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Israel starts Gaza escalation, sees movement in hostage talks

Israel advanced its ground forces in Gaza as part of a long-threatened all-out offensive against Hamas, and said the new action prompted the group to resume mediated negotiations on a possible ceasefire and hostage release.

Hamas denied the assertion — issued, unusually, during the Jewish Sabbath by Israel’s defense minister. It said said there were ongoing talks in Qatar “without preconditions.”

Hamas had on Thursday appeared to link any new talks on Israel lifting its devastating blockade on the entry of food and other aid to the Palestinian territory. Israel blocked aid into Gaza in March, and the United Nations says the 2 million-strong population there faces famine.

The freeing by Hamas this week of Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander, at the behest of Donald Trump as the U.S. president embarked on a Gulf visit, stirred new hopes of a deal to wind down the 19-month-old war, which began in Gaza and has ignited other fronts, including Lebanon.

Israel dispatched negotiators to Doha while making clear that its forces were poised to plunge deeper into the Gaza Strip on a mission to rout Hamas and recover the remaining 48 hostages by force.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said that as ground forces fan out, and after a day of intensified air strikes, the sweep dubbed “Operation Gideon’s Chariots” was underway. Israeli officials have previously said the new push would entail the total conquest of the Gaza Strip — which is currently 30% occupied — over three months.

Following the escalation, Hamas notified Qatari mediators that it’s reengaging in the hostage talks, “parting from the intransigent position it had taken heretofore,” Katz said in a statement. He added that this wouldn’t entail Israel easing the aid blockade.

But Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi told Bloomberg that “negotiations have in fact been ongoing and have not stopped in recent days. The current round is taking place without preconditions and is open to all issues.”

Israel, which went to war after Hamas killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 in the Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack, has so far entered short-term truces during which it released hundreds of jailed Palestinian militants in return for scores of hostages. It refuses to end the war until Hamas, an Iran-backed group on terrorism blacklists in the West, is removed from Palestinian governance and disarmed.

Hamas has signaled willingness to cede some power, but not its arsenal. That’s raised doubts about the possibility of reaching another truce, even as the Palestinian death toll from the war has passed 53,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties. Israel has lost more than 400 troops in Gaza combat.

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Police investigate disappearance of Melania Trump’s statue in her native Slovenia

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Police in Slovenia are investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue of U.S. first lady Melania Trump that was sawed off and carried away from her hometown.

The life-size sculpture was unveiled in 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term in office near Sevnica in central Slovenia, where Melanija Knavs was born in 1970. It replaced a wooden statue that had been set on fire earlier that year.

Police spokeswoman Alenka Drenik Rangus said Friday that the police were informed about the theft of the statue on Tuesday. She said police were working to track down those responsible.

According to Slovenian media reports, the bronze replica was sawed off at the ankles and removed.

Ankles of sawed off and taken away bronze statue which represented Melania Trump remain on the tree stump where it was placed in 2020, in the village of Rozno, Slovenia, Friday, May 16, 2025, near Melania Trump’s hometown of Sevnica. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)

Franja Kranjc, who works at a bakery in Sevnica that sells cakes with Melania Trump’s name in support of the first lady, said the stolen statue won’t be missed.

“I think no one was really proud at this statue, not even the first lady of the USA,” he said. “So I think its OK that it’s removed.”

The original wooden statue was torched in July 2020. The rustic figure was cut from the trunk of a linden tree, showing her in a pale blue dress like the one she wore at Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017. The replica bronze statue has no obvious resemblance with the first lady.

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European leaders agree with Trump that Russia’s position on ceasefire talks is unacceptable

By LLAZAR SEMINI and LORNE COOK, Associated Press

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — European leaders have agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump that Russia’s position in ceasefire talks is unacceptable and they intend to coordinate a response, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday.

“We just had a meeting with President Zelensky and then a phone call with President Trump to discuss the developments in the negotiations today, and the Russian position is clearly unacceptable,” Starmer told reporters.

“As a result of that meeting with President Zelensky, under discussion with President Trump, we are now closely aligning and coordinating our responses and will continue to do so,” he said, as European leaders held a summit in Albania.

