The Latest: US and South Korea advance trade talks during Trump’s visit to Seoul

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The United States and South Korea advanced trade talks on Wednesday, addressing details of $350 billion that would be invested in the American economy, after negotiations and ceremonies that included the presentation of a gold medal and crown to President Donald Trump.

Both were gifts from the country’s president, Lee Jae Myung, who dialed up the flattery while Washington and Seoul worked to nail down financial promises during the last stop of Trump’s Asia trip.

Although both sides said progress has been made — Trump said things were “pretty much finalized” — no agreement has been signed yet. The framework includes gradual investments, cooperation on shipbuilding and the lowering of Trump’s tariffs on South Korea’s automobile exports, according to Kim Yong-beom, Lee’s chief of staff for policy. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Here's the latest:

“If the president wanted to help feed hungry American children, he would,” said Rep. Angie Craig, the ranking Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee that handles the food aid program.

At a press conference at the Capitol, the Democrats said Trump has focused more on his priorities, including his new ballroom at the White House, than the everyday needs of Americans.

“I’m calling on the president to get back from Asia and do the right thing — and the moral thing,” Craig said.

“Where is the great dealmaker now?” asked Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C. “We’re ready to make a bipartisan deal that, first of all, would keep SNAP funded, that would reopen the government, that would extend the ACA tax credits — that would end the pain that’s being inflicted on the American people.”

National weather forecasters were able to provide critical warnings, collect satellite data and fly aircraft into the eye of powerful Hurricane Melissa during the government shutdown.

Experts say they saw no major problems with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s hurricane forecasting ability.

That work was critical ahead of Melissa’s landfall in Jamaica as a violent storm that is not expected to strike the United States. Many NOAA employees are considered essential, which means they are working during the shutdown without pay.

“They are carrying on as normal, without getting paid for their sometimes stressful and exhausting work,” said Kristen Corbosiero, professor and chair of the department of Atmospheric and environmental science at the University of Albany.

Weather forecasters have been among those hit by the Trump administration’s staff cuts, although some positions were reopened after concerns about dangerous understaffing.

The United States on Wednesday lifted sanctions against separatist Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his family, turning back financial penalties that were imposed by the Biden administration in 2022.

Dodik is staunchly pro-Russian and has called for the Serb-run part of Bosnia to break off and join Serbia.

Until recently he was the president of the Bosnian Serb republic in Bosnia, sharing the tripartite presidency with a Bosniak and a Croat. Dodik agreed to step down this month after a Bosnian court banned him for politics over his separatist actions.

Dodik on X thanked President Donald Trump and his associates for “correcting a grave injustice.”

The New Hampshire Executive Council on Wednesday approved using $2 million from a tax on hospital revenues to partner with the New Hampshire Food Bank to set up mobile food pantries for SNAP recipients and increase food options at traditional food pantries.

Lawmakers approved the plan Tuesday. Republicans hold a majority in both the Legislature and the five-member council that approves state contracts.

The prospect of millions of people going hungry has prompted action to fill the void across the country, even in Republican states where leaders blame Democrats for the shutdown.

Vance, speaking on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, said he had brought it up “in jest” with Rubio after Trump said his vice president and Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be “unstoppable” if they ran together on a presidential ticket.

He said he works with Rubio a lot and there would be no tension between them if they both considered campaigns for the presidency down the road.

“Marco is my best friend in the administration,” Vance said.

He said speculation about the 2028 presidential election is “feels so premature because we’re still so early.”

Vance said it is not a focus in his current role.

“I never want to wake up, and so far I have never woken up and thought to myself, how do I make myself president?” he said.

Awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Louisiana’s congressional map, the state’s Republican lawmakers are pushing back next year’s congressional primary election schedule by a month.

Republicans said the change buys lawmakers time to redraw congressional boundaries if the court strikes down the current map. Democrats say the adjustment is premature since it is unknow when or how the court will rule.

Lawmakers passed the election schedule change Wednesday along party lines. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry is expected to give the adjustment final approval.

The map at the center of the court case was crafted by lawmakers last year, under a federal judge’s order, and carved out a second majority Black congressional district. Proponents say the boundaries are fair in a state where Black people account for one-third of the population.

