June 12th, 2025: Trump Declares US-China Trade Deal 'Done' & Violent Riots Engulf Northern Ireland
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It's Thursday, the 12th of June. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, and your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed.

We'll start things off with a major breakthrough in the U.S.-China trade war as Washington and Beijing agree to a tentative framework to solidify last month's crumbling trade deal. This after emergency talks were held in London earlier this week. Later in the show, while our eyes have been on the riots here in the U.S., immigration riots of a different sort are happening in Northern Ireland. We'll have those details.

Plus, South Korea's new president halts propaganda broadcasts along the border with North Korea in a bid to ease tensions with the hermit kingdom. But will Kim Jong-un reciprocate? And in today's Back of the Brief, the U.S. warns governments around the world against attending an upcoming U.N. conference spearheaded by France that will call for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.

After several weeks of aggressive moves and counter-moves that left the U.S.-China trade truce hanging by a thread, it appears a major crisis has been averted, well, at least for now. On Wednesday, the U.S. and China announced that they've agreed to a framework that will get last month's fragile trade deal back on track and potentially pave the way for a more comprehensive long-term economic agreement sometime in the near future.

Perhaps. President Trump first announced the breakthrough in a post on social media, which came after two days of marathon emergency trade talks held in London. In essence, the framework will solidify an agreement reached last month between the U.S. and China in Geneva, which eased the triple-digit bilateral retaliatory tariffs

say that three times fast, that had upended global trade. That deal had nearly collapsed in recent weeks after China balked at walking back export restrictions on some rare earth minerals, prompting the Trump administration to place export restrictions on shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft, and other goods to China. That's according to a report from Reuters.

President Trump broke the escalating standoff last week by initiating a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Following their conversation, officials from both countries hastily organized the meeting in London, which began on Monday.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the new framework would put, quote, meat on the bones of the Geneva deal, remove the restrictions on Chinese exports of rare earth minerals and magnets, and lift the U.S. export restrictions on Chinese goods in a, quote, balanced way. He added that the framework will be formally implemented after Trump and Xi officially sign off on the details in the coming days.

China's vice commerce minister later echoed those remarks, saying an agreement on the framework had been reached in principle and was on its way back to Beijing for final approval. In a post on Truth Social, Trump confirmed the news, saying, quote, Our deal with China is done, subject to final approval with President Xi and me.

Full magnets and any necessary rare earths will be supplied up front by China. Likewise, we will provide to China what was agreed to, including Chinese students using our colleges and universities. We are getting a total of 55% tariffs. China is getting 10%. End quote.

White House officials later elaborated on the details, saying the 55% tariff rate on Chinese goods is the sum of Trump's 10% baseline tariff on all global imports, plus the 20% tariff imposed earlier this year over China's role in fentanyl manufacturing, and the pre-existing 25% levy on Chinese goods from Trump's first term in office. In turn, China will keep tariffs on U.S. goods at just 10%, as agreed to in Geneva last month.

So, where does that leave us? Well, on paper, roughly in the same place that we were immediately following the Geneva summit in early May. But that doesn't mean important progress hasn't been made. While the Geneva truce may have lowered the eye-watering triple-digit tariffs that the U.S. and China had imposed on one another, both sides left those talks with a fundamentally different view of the specific terms of the agreement, which, as I mentioned, nearly led to the collapse of that deal.

The latest talks in London offered a chance to bridge that divide, stabilizing commerce and paving the way for negotiations on a more comprehensive, lasting trading relationship between the U.S. and China.

In a comment to Reuters, the senior director of the Atlantic Council's Geoeconomics Center put it this way, quote, they're back to square one, but that's much better than square zero, end quote. I honestly didn't know that there was a square zero. But details are still emerging from the latest talks in London, and it's not clear yet what the timeline is for further trade negotiations on a long-term deal. In

In theory, both sides agreed at the Geneva talks to an August 10th deadline to negotiate a broader accord, or tariff rates would revert back to 145% on the U.S. side and 125% on the Chinese side. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson struck an optimistic tone, telling members of Congress on Wednesday that, quote,

If China will course correct by upholding its end of the initial trade agreement we outlined in Geneva, and I believe after our talks in London they will, then the rebalancing of the world's two largest economies is possible, end quote.

