What we covered here
• US President Donald Trump has met with Japan’s new conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, on the second leg of his Asia tour. Takaichi heralded what she hoped would mark “a new golden age of the Japan-US alliance,” and Trump told her she would be “one of the great prime ministers.”
• The leaders signed an agreement on securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths. China has a near-monopoly on global rare-earth supplies, which Beijing has weaponized in its trade war with the US. Washington has been trying to cut deals with other nations to break the supply stranglehold.
• Back in the US, the Senate reconvened Monday, but with no signs of a breakthrough. Speaker Mike Johnson fiercely defended keeping the House out of session, contending GOP lawmakers were accomplishing critical work in their districts.
Our live coverage has moved here.
"We'll see": Trump again avoids clear answer on Kim meeting
Whether US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his Asia tour this week remains a mystery, with the American leader leaving it an open question.
Trump previously said he would “love to see” the North Korean leader and that he was open to extending his Asia trip to meet with Kim, though there are no known scheduled plans for a meeting.
“I got along great with Kim Jong Un, I liked him, he liked me, if he wants to meet, I’ll be in South Korea” he said Monday.
Trump will be visiting South Korea later this week, where he will join the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO summit.
During his first term in office, Trump and Kim held a series of unprecedented meetings in 2018 and 2019 — and had an infamous handshake in the Korean Peninsula’s demilitarized zone.
Japan is proud of its rice, so why did it serve Trump American rice?
President Donald Trump and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi were served lunch during their meeting, but notably missing from the menu was Japanese rice.
Instead, the two leaders dined on American beef and rice.
In Japan, rice isn’t just food — it’s part of the nation’s identity. Many Japanese take great pride in their homegrown rice.
Serving American rice could be seen as a gesture to win favor with Trump, who has long urged Japan to buy more US rice. He even threatened higher tariffs on Japanese exports over the staple food, accusing the country of refusing to purchase American-grown rice.
The timing is also notable: Japan is in the midst of a rice shortage. Prices hit record highs earlier this year, prompting the government to release emergency reserves and import more foreign rice — though many consumers have been