, in community and real relationships, in flesh and blood.”
Quotes of the Week
Christianity now confronts a strange postmodern version of the paganism it once overcame — a cultural situation in which its own supernatural claims are no longer a stumbling block but perhaps an essential selling point. - Ross Douthat
Rarely has an economic policy been repudiated as soundly, and as quickly, as President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs—and by Mr. Trump’s own hand. - The Wall Street Journal editorial board
Those who profit off the labor of others have all the time in the world, while those who make this country run — the people who build the products and contribute the labor — have less and less time for themselves, for their families, for their lives. - Shawn Fain
For the past decade, American government and business alike have slowly begun to adopt the kleptocratic model pioneered by countries such as Russia and China, where the rulers’ conflicts of interest are simply part of the fabric of the system. - Anne Applebaum
Two Americans now bestride the entire globe in universal recognition and influence: this Pope and this President ... This is surely Leo’s unspoken role: to remind the world that America is not all about power, selfishness, and money, and that however much we may disagree on policy, we must not sacrifice our defense of the equal dignity of every human soul. - Andrew Sullivan
Big Stories This Week
The U.S. and China agreed to lower their tariffs on one another for 90 days. The U.S. tariff on Chinese goods drops to 30%, down from 145%, and Chinese tariffs on U.S. goods drops to 10% down from 125%. Fox Business Senior Correspondent Charles Gasparino notes that “the markets, particularly the bond market — which we need to finance our debt — rebelled. Trump then was forced to back off." However, New York Times Beijing Bureau Chief Keith Bradsher said China was also up against a wall. "China has a big economic incentive to reach some kind of resolution, longer-term resolution, longer-term closure on this issue," Bradsher said. "However, while China may be experiencing more pain than the United States, China also has more ability to endure pain than the United States." The Wall Street Journal deemed the agreement "more surrender than Trump victory ... One tragedy of Mr. Trump’s shoot-America-in-the-foot-first approach is that he’s hurt his chances of rallying a united front of countries against Beijing’s mercantilism. By targeting allies with tariffs, Mr. Trump has eroded trust in America’s economic and political reliability ... after weeks of market turmoil, the economy is left with higher trade costs and greater uncertainty for business, but at least a step back from Smoot-Hawley 2.0 ... If there’s a silver lining to this turmoil, it is that markets have forced Mr. Trump to back down from his fever dream that high tariff walls will usher in a new 'golden age.'"
President Trump spent four days in the Middle East, visiting Saudi Arabia, Quatar and the United Arab Emirates. Read Lawrence Freedman and Mindy Belz for more.
The Democratic Party went through a round of recriminations unlike anything it has endured since the 2024 election, linked to the publication of a book that outlined the depth of former President Biden's mental deterioration and the lengths to which his close advisers went to hide this decline.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether federal judges can issue nationwide injunctions to stop executive actions. Read Gabe Fleisher for more on that.
Week in Review
Saturday, May 10
India and Pakistan announce a ceasefire to avoid hostilities escalating further.
U.S. and Chinese representatives meet in Geneva to negotiate over tariffs.
Sunday, May 11
On Mothers Day, Pope Leo XIV gives his first Sunday blessing to a crowd in St. Peter's Square estimated at 100,000 people. He calls for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, and offers a symbolic gesture to more conservative Catholics.
Newark International Airport suffers a momentary failure of a backup system, causing a 45-minute ground delay. It's the third incident in two weeks.
Monday, May 12
The U.S. and China agree to lower their tariffs on one another for 90 days. Nonetheless, the overall impact of Trump's tariffs is expected to raise prices for every American family by roughly $2,800 this year.
The last American hostage in Gaza is released. Edan Alexander had been held prisoner by Hamas for 584 days.
House Republicans propose to cut $880 billion from Medicaid, which provides healthcare to lower-income Americans, to pay for tax breaks estimated at $4.5 trillion over 10 years.
President Trump signs an order "setting a 30-day deadline for drugmakers to lower the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. or face new limits over what the government will pay," the AP reports.