Opponents argue the second Black majority congressional district was unconstitutionally gerrymandered based on race.

The Trump administration has been signaling it may have finally reached a deal with China to keep TikTok running in the U.S., with the two countries finalizing it as soon as Thursday.

President Trump is visiting South Korea, where he’ll meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to de-escalate a trade war.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the two leaders will “consummate that transaction on Thursday in Korea.”

If it happens, the deal would mark the end of months of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed — and President Joe Biden signed — a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it didn’t find a new owner in the place of China’s ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the law’s January deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration tries to reach an agreement for the sale of the company.

▶ Read more about the Trump administration and TikTok

But the agency has recently detected renewed movement at the country’s nuclear sites.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that despite being unable to access Iranian nuclear sites, inspectors haven’t seen any activity via satellite to indicate the Islamic Republic has accelerated its production of uranium enriched beyond what it had compiled before the 12-day war with Israel in June.

“However, the nuclear material enriched at 60% is still in Iran. And this is one of the points we are discussing because we need to go back there and to confirm that the material is there and it’s not being diverted to any other use,” Grossi said in an interview at the United Nations headquarters in New York. “This is very, very important.”

Grossi said, however, that inspectors have seen movement around the sites where the stockpiles are stored. Without additional access, the IAEA has had to rely on satellite imagery, which can only show so much, he said.

▶ Read more about Iran’s nuclear program

The Trump administration has made 2026 Affordable Care Act health insurance plans available for enrollees to browse ahead of the start of the open enrollment period Saturday.

Americans who live in states that use the federally facilitated marketplace can now use the Healthcare.gov website to check the costs of next year’s plans, which are expected to rise sharply next year because of increasing health costs and expiring subsidies that have made the plans cheaper for consumers.

Window shopping was already available in many of the states that manage their own versions of the ACA marketplace.

The unveiling of next year’s plans comes after Democratic senators urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to make them available as soon as possible. Amid large-scale federal employee furloughs during the government shutdown, CMS temporarily brought back all its workers Monday, in part to help manage the ACA open enrollment period.

Sen. John Thune says there’s been a “higher level of conversation” with Democrats this week about reopening the government, but the underlying dynamics of the impasse in the Senate remain the same.

Thune told reporters Democratic leadership is “out of the equation” and he’s pressing rank and file Democrats to vote to reopen the government before the Senate takes up talks to extend health care benefits.

However, that’s the strategy he’s been pursuing since the shutdown started nearly a month ago.

Sen. John Thune called the bill “a cynical attempt to buy political cover for Democrats to allow them to carry on their government shutdown even longer.”

Senate Democrats proposed a bill to extend funding during the government shutdown for two food assistance programs, SNAP and WIC, used by millions of low-income Americans.

Thune’s comments signal the legislation is unlikely to get the unanimous consent needed to pass the Senate on an expedited basis.

Thune also said he’s opposed to any bills that would only fund certain parts of the government.

“I think that the quickest way to end it is to just open everything up, and then everybody gets paid. You’re not picking winners and losers or having to explain to this group why you open it up for this group. I mean, that just doesn’t make any sense,” he told reporters.

The Department of Agriculture has announced that no SNAP benefits, formerly food stamps, will be issued Saturday.

The congressionally funded outlet that provides uncensored news to several countries in Asia has been targeted for cuts by the Trump administration and now faces further pain from the government shutdown.

Radio Free Asia said Wednesday that it will halt all news production starting Friday for the first time in its 29-year history.

In a statement, CEO and President Bay Fang said RFA will start shuttering overseas bureaus and formally lay off furloughed staff.

She called the move “an effort to conserve limited resources on hand and preserve the possibility of restarting operations should consistent funding become available.”

RFA lost its congressional funding in March when the U.S. Agency for Global Media terminated the funding under a Trump administration order. The news service then was forced to furlough staff and scale back operations.

House Speaker Mike Johnson opened his daily news conference at the Capitol with a shrug of resignation on day 29 of the shutdown.

“Here we are again,” the GOP leader said.

