Opinion/Foreign Relations
Ken Timmerman’s Threat Watch, www.kentimmerman.com 10-31-25
| Trump’s summit with his Chinese counterpart was a huge success — much bigger than what you will hear in the media. For starters, Xi came to Trump — in South Korea. Yes, that’s the same South Korea that Chinese Communist troops invaded in October 1950 and occupied for nearly three years. Next, Xi gave Trump three major wins he has been calling for: a serious crackdown on fentanyl exports, a resumption of rare earth mineral supplies to the US, and a pledge to honor the January 2020 trade agreement to purchase massive amounts of US soybeans, an agreement China had broken. In exchange, Trump agreed to drop half the 20% extra tariff he had imposed on China because of their fentanyl exports, bringing overall tariff rates on Chinese imports to the US to 47%, down from 57%. And just in case you think that is excessive, the Chinese continue to impose a 34% tariff on all US goods imported into China….! Trump also agreed to ease export restrictions on certain high-end computer chips — but not NVDIA’s Blackwell chip, which is critical for AI applications. “China is going to be talking to Nvidia and others about taking chips,” Trump said. “We’re not talking about the Blackwell.” Some have tried to portray the summit as a coming out party for Xi, who claimed equal status to Trump in their public remarks. But Trump was happy to compliment Xi and to play him up. That is part of his negotiating style. It’s not fakery, but an honest appreciation of his business partners. As my father used to say, it’s easier to catch a fly with honey than vinegar. In that vein, Trump probably didn’t embarrass Xi by bringing up leaked European intelligence reports that China has been violating UN Security Council “snapback” sanctions by shipping thousands of tons of solid rocket fuel to Iran. Satellite photos of Chinese ships loading sodium perchlorate in Gaolan, China, and unloading it in Bandar Abbas, Iran, appeared as if by magic on CNN . Oops. Putin this week claimed that Russia had successfully tested a new nuclear-capable cruise missile, the Burevestnik, which reportedly flew for 8,700 miles, surely a world record.The Kremlin also said it had tested a new nuclear-capable underwater drone, the Poseidon. Putin revealed that it was powered by a miniature nuclear reactor. In response, President Trump said he had instructed the Department of War “to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis.” It remains unclear whether he means the US will resume nuclear testing, or will simply continue to test our long-range nuclear-capable missiles, something we have always done. I visited our National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory many years ago. It was designed to model nuclear explosions of known and new weapons, to give our nuclear weapons designers and our nuclear war planners confidence that the weapons actually work. When Trump ordered a modernization of our nuclear weapons during his first term, the tests were conducted at that facility. There is no reason why that should change. But being Trump, the president likes to make liberals heads explode — and he succeeded. Happy Halloween! Meanwhile, Christina and I are harvesting our olives in the south of France, as I describe at greater length in Raising Olives in Provence. This year’s crop is looking good!  I discuss this, as well as the massacre of Christians in Nigeria (which President Trump has just designated as a “country of concern” because of its persecution of Christians) on this week’s Prophecy Today Weekend. As always, you can listen live in the Jacksonville, Florida area at 1 PM on Saturday on 104.9 FM or 550 Am or by using the Jacksonville Way Radio app. And you can order Raising Olives in Provence here! Yours in freedom, Ken |
| Ken Timmerman’s 14th book of non-fiction, THE IRAN HOUSE: Tales of Revolution, Persecution, War, and Intrigue, can be ordered by clicking here or by viewing my author’s page, here. Raising Olives in Provence, can be ordered by clicking here. – Senior Fellow, America First Policy Institute (current) – Republican nominee for Congress, Maryland District 8 (2012) – President & CEO, Foundation for Democracy in Iran, www.iran.org – Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2006 Cell: 904-817-8584 NEW NUMBER Follow me on Twitter @kentimmerman Facebook: ken timmerman New personal email: [email protected] Website: kentimmerman.com |
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The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.