He said the decision with Trump was also agreed on with the leaders of France, Germany and Poland.

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Today in History: May 16, China’s Cultural Revolution begins

Today is Friday, May 16, the 136th day of 2025. There are 229 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 16, 1966, the Chinese Communist Party issued the May 16 Notification, a document that criticized “counterrevolutionary revisionists” within the party and marked the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

Also on this date:

In 1770, Marie Antoinette, age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

In 1868, having already been impeached by the House of Representatives, President Andrew Johnson narrowly avoided impeachment by the Senate, which voted 35-19 in favor of impeachment—one vote shy of the required two-thirds majority.

In 1929, the first Academy Awards were presented. “Wings” won the award for Outstanding Picture, while Emil Jannings and Janet Gaynor were named Best Actor and Best Actress.

In 1943, the nearly monthlong Warsaw Ghetto Uprising came to an end as German forces crushed the Jewish resistance and blew up the city’s Great Synagogue.

In 1960, the first working laser was demonstrated at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, by physicist Theodore Maiman.

In 1975, Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

In 1997, President Bill Clinton publicly apologized for the notorious 40-year Tuskegee Experiment, in which government scientists deliberately allowed Black men to weaken and die of treatable syphilis.

In 2018, officials at Michigan State University said they had agreed to pay $500 million to settle claims from more than 300 women and girls who said they were assaulted by sports doctor Larry Nassar.

In 2022, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 reached 1 million.

Today’s Birthdays:

  • Actor Danny Trejo is 81.
  • Actor Pierce Brosnan is 72.
  • Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Olga Korbut is 70.
  • Baseball Hall of Famer Jack Morris is 70.
  • Actor Debra Winger is 70.
  • Olympic marathon gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson is 68.
  • Actor Mare Winningham is 66.
  • Rock musician Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) is 60.
  • Singer Janet Jackson is 59.
  • Football Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas is 59.
  • Singer Ralph Tresvant (New Edition) is 57.
  • Actor David Boreanaz is 56.
  • Political commentator Tucker Carlson is 56.
  • Tennis Hall of Famer Gabriela Sabatini is 55.
  • Actor Tori Spelling is 52.
  • Actor Melanie Lynskey is 48.
  • Actor Megan Fox is 39.
  • Actor Thomas Brodie-Sangster is 35.

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Trump downplays Putin’s decision to skip Istanbul peace talks with Zelenskyy

By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI, Associated Press

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday he was not surprised that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be a no-show for anticipated peace talks with Ukraine in Turkey this week.

Trump, who had pressed for Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet in Istanbul, brushed off Putin’s apparent decision to not take part in the expected talks.

“I didn’t think it was possible for Putin to go if I’m not there,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters as he took part in a business roundtable with executives in Doha on the third day of his visit to the Middle East.

Trump earlier this week floated potentially attending himself. The U.S. president, however, noted on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was already in the country for meetings with NATO counterparts. Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, also plans to be in Istanbul on Friday for the anticipated Russia-Ukraine talks.

The push for direct talks between Zelenskyy and Putin comes amid a flurry of negotiations aimed at producing a ceasefire agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Putin was first to propose restarting direct peace talks Thursday with Ukraine in the Turkish city that straddles Asia and Europe. Zelenskyy challenged the Kremlin leader to meet in Turkey in person.

But the Kremlin has said its delegation at the talks will be led by Putin’s aide, Vladimir Medinsky, and include three other officials. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelenskyy will only sit down with the Russian leader.

Trump, as he wrapped up his visit to Qatar, stopped by a U.S. installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East to speak with U.S. troops. He has used his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America’s past in the region.

The installation, al-Udeid Air Base, was a major staging ground during the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The base houses some 8,000 U.S. troops, down from about 10,000 at the height of those wars.

Trump told the troops that his “priority is to end conflicts, not start them.”

“But I will never hesitate to wield American power if it’s necessary to defend the United States of America or our partners,” Trump said.

The Republican president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict. He has urged Qatari officials during his visit to use their influence to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program.

Trump said progress has been made in the talks but warned a “violent step” could be coming if a deal is not reached.