He said it’s time for Democrats to drop their demands — they’re fighting for health care funds — and reopen government before Saturday’s deadlines. That’s when SNAP food aid benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program are set to shutter.

“We pray that Senate Democrats come to their senses before the situation becomes too dire on Saturday,” he said. “This gets very real.”

National security director Wi Sung-lac told reporters Trump made such comments during talks with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday.

Lee earlier said at the opening of talks with Trump that South Korea doesn’t intend to build nuclear-armed submarines but needs conventionally armed, nuclear-powered ones that are capable of operating quietly underwater for extended periods. He said the country’s diesel submarines are constrained in their ability to track submarines from North Korea or China. His office later clarified that Lee wasn’t referring to submarines from specific nations, but those that travel near South Korean waters.

Wi quoted Trump as stressing the need to bolster the allies’ deterrence capabilities to better deal with North Korean nuclear threats.

Wi says Trump also expressed his intention to resume diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul says the leaders of South Korea and the U.S. have agreed that South Korea’s promised $350 billion investment package will be divided into $200 billion in direct cash payments and $150 billion in investment in shipbuilding.

Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, made the announcement after a meeting with President Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Kim says the two leaders agreed the $200 billion cash payments will be made an annual cap of $20 billion and the $150 billion on shipbuilding cooperation includes loan guarantees.

Kim says U.S. tariffs on auto will be lowered to 15%.

“We made our deal pretty much finalized,” Trump said in opening remarks at the dinner. He didn’t provide any details about the deal with South Korea, and neither has the White House.

A sticking point in negotiations has been Trump’s desire for South Korea to invest $350 billion in the United States.

Korean officials say putting up cash could destabilize their own economy, and they’d rather offer loans and loan guarantees instead.

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry says it is willing to work with the U.S. to “inject new momentum” into the bilateral relationship ahead of a planned meeting between Trump and Xi on Thursday.

“Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic role in guiding China–U.S. relations,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Wednesday.

Guo did not specify what actions China might take after Trump said he would lower fentanyl-related tariffs on China, but Guo noted Beijing remains open to cooperation.

“China sympathizes with the American people for the suffering caused by the fentanyl crisis and has provided assistance in this regard and achieved positive results,” Guo said.

However, “the U.S. should take concrete actions to create the necessary conditions for bilateral cooperation,” Guo added.

Dozens of anti-U.S. protesters were rallying near the venue where Trump and Lee were meeting for a summit.

Police said that about 60 people were staging a sit-in demonstration on a street near Gyeongju National Museum where the Trump-Lee meeting was being held on Wednesday ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit set for later this week.

Police denied media reports that the protesters physically clashed with police.

Yonhap news agency said the protesters were holding placards that read “NO. Trump” and “Withdraw investments in the U.S.”

Police said several other anti-U.S. protests were also taking place in Gyeongju on Wednesday.

Shares in Asia were mostly higher Wednesday as Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index surged more than 2% to another record.

U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices were little changed.

U.S. President Donald Trump has been touring Asia and his upbeat comments on relations with major economies like Japan and China have helped fuel rallies while U.S. stocks have pushed further into record heights.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 was up 2.4% at 51,410.40. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.2% to 4,058.37.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.5% at 4,006.21. It has been trading near decade highs ahead of Trump’s expected meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a regional summit in South Korea.

China’s Foreign Ministry announced that President Xi Jinping will meet with the U.S.’s Donald Trump in Busan on Thursday, “to exchange views on bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest.”

Trump has mentioned his plans for the meeting but this is the first official confirmation from the Chinese side.

Lee asked Trump to allow South Korea to receive fuel needed to develop nuclear-powered submarines.

During their bilateral meeting on Wednesday, Lee said South Korea doesn’t intend to build nuclear-armed submarines but needs conventionally armed, nuclear-powered ones that are capable of operating quietly underwater for extended periods. He said that the country’s diesel submarines are constrained in their ability to track North Korean or Chinese submarines.

South Korea’s access to such fuels is strictly restricted by a bilateral deal with the United State due to worries about the proliferation of technologies needed to build nuclear weapons.