The U.S.-China trade relationship has been a whiplash-inducing saga since the trade war began, and financial stability is far from a sure thing, particularly given the deeper differences between Trump and Xi's respective economic visions that have yet to be resolved.

All right, coming up next, violent riots over immigration explode across Northern Ireland, and South Korea halts propaganda broadcasts along the border with North Korea in a bid to diffuse tensions. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let me take just a few seconds of your time to talk about your personal finances and your hard-earned savings and how to protect them.

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Welcome back to the BDB.

A wave of violent riots erupted across Northern Ireland after two 14-year-old boys were charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl, igniting racial tensions and unleashing some of the worst civil disorder that the region has seen in years. The unrest began Monday night in Baleamina, a town roughly 30 miles north of the capital, Belfast, after the two Romanian teen immigrants appeared in court. The hearing continued.

conducted with a Romanian interpreter, ended with the boys denying the charges and being remanded into custody until July, that's according to the BBC. What followed was a rapid descent into chaos. Hours after the hearing, mobs flooded the streets, hurling bricks, fireworks, homemade bombs, and even chunks of scaffolding at police. So far, 32 officers have been injured in consecutive nights of rioting, and that number is expected to climb as the clashes continue.

The violence has since taken on a darker, more targeted edge. Masked rioters have torched vehicles and attacked four homes in what police now classify as racially motivated hate crimes. One house was burned to the ground. Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson of the Police Service of Northern Ireland said the violence specifically targeted minority families, telling reporters, quote, When I watch families having their doors kicked in, who happen to be from our diverse communities,

I have to call that out for the racist behavior that it is."

Despite deploying riot gear and water cannons in non-lethal rounds, authorities have been unable to contain the violent unrest, which quickly spilled into Belfast and surrounding towns. Roads were barricaded with trash bins and flaming debris as mobs launched bottles at police. Authorities say social media is being used to coordinate further unrest, prompting the police to request reinforcements from mainland Britain.

Henderson warned, quote, people are waking up today feeling genuine fear for their lives and their livelihoods, end quote. Now, Police Chief Constable John Butcher condemned the violence as, quote, hate-fueled acts and mob rule, adding that the thuggery his officers and community endure, quote, does nothing but tear at the fabric of our society.

That sentiment was echoed by British Northern Ireland Minister Hilary Benn, who called the attacks, quote, disgraceful, in a post on X and demanded an immediate end to the chaos. His post went on to add, quote, this appalling violence and vandalism must cease immediately. So far, five people have been arrested and authorities say more arrests are inevitable as another night of violent disorder looms.

The clashes have rekindled fears over the region's fragile stability nearly three decades after the Good Friday Agreement brought an end to what were known as the Troubles, which was a period of sectarian violence, of course, that left thousands dead.

Okay, shifting to the Korean Peninsula. Newly elected South Korean President Lee Jae-mung has pulled the plug on the Cold War-style loudspeaker broadcasts along the North Korean border in what he hopes will dial down years of psychological warfare between the two countries. South Korea's defense ministry confirmed the decision on Wednesday, which was intended to, quote, "...restore trust in inter-Korean relations and promote peace on the Korean Peninsula."

Lee, a liberal reformer who took office just last week after winning a snap election, had campaigned on silencing the broadcasts, calling them provocative. Until now, the loudspeakers had served as one of Seoul's most visible propaganda tools, blurring K-pop tracks and pro-democracy messages and news bulletins across the heavily fortified DMZ.

But the system had been dormant until June 2024, when Seoul reactivated it in direct response to escalating provocations from the North. That's when, as longtime listeners of the PDB will recall, Kim Jong-un's regime launched its balloon campaign. You remember the balloons, a barrage of more than 7,000 trash-filled balloons sent over the border from May to November of last year.

Some balloons carried basically manure and scraps of waste paper and garbage. In one particularly high-profile incident, a balloon dropped that garbage on the South Korean presidential compound. The balloon campaign was also Pyongyang's response to South Korean activists who had resumed launching anti-regime leaflets and USB drives loaded with pop culture and TV dramas, materials that Kim viewed as a direct threat to his dynastic grip on power.