“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms: They’re not going to make, I call it, in a friendly way, nuclear dust,” Trump said at the business roundtable. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”

Trump will travel later on Thursday to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for the final leg of his Mideast tour. He will visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the country’s largest mosque. The UAE’s founder, Sheikh Zayed, is buried in the mosque’s main courtyard.

Trump will also be hosted for a state visit in the evening by UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Qasr Al Watan palace.

Trump earlier this week met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and announced plans to ease sanctions on the war-torn country. The U.S. has deployed more than 1,000 troops in Syria for years to suppress a return of the Islamic State group.

Trump heaped praise on al-Sharaa — who was tied to al-Qaida and joined insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq before entering the Syrian civil war — after the two met in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. He called al-Sharaa a “young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter.”

It was a stark contrast from earlier years, when al-Sharaa was imprisoned by U.S. troops in Iraq. Until December, there was a $10 million U.S. bounty for his arrest.

Trump said that the opinions of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were big factors in his decision to lift sanctions on Syria.

“President Erdogan called me and said, ‘Is there any way you could do that? Because if you don’t do that, they don’t have a chance,’” Trump said. “So, I did it.”

Madhani reported from Dubai. Associated Press writer Gabe Levin in Dubai contributed to this report.

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French actor Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault on a 2021 film set

PARIS — French movie star Gérard Depardieu ’s fall from grace is now complete.

Depardieu was found guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a movie in which he starred in 2021 and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. He was also fined a total of 29,040 euros (around $32,350), and the court requested that he be registered in the national sex offender database.

The actor, 76, has been convicted of having groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant during the filming of “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”). The case was widely seen as a key post-#MeToo test of how French society and its film industry address allegations of sexual misconduct involving prominent figures.

Depardieu, who has denied the accusations, didn’t attend the hearing in Paris. Depardieu’s lawyer said that his client would appeal the decision.

“It is the victory of two women, but it is the victory of all the women beyond this trial,” said Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the set dresser’s lawyer. “Today we hope to see the end of impunity for an artist in the world of cinema. I think that with this decision we can no longer say that he is not a sexual abuser. And today, as the Cannes Film Festival opens, I’d like the film world to spare a thought for Gérard Depardieu’s victims.”

Depardieu’s long and storied career — he told the court that he’s made more than 250 films — has turned him into a French movie giant. He was Oscar-nominated in 1991 for his performance as the swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac.

During the four-day trial in March, Depardieu rejected the accusations, saying he’s “not like that.” He acknowledged that he had used vulgar and sexualized language on the film set and that he grabbed the set dresser’s hips during an argument, but denied that his behavior was sexual.

The set dresser described the alleged assault, saying the actor pincered her between his legs as she squeezed past him in a narrow corridor.

She said he grabbed her hips then started “palpating” her behind and “in front, around.” She ran her hands near her buttocks, hips and pubic area to show what she allegedly experienced. She said he then grabbed her chest.

The woman also testified that Depardieu used an obscene expression to ask her to touch his penis and suggested he wanted to rape her. She told the court that the actor’s calm and cooperative attitude during the trial bore no resemblance to his behavior at work.

The other plaintiff, an assistant, said that Depardieu groped her buttocks and her breasts during three separate incidents on the film set.

The Associated Press doesn’t identify by name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to be named. Neither women has done so in this case.

Paris’ public prosecutor had requested that Depardieu be found guilty and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 20,000 euros ($22,200). The prosecutor denounced the actor’s “total denial and failure to question himself.”

Some figures in the French cinema world have expressed their support for Depardieu. Actors Vincent Perez and Fanny Ardant were among those who took seats on his side of the courtroom.

Depardieu has been accused publicly or in formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but so far only the sexual assault case has proceeded to court. Some other cases were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.

The actor may have to face other legal proceedings soon.

In 2018, actor Charlotte Arnould accused him of raping her at his home. That case is still active, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested that it go to trial.

For more than a half-century, Depardieu stood as a towering figure in French cinema, a titan known for his commanding physical presence, instinct, sensibility and remarkable versatility.