“If it’s possible for you to allow us to receive fuel (for nuclear-powered submarines), we could build several conventionally armed submarines with our own technology and carry out defense operations in the eastern and western seas of the Korean Peninsula,” Lee said. “I believe that would also significantly reduce the burden on U.S. forces. “

Lee also called for talks on broadening South Korea’s rights to reprocess spent fuel and enrich uranium for civilian energy purposes.

After the honor ceremony, Trump and Lee sat down for a meeting with their advisers.

Much like he did when visiting the White House, Lee cranked up the flattery, telling Trump that “you are indeed making America great again.”

He expressed interest in obtaining nuclear-powered submarines, saying, “We can help your activities around this region.”

The medal represents the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the country’s highest honor. Trump is the first U.S. president to receive it.

Trump said, “It’s as beautiful as it can possibly be” and “I’d like to wear it right now.”

He also received a replica of a royal crown from the Silla Kingdom, which existed from 57 B.C. to 935 A.D. The original crown was found in a tomb in Gyeongju, the kingdom’s capital.

Trump said it was “very special.”

He said it was important not to listen to people with “small minds with no vision,” whether in business or politics.

“We will build together, we will trade together, we will prosper together, we will thrive together,” he said.

Trump is expected to receive an award from his South Korean hosts this afternoon.

Speaking in South Korea, the U.S. president said he could goose the monthly payrolls report by adding fake government jobs, but he doesn’t plan to do that.

“I could say, add a lot of people to your payrolls, I can fake up the numbers,” Trump said. “But that’s not the way to build a great country.”

Trump recently fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after jobs reports showed a sharp slowdown in hiring, suggesting that the numbers were faked in order to embarrass him.

The government is unable to produce a monthly jobs report because of the shutdown that began this month.

Speaking in South Korea ahead of the official start of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Trump touted the U.S. partnership with his hosts to help restore shipbuilding in America.

“We’re wedded, and we have a very special relationship, a special bond,” Trump said.

The president said that some of the people in the room where he was speaking had bought a Philadelphia shipyard.

South Korea’s Hanwha Group bought the Philly Shipyard last year.

The president’s first stop at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit was a business forum, where he boasted of an “economic revolution” in America.

As usual, Trump criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for the current state of interest rates.

“He’s out of there in another couple of months,” Trump said. Powell’s term as chair ends in May.

The president arrived in South Korea on Wednesday for the last leg of his Asia trip.

South Korea says it will award Trump its most prestigious medal for his efforts to stabilize peace on the Korean Peninsula, ahead of his summit Wednesday with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.

Lee’s office said Trump will be the first U.S. president to receive the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, South Korea’s highest order, in recognition of his past diplomatic efforts and to emphasize his role as a “peacemaker” between the rival Koreas.

South Korea also plans to present Trump with a replica of a royal gold crown from the ancient Silla Kingdom, whose capital was Gyeongju, the venue of this year’s APEC meetings.

Trump and Lee will then hold a meeting over lunch.

The president expressed confidence about his “very good” relationship with China ahead of his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“A lot of problems are going to be solved,” Trump said.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he’s doing great as president, but he’s under the impression that he might not be able to seek a third term based on the Constitution.

“If you read it, it’s pretty clear,” Trump said. “I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad.”

The president didn’t rule out entirely the possibility of staying in office despite that, saying, “So we’ll see what happens.”

“We’re watching it closely, and we’re prepared to move,” he said.

Trump marveled at the storm’s strength.

“I’ve never seen that before. I guess it can get that high, but I’ve never seen it,” he said.

Trump defended Israel’s strikes in Gaza, saying it was justified in doing so as the ceasefire negotiated with Hamas for the return of hostages from the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks has shown signs of fraying.

“They took out and killed an Israeli soldier,” Trump said of Hamas “They should hit back when that happens.”

Trump added that “Hamas is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace.”

“He’s been launching missiles for decades, right?” he said.

Trump’s comments came after North Korea said Wednesday its recent test-firings of sea-to-surface cruise missiles were successful.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the missiles fired Tuesday flew for more than two hours before accurately striking targets in its western waters.

