Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Tone matters: “Chinese leader Xi Jinping offered stark warnings about avoiding possible clashes between his nation and the U.S. on Thursday, and even cautioned visiting President Donald Trump that Washington’s handling of its relations with Taiwan could lead to ‘conflicts.’”
* Another major resignation: “U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks resigned Thursday, becoming the latest top immigration official to leave the Trump administration in recent months. … Banks’ abrupt resignation came weeks after the Washington Examiner reported that the official regularly paid for sex with prostitutes during trips abroad.”
* Well, this doesn’t sound great: “Investors snagged 5% yields on 30-year Treasuries for the first time since 2007, as surging energy prices push inflation — and expectations for more of it — higher.”
* It’s hard to see decisions like these as anything but political: “The Pentagon abruptly canceled the deployment of an armored brigade to Poland, a major step toward President Trump’s plan to shrink the U.S. posture in Europe that caught some military officials by surprise. The move followed a Pentagon announcement this month that it would be removing 5,000 troops from Germany.”
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* I’ll look forward to California’s lawsuit in response to this: “The Trump administration will withhold $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid payments from California, Vice President JD Vance announced on Wednesday, saying the state had failed to combat fraud in the public health insurance program.”
* This story has a lot of potential: “The Trump administration planned to start work at the site of the president’s proposed triumphal arch by piggybacking on an existing, unrelated contract for engineering services at the White House grounds more than a mile away, emails obtained by The Washington Post show.”
* A case worth watching: “Miami residents sued President Donald Trump, Miami Dade College and Florida state officials on Wednesday, alleging that the decision to donate an iconic stretch of downtown Miami property for Trump’s future presidential library — which might also house a hotel — is unconstitutional.”
See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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