A bon vivant who overcame a speech impediment and a turbulent youth, Depardieu rose to prominence in the 1970s and became one of France’s most prolific and acclaimed actors, portraying a vast array of characters, from volatile outsiders to deeply introspective figures.

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Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.

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US and China take a step back from sky-high tariffs, agree to pause for 90 days

By JAMEY KEATEN, DAVID McHUGH, ELAINE KURTENBACH and KEN MORITSUGU, Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — U.S. and Chinese officials said Monday they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and call a 90-day truce in their trade war for more talks on resolving their trade disputes.

Stock markets rose sharply as the globe’s two major economic powers took a step back from a clash that has unsettled the global economy.

 

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%.

Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the tariff reductions at a news conference in Geneva.

The two officials struck a positive tone as they said the two sides had set up consultations to continue discussing their trade issues. Bessent said at the news briefing after two days of talks that the high tariff levels would have amounted to a complete blockage of each sides goods, an outcome neither side wants.

“The consensus from both delegations this weekend is neither side wants a decoupling,” Bessent said. “And what had occurred with these very high tariff … was an embargo, the equivalent of an embargo. And neither side wants that. We do want trade.”

“We want more balanced trade. And I think that both sides are committed to achieving that.”

The delegations, escorted around town and guarded by scores of Swiss police, met for at least a dozen hours on both days of the weekend at sun-baked 17th-century villa that serves as the official residence of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

At times, the delegation leaders broke away from their staffs and settled into sofas on the villa’s patios overlooking Lake Geneva, helping deepen personal ties in the effort to reach a much-sought deal.

China’s Commerce Ministry said the two sides agreed to cancel 91% in tariffs on each other’s goods and suspend another 24% in tariffs for 90 days, bringing the total reduction to 115 percentage points.

The ministry called the agreement an important step for the resolution of the two countries’ differences and said it lays the foundation for further cooperation.

“This initiative aligns with the expectations of producers and consumers in both countries and serves the interests of both nations as well as the common interests of the world,” a ministry statement said.

China hopes the U.S will stop “the erroneous practice of unilateral tariff hikes” and work with China to safeguard the development of their economic and trade relations, injecting more certainty and stability into the global economy, the ministry said.

The joint statement issued by the two countries said China also agreed to suspend or remove other measures it has taken since April 2 in response to the U.S. tariffs.

China has increased export controls on rare earths including some critical to the defense industry and added more American companies to its export control and unreliable entity lists, restricting their business with and in China.

The full impact on the complicated tariffs and other trade penalties enacted by Washington and Beijing remains unclear. And much depends on whether they will find ways to bridge longstanding differences during the 90-day suspension.

But investors rejoiced as trade envoys from the world’s two biggest economies blinked, finding ways to pull back from potentially massive disruptions to world trade and their own markets.

Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 2.6% and for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2%. Oil prices surged more than $1.60 a barrel and the U.S. dollar gained against the euro and the Japanese yen.

“This is a substantial de-escalation,” said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. But he warned “there is no guarantee that the 90-day truce will give way to a lasting ceasefire.”

Jens Eskelund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, welcomed the news but expressed caution. The tariffs only were suspended for 90 days and there is great uncertainty over what lies ahead, he said in a statement.

“Businesses need predictability to maintain normal operations and make investment decisions. The chamber therefore hopes to see both sides continue to engage in dialogue to resolve differences, and avoid taking measures that will disrupt global trade and result in collateral damage for those caught in the cross-fire,” Eskelund said.

Trump last month raised U.S. tariffs on China to a combined 145% and China retaliated by hitting American imports with a 125% levy. Tariffs that high essentially amount to the two countries boycotting each other’s products, disrupting trade that last year topped $660 billion.

The announcement by the U.S. and China sent shares surging, with U.S. futures jumping more than 2%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged nearly 3% and benchmarks in Germany and France were both up 0.7%

The Trump administration has imposed tariffs on countries worldwide, but its fight with China has been the most intense. Trump’s import taxes on goods from China include a 20% charge meant to pressure Beijing into doing more to stop the flow of the synthetic opioid fentanyl into the United States.

McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany, Kurtenbach from Mito, Japan, and Moritsugu from Beijing.