Lee's presidential spokeswoman called the shutdown a, quote, proactive step to reduce military friction and ease the strain on border communities, many of whom had complained of retaliatory North Korean broadcasts featuring bizarre sound effects that included howling animals and banging gongs. But the propaganda war is only a symptom of a much deeper freeze.

Inter-Korean relations have cratered in recent years, and Lee's softer posture is a sharp departure from his predecessor's hardline stance. Earlier this week, Lee's unification ministry urged activists to stop sending materials into the North, warning that the practice, quote, could heighten tensions and endanger civilians who are near the DMZ.

Now, whether this olive branch will find a willing hand in Pyongyang is another matter entirely. North Korea hasn't engaged in formal talks since 2019, when negotiations with Washington collapsed over sanctions and demands for denuclearization.

And as we mentioned on Wednesday's BDB, the International Atomic Energy Agency says satellite imagery reveals construction of a new uranium enrichment facility at one of the regime's nuclear complexes. And that could be taken as an unmistakable sign that Kim isn't planning to scale down anytime soon.

Then there's the Moscow connection. North Korea's military alliance with Russia is deepening fast, with thousands of North Korean troops sent to Ukraine to assist Russian forces. Western intelligence fears that Kim could be rewarded with advanced Russian weapons and technology in return.

So far, Pyongyang hasn't commented on Lee's overture, but given their accelerating weapons program and growing reliance with Moscow, it's unclear whether South Korea's latest peace push will resonate with the Kim regime. Okay, coming up next in the back of the brief. The U.S. warns governments around the world against attending an upcoming U.N. conference regarding a two-state solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict. I'll have those details next.

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In today's Back of the Brief, the Trump administration is coming to the defense of Israel to denounce an upcoming diplomatic push led by France to advocate for a two-state solution in Gaza. On Tuesday, the White House sent a diplomatic cable discouraging governments around the world from attending a UN conference next week in New York City. Co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, the conference will...

center on the highly contentious debate over Palestinian statehood and is expected to lay out a roadmap for achieving formal recognition of such a state in the international community. The U.S. cable, reviewed exclusively by Reuters, reportedly warns participating countries that if they take any, quote, anti-Israel actions following the conference, it will be viewed as a rebuke of U.S. foreign policy interests and potentially result in diplomatic consequences from Washington.

For some background, French President Emmanuel Macron first announced the conference in partnership with Saudi Arabia back in April, framing it as a provocative way to find solutions to the ongoing war in Gaza. France has long championed a two-state solution as a way to solve the conflict, reiterating their support for our Palestinian state following Hamas's brutal 7 October attacks, much to the dismay, of course, of Israel.

But officials in Paris have always stopped short of formal recognition, as such a highly controversial move risks antagonizing leaders in Israel. Furthermore, France would risk isolating themselves on issues of Middle East diplomacy, as most major Western powers, including the U.S., Britain, Germany, and Japan, do not acknowledge Palestine as a sovereign state.

In April, however, Macron said he was considering using the conference as a platform to have Paris formally recognize a Palestinian state, and reports indicate that he's still leaning that way.

But the language of the cable could make Macron think twice about his position. It reads in part, quote, "...we are urging governments not to participate in the conference, which we view as counterproductive to ongoing life-saving efforts to end the war in Gaza and free hostages. This conference undermines these delicate negotiations and emboldens Hamas at a time when the terrorist group has rejected proposals by the negotiators that Israel has accepted."

It adds, quote, unilaterally recognizing a Palestine state would effectively make October 7th Palestinian Independence Day. Israeli leaders have repeatedly denounced the conference, saying such recognition by France would be tantamount to rewarding Hamas for their terrorism against Israel.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Thursday, the 12th of June. Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com. And to listen to the show ad-free, which, of course, you can do, just become a premium member.

of the President's Daily Brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. And remember to stop by and subscribe to our YouTube channel. That's out there in YouTube land. You'll find it at President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.