Trump reiterated that he wants to meet with Kim Jong Un at some point.

“We had a really good understanding of each other,” he said.

The president spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Japan to South Korea.

He said he expects to lower the tariffs he enacted earlier this year to pressure China to reduce the flow of fentanyl ingredients.

“They’ll be doing what they can do,” he said.

Trump did not specify what changes China would be making.

“China is going to be working with me,” he added.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has cautioned against what he described as a global surge in protectionism and urged a renewed commitment to international cooperation.

Lee’s speech on Wednesday at a business forum, part of this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, came shortly before his planned bilateral summit with Trump.

Since its establishment in 1989, APEC has primarily served as a platform to promote free trade and multilateralism. But the atmosphere is markedly different at this year’s meetings, coming after Trump’s sweeping tariffs and other highly protectionist measures that have roiled global trade.

“At a time when protectionism and nationalism are on the rise and nations focus on their immediate survival, words like ‘cooperation,’ ‘coexistence’ and ‘inclusive growth’ may sound hollow. Yet, paradoxically, it is in times of crisis like this that APEC’s role as a platform for solidarity shines brighter,” Lee said.

A federal judge disqualified acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Southern California from several cases after concluding Tuesday that the Trump appointee has stayed in the temporary job longer than allowed by law.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright disqualified Essayli from supervising the criminal prosecutions in three cases, siding with defense lawyers who argued that his authority expired in July.

“Simply stated: Essayli unlawfully assumed the role of Acting United States Attorney for the Central District of California,” Seabright wrote in his decision. “He has been unlawfully serving in that capacity since his resignation from the interim role on July 29, 2025. Essayli may not perform the functions and duties of the United States Attorney as Acting United States Attorney. He is disqualified from serving in that role.”

A federal appeals court has vacated a decision by a three-judge panel last week that could have allowed Trump to deploy troops in Portland, Oregon.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said late Tuesday it will rehear arguments in the case with a broader court of 11 judges.

The case involves efforts by the city and the state to prevent the administration from deploying hundreds of National Guard troops. Trump says the troops are needed protect federal property, including an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that has been the site of protests.

City officials say the troops are not needed, and that federal agents themselves have inflamed tensions by arbitrarily firing tear gas and projectiles — including at city police.

The White House pressed U.S. Navy officials to launch 2,000-pound live bombs instead of dummy explosives during an elaborate military demonstration for the service’s 250th anniversary celebration that the president attended, two people familiar with planning for the event told The Associated Press.

One person familiar with the planning said White House officials insisted to Navy planners that Trump “needed to see explosions” instead of just a “big splash” during the Oct. 5 demonstration.

Original planning called for military personnel to use dummies and not live bombs, a third person familiar with the Navy’s planning said.

That person, who like the others was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, would not comment on why the Navy decided to switch to live bombs.

The White House said no switch was made. Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly in a statement said: “Organizers always planned to use live munitions, as is typical in training exercises.”

▶Read more about the White House urging the firing of live rounds

Trump’s musings about a potential third-term bid for the White House have run up against at least one obstacle: House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Johnson, the Republican leader who has built his career by drawing closer to Trump, said they have discussed the issue, but the speaker held the line against a Constitution-bending third term.

“I don’t see a path for that,” Johnson said Tuesday at his daily press conference at the Capitol.

The speaker described how the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment does not allow for a third presidential term and changing that, with a new amendment, would be a cumbersome, decade-long process to win over states and votes in Congress.

The speaker’s remarks come as Trump, just 10 months in office in his second term, is testing the powers of the presidency in new and often jarring ways — and repeatedly has raised the idea of trying to stay in power at the White House.

▶ Read more about Trump’s comments here

A federal judge in San Francisco has indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction that bars the firings while a lawsuit challenging them plays out. She had previously issued a temporary restraining order against the job cuts that was set to expire Wednesday. Illston, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, has said she believes the evidence will ultimately show the mass firings were illegal and in excess of authority.

The Republican administration has been slashing jobs in education, health and other areas it says are favored by Democrats. Lawyers for the government argued personnel issues should be heard in a separate venue.