Trump Meets Xi at Summit in Beijing

President Donald Trump departed for a state visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping as new data showed U.S. consumer prices rose 3.8 percent annually in April, the highest level since May 2023. According to CNBC, the consumer price index exceeded the 3.7 percent forecast, with month-on-month prices climbing 0.6 percent.

Energy costs accounted for more than 40 percent of the increase, and gasoline prices were up more than a dollar per gallon from a year earlier.

The Pentagon said Tuesday that the cost of the war with Iran had climbed to nearly $29 billion. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which carries roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies, remains a central factor in higher energy prices, according to multiple reports citing the inflation data.

Trump told reporters that “every American understands that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon” and that Americans’ financial situations “don’t factor into” negotiations with Iran.

Trump described the one-month-old U.S.-Iran ceasefire as being on “massive life support” after dismissing an Iranian counteroffer as “totally unacceptable.” He also called the ceasefire “unbelievably weak.” The summit agenda with Xi includes trade, Taiwan arms sales and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said he does not need China’s help in resolving the Iran conflict.

In parallel developments, Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said U.S. military presence in the Arctic territory is part of ongoing talks with Washington. ” He stressed that Greenland remains open to more bases under the existing defense agreement but that its sovereignty is non-negotiable.

The United States currently maintains one active base in Greenland, Pituffik Space Base. U.S. officials have signaled interest in opening three additional facilities in the south, with two possible sites identified as Narsarsuaq and Kangerlussuaq, both former American bases.

A U.S. envoy recently inspected the Narsarsuaq runway and harbor. General Gregory Guillot, head of U.S. Northern Command, first outlined the three-base plan in Senate testimony in March.

Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program appear to be losing momentum, according to one report. The ceasefire has held without major reported violations. Kuwait accused Iran of sending an armed Revolutionary Guard team to attack an island, though Tehran has not responded to the claim.

Israel sent Iron Dome systems to the United Arab Emirates during the height of the Iran conflict, according to the U.S. ambassador. The vessels’ operators have not been publicly identified by the U.S. government in available reporting on related maritime incidents.