Tuesday, May 13
The Indian government dismisses claims by Trump that he helped bring about the ceasefire with Pakistan.
Trump begins a four-day trip to the Middle East, beginning in Saudi Arabia. He says he will ease sanctions on Syria and restart relations with the new government, and he urged Iran to make a deal over its nuclear program. He also cast aspersions on "nation-builders" who he says "wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves," in a swipe at former President George W. Bush. He also dismisses decades of U.S. foreign policy that put human rights at the center of its values, declaring the U.S. will stop "giving you lectures on how to live." But he also asks Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel.
Economic data shows inflation is cooling, but economists predict Trump's tariffs will drive prices back up in June and July.
Wednesday, May 14
Trump meets in Quatar with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who fought against U.S. forces in Iraq.
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill at least 70 people, including roughly 20 children.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the federal governments Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency, tells a congressional hearing that President Trump may suspend the law -- habeas corpus -- that requires the government to state why a person is imprisoned, allowing police to detain individuals without charges or explanations.
A congressional hearing reveals that Noem also wants to buy a $50 million jet for her use, using taxpayer funds. This comes as Trump has said he wants to accept a $400 million jet to replace Air Force One from Quatar.
Thursday, May 15
Walmart says it will have to raise prices on many of its products because of the Trump administration's tariffs. "Given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins," Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon says. The announcement signals that many other retailers will likely follow suit.
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the question of nationwide injunctions. Both conservative and liberal justices appear skeptical of arguments made by Solicitor General John Sauer on behalf of the Trump administration.
A second round of Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill more than 50 people.
Friday, May 16
Ukraine and Russia hold peace talks in Istanbul, and agree to swap 1,000 prisoners. But they remain far apart and do not reach agreement on how to conduct talks between their respective leaders. An end to the fighting appears far from reach.
Republicans suffer a setback to their budget process as the spending bill is voted down in the House Budget Committee by hardline Republicans who want deeper spending cuts to Medicaid and other programs.
More Israeli airstrikes in Gaza kill another 108 people. Local health officials say 31 of the dead are children, and 27 are women. Trump himself says that "a lot of people are starving" in Gaza.
Interesting Reads
The Forecast for 2027? Total A.I. Domination, by Ross Douthat and Daniel Kokotajlo for The New York Times
Judges warn Trump’s mass deportations could lay groundwork to ensnare Americans, by Kyle Cheney for Politico
The ‘Modest’ Ruling That Could Kneecap Our Legal System, by Stephen I. Vladeck for The New York Times
A Vulnerable China Comes to the Table, by Natalie Kitroeff and Keith Bradsher for The Daily
Trump’s China Deal Makes Sense. How He Got Here Doesn’t, by Greg Ip for The Wall Street Journal
The Pope, The President and America, by Andrew Sullivan for The Weekly Dish
Trump’s Immigration Horror Stories Are Breaking Through. Here’s How, by Adrian Carrasquillo for The Bulwark
CECOT Is What the Bukele Regime Wants You to See, by Jonah Valdez for The Intercept
Pope’s Childhood in a Changing Chicago Tells a Story of Catholic America, by Ruth Graham and Julie Bosman for The New York Times
An American Pope Confronts Fading Faith in His Own Backyard, by John McCormick and Owen Tucker-Smith for The Wall Street Journal
I Came to Study Aging. Now I’m Trapped in ICE Detention, by Kseniia Petrova for The New York Times
Why the 1 senator who can rein in RFK Jr. isn’t calling him out, by Carmen Paun and Adam Cancryn for Politico
As White House Steers Justice Dept., Bondi Embraces Role of TV Messenger, by Glenn Thrush for The New York Times
Donald Trump's Gargantuan Self-Dealing, by Edward Luce for The Financial Times
Kleptocracy, Inc., by Anne Applebaum for The Atlantic
Popular Turkish American online political commentator detained, questioned at Chicago airport, by Sophia Tareen for The Associated Press