Thursday, October 30, 2025

Crowns, tariffs and nukes: Trump's Asia trip ends

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On Politics

Thu Oct 30 2025

Kathryn Palmer | Politics Reporter

@KathrynPlmr

Happy Thursday, readers. Kathryn Palmer here, with the final On Politics edition of the week. Hope everyone is stocked up on Halloween candy for tomorrow! Here's today's headlines.

Trump returning from Asia: Here's 7 takeaways from the trip

President Donald Trump is returning from a weeklong trip to Asia today, where he swung through Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Like most foreign trips, it was a veritable feast of pageantry, as the president met with foreign leaders and dignitaries.

The visit included Trump receiving another pledge of support for the Nobel Peace Prize from Japan's new prime minister and the highest state honor from South Korea. The latter visit included the gift of a gold crown.

But the visit wasn't all pomp; it centered largely on trade talks. Trump said he reached an agreement with China, in which the nation will resume being the largest customer for U.S. soybeans, and agreed to curb the export of chemicals used to make fentanyl, along with a rare mineral export deal.

Yet Trump also announced the United States will "immediately" resume nuclear weapons tests, ending a decades-long halt to testing, warning China's nuclear weapons buildup will soon place it on equal footing with the United States and Russia.

President Donald Trumpshakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung during a high honor presentation ceremony, where Trump was presented with a replica of a crown worn by the kings of Silla, at the Gyeongju National Museum in Gyeongju on Oct. 29, 2025.

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS, AFP via Getty Images

A politics pit stop

•	With food stamp funding ending in two days amid the ongoing shutdown, here's a look at how families and states will cope
•	Billionaire former Mayor Mike Bloomberg is dropping $1.5 million to back Cuomo's bid for NYC mayor
•	What is Trump's approval rating? Polls show reactions to "No Kings" protests and ongoing shutdown
•	A Senate hearing for the U.S. surgeon general was postponed after nominee Casey Means went into labor
•	Here's how the Trump administration drastically altered student debt relief as a court battle looms

Millions could lose food stamps, which are set to run out Saturday

As the government shutdown approaches the one-month mark with no end in sight, federal lawmakers and state officials are scrambling as a Nov. 1 funding lapse in federal food assistance looms. If nothing is done, it will be the first time the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) runs out of money since the program was created in 1939.

The program provides food for 42 million low-income people across the country.

The Senate is not scheduled to vote Oct. 30 on the House-passed temporary funding bill to reopen the government, and Democrats tried on Oct. 29 to extend the benefits. Republicans blocked the maneuver by arguing that Democrats should join them in reopening the entire government.

Democratic attorneys general and governors from 25 states filed a federal lawsuit in Boston on Oct. 28, aiming to force the Trump administration to fund the federal food aid program, and mayors across the country are urging U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollings to prevent the funding lapse.

RFK Jr. says there's 'not sufficient' proof that Tylenol causes autism

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Oct. 29 that he does not have "sufficient" evidence to link Tylenol to autism, more than a month after the White House discouraged the medicine's use by pregnant women and young children.

Kennedy told reporters on Oct. 29 that evidence does not show that Tylenol definitively causes autism, but that it should still be used cautiously. His comments come one day after the Texas attorney general sued Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, also known as acetaminophen.

Last month, the president and Kennedy, neither of whom is a medical professional, held a press conference to specifically warn pregnant women against taking the medication without citing any scientific evidence. The president said U.S. health officials would recommend limiting Tylenol's use.

Questions, comments? Email me at kapalmer@usatoday.com.