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Today in History: May 12, tens of thousands die in Sichuan earthquake

Today is Monday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2025. There are 233 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 12, 2008, a devastating 7.9 magnitude earthquake in China’s Sichuan province left more than 87,000 people dead or missing.

Also on this date:

In 1780, the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina, surrendered to British forces in one of the worst American defeats of the Revolutionary War.

In 1846, the pioneers of the Donner Party left Independence, Missouri, on the Oregon Trail, beginning their ill-fated attempt to migrate to California.

In 1932, the body of Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was found in a wooded area near Hopewell, New Jersey.

In 1933, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration established both the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which provided federal funding to states for relief programs, and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, which provided economic support to farmers through agricultural surplus reductions.

In 1949, the Soviet Union lifted the Berlin Blockade, which the Western powers had succeeded in circumventing with their Berlin Airlift.

In 1975, members of the new Khmer Rouge-led Cambodian government seized an American merchant ship, the SS Mayaguez, in international waters, sparking a three-day battle that resulted in the deaths of 41 Americans.

In 1982, in Fatima, Portugal, security guards overpowered a Spanish priest armed with a bayonet who attacked Pope John Paul II. (In 2008, the pope’s longtime private secretary revealed that the pontiff was slightly wounded in the assault.)

Today’s Birthdays:

  • Hockey Hall of Famer Johnny Bucyk is 90.
  • Musician Steve Winwood is 77.
  • Actor Bruce Boxleitner is 75.
  • Actor Gabriel Byrne is 75.
  • Singer Billy Squier is 75.
  • Basketball Hall of Fame coach George Karl is 74.
  • Country musician Kix Brooks is 70.
  • Actor Ving Rhames is 66.
  • Actor-filmmaker Emilio Estevez is 63.
  • Chef/TV personality Carla Hall is 61.
  • Actor Stephen Baldwin is 59.
  • Skateboarder Tony Hawk is 57.
  • Actor Kim Fields is 56.
  • Actor Rhea Seehorn is 53.
  • Actor Malin Akerman is 47.
  • Actor Jason Biggs is 47.
  • Actor Rami Malek is 44.

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Trump reportedly is set to accept a jet from Qatar’s ruling family for possible use as Air Force One

By ZEKE MILLER and WILL WEISSERT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump reportedly is set to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this coming week, and U.S. officials could convert the plane into a potential presidential aircraft.

ABC News reported that Trump will use the plane as a new version of Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office in January 2029, when ownership will be transferred to the foundation overseeing his yet-to-be-built presidential library.

The gift is expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar as part of a trip that also includes stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the first extended foreign travel of his second term. The Qatari government did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday night.

Administration officials, anticipating questions about the president accepting such a large gift from a foreign government, have prepared an analysis arguing that doing so would be legal, according to ABC. The Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8, bars anyone holding government office from accepting any present, emolument, office or title from any “King, Prince, or foreign State,” without congressional consent.

Trump intends to convert the Qatari aircraft into a plane he can fly on as president, with the Air Force planning to add secure communications and other classified elements to it.

But it will still have more limited capabilities than the existing planes that were built to serve as Air Force One, as well as two other aircraft currently under construction, according to a former U.S. official who was briefed about the plane and spoke Sunday on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not yet been made public.

The existing planes used as Air Force One are heavily modified with survivability capabilities for the president for a range of contingencies, including radiation shielding and antimissile technology. They also include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to remain in contact with the military and issue orders from anywhere in the world.

The official told The Associated Press that it would be possible to quickly add some countermeasures and communications systems to the Qatari plane, but that it would be less capable than the existing Air Force One aircraft or long-delayed replacements.

Neither the Qatari plane nor the upcoming VC-25B aircraft will have the air-to-air refueling capabilities of the current VC-25A aircraft, which is the one the president currently flies on, the official said.

Air Force One is a modified Boeing 747. Two exist and the president flies on both, which are more than 30 years old. Boeing Inc. has the contract to produce updated versions, but delivery has been delayed while the company has lost billions of dollars on the project.

Delivery has been pushed to some time in 2027 for the first plane and in 2028 — Trump’s final full year in office — for the second.

ABC said the new plane is similar to a 13-year-old Boeing aircraft Trump toured in February, while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport and he was spending the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club.

Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, which is now largely run by his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, has vast and growing interests in the Middle East. That includes a new deal to build a luxury golf resort in Qatar, partnering with Qatari Diar, a real estate company backed by that country’s sovereign wealth fund.

Qatar, which is ruled by the Al Thani family, is home to the state-owned airline Qatar Airways. The country also has worked to have a close relationship to Trump after he apparently backed a boycott of Doha by four Arab nations in his first term. Trump later in his term applauded Qatar.

Administration officials have brushed off concerns about the president’s policy interests blurring with family’s business profits. They note that Trump’s assets are in a trust managed by his children and that a voluntary ethics agreement released by the Trump Organization in January bars the company from striking deals directly with foreign governments.

But that same agreement allows deals with private companies abroad. That is a departure from Trump’s first term, when the organization released an ethics pact prohibiting both foreign government and foreign company deals.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked Friday if the president during his upcoming trip might meet with people ties to his family’s business, said it was “ridiculous” to suggest Trump “is doing anything for his own benefit.”

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Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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Trillions in sales for S&P 500 companies at stake as US-China talks begin

U.S. equity investors will be watching closely as trade talks kick off between the Trump administration and China, with trillions of dollars hanging in the balance for American companies.

The average member of the S&P 500 made 6.1% of its revenue from selling goods in China or to Chinese companies in 2024, according to an analysis from Bloomberg Intelligence’s Gillian Wolff and Gina Martin Adams.

“The bottom line is that if the U.S. has to decouple completely from China, it would result in a significant decline in earnings for S&P 500 companies no longer selling products to Chinese consumers,” Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, wrote.

U.S. firms generated $1.2 trillion in revenue selling to Chinese consumers, which is about four times more than the size of the trade deficit in goods between the countries, according to an analysis from Slok.

On top of that, there are the costs for companies that sell Chinese-made goods in the U.S., which will get hit by the levies imposed by the Trump administration. Mattel Inc., for example, withdrew its forecast for a return to sales growth in 2025, citing the plan to impose tariffs on imported toys. Trump called out the company by name on Thursday and said he would impose a 100% tariff on any toys produced overseas.

Though it is hard to isolate the impact of the trade spat with China on the profits of S&P 500 companies, strategists have been sharply lowering their earnings estimate for the benchmark this year, often due to concern that policy uncertainty is going to hurt growth. Earnings for the index are currently expected to be about $265 in 2025, down from $273 in early January.

China has been at the center of the trade offensive that President Donald Trump launched on April 2, when the administration announced the harshest trade barriers in a century. While the levies on most countries were put on a 90-day pause a week later, those on China were pushed higher. Several rounds of retaliation have raised the U.S. tariffs on imports from China to 145%, while the Chinese have put in place a 125% duty on U.S. goods.

The S&P 500 erupted into a phase of historic volatility when the tariffs were first announced and then paused, leaving the index down 15% for the year by April 8. Since then, however, stocks have recovered, buoyed by hopes that negotiations will bring rates lower than initally proposed. On Thursday, Trump said that a trade agreement with the UK is likely to be the first of many, and he expressed confidence that the talks with China can result in tangible progress.

The equities benchmark is now down only about 3.7% in 2025, but many of the biggest companies are still caught in the trade crossfire. Smart-phone maker Apple Inc. and semiconductor behemoth Nvidia Corp. both have big revenue exposures to China, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Electric-vehicle giant Tesla Inc. makes more than one-fifth of its sales from the country.

“Technology and apparel companies are at the epicenter of the trade embargoes for now,” said Joe Gilbert, portfolio manager at Integrity Asset Management. Gilbert is avoiding semiconductor capital equipment companies and smaller retailers that do not have the scale to cope with tariffs or find new suppliers outside China.

Here are the sectors worth watching as the headlines on trade negotiations start to roll in.

Chipmakers

The makers of chips and the firms that develop related technology and equipment are highly exposed to China, putting them at the front line of the trade negotiations.

Monolithic Power Systems Inc., KLA Corp., Lam Research Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. — all semiconductor related names — were the S&P 500 companies with the highest exposure to China, according to the analysis from BI.

The first-quarter earnings season has seen several of these firms starting to sound the warnings about the trade uncertainty, particularly when it comes to China. Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said U.S. restrictions on sales to China will cost it $1.5 billion in revenue this year. Qualcomm Inc., which counts China as the biggest market for its chips and is the largest maker of smartphone chips, gave a tepid revenue forecast. Intel Corp.’s revenue forecast for the current quarter was also well below analysts’ projections and the company warned that a tariff-fueled recession could torpedo chip demand.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is down 11% this year, compared to the 3.7% drop of the S&P 500. Declines in the chip index were led by Marvell Technology Inc., Teradyne Inc., ON Semiconductor Corp. and Amkor Technology Inc.

Consumer

Companies like Nike Inc., Estee Lauder Cos. and Philip Morris International Inc. are heavily exposed according to Bloomberg supply-chain data. Meanwhile, Starbucks Corp. and McDonald’s count thousands of Chinese locations each.

One of the starkest example of the impact of tariffs on this sector came on Wednesday. Shoe retailer Steven Madden Ltd., which said in February that it was expecting sales to grow nearly 20% this year, pulled that forecast, citing “meaningful near-term headwinds” from tariffs.

Amazon.com Inc., meanwhile, said it was bracing for a tougher business climate in the coming months.

The S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Index has fallen 12% so far this year.

Autos

Auto components are the most-exposed S&P 500 sector to international demand, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s Adams. BorgWarner Inc. and Aptiv Plc get a particularly large chunk of their revenue from China.

Automakers General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. both pulled their guidance for 2025, citing tariffs. GM imported nearly 55,000 cars last year from China. Harley-Davidson Inc. also withdrew its 2025 outlook, citing a lack of clarity around U.S. trade policy.

The S&P Composite 1,500 Automobiles and Components Index is down 26% this year, with Gentherm Inc., Fox Factory Holding Corp. and Winnebago Industries among the top decliners.

Industrials

U.S. industrial giants are firmly plugged in to global supply chains and markets and the trade war is already weighing on freight operators and big machinery makers, among others.

Caterpillar Inc. has said most of the hit it is expecting will come from China’s retaliatory levies. It tallied the cost from tariffs at $250 million to $350 million in the second quarter alone. Honeywell International Inc. was placed on one consulting firm’s list of the large U.S. companies most at risk from China exposure last year.

Boeing Co., the largest U.S. industrial exporter, has been a direct target of Beijing’s retaliation. Chinese officials last month ordered airlines not to take any further deliveries of its jets, leaving in doubt the fate of about 50 that were slated to go to China this year.

Home improvement products manufacturer Masco Corp. also withdrew its full-year guidance, and Truist Securities analyst Keith Hughes said the company’s exposure to China tariffs could see prices grow in the mid-single digits, contributing to a 50 cent to 70 cent hit to earnings per share in 2025.

Expeditors International of Washington Inc. said that it was seeing “early signs” that ocean freight volumes from China to the U.S. were falling significantly. Meanwhile, Matson Inc. earlier this week said that since the China tariffs were implemented in April, the company’s container volume declined about 30% year-over-year.

United Parcel Service Inc. did not update its full-year outlook, saying it would stand behind the 2025 guidance if conditions were to stabilize. However, UPS expects to see weakening demand between the U.S. and China, which is the company’s most profitable trade lane. Peer FedEx Corp. lowered its full-year guidance.

Materials

From chemical-makers to metals and mining companies, the resources industry also has major vulnerabilities to U.S.-China relations.

Eastman Chemical Co. last month provided a disappointing outlook for the second quarter, citing factors that included “tariffs between the U.S. and China.” Copper producer Freeport-McMoRan Inc. said the 145% tariffs the White House placed on China were the largest driver behind the increase in its cost of goods.

Companies are also subject to indirect shockwaves. Fertilizer company Mosaic Co. is watching for a hit to demand for crop inputs as Chinese buyers shift to purchasing grains elsewhere, including from Brazil, an executive said on an earnings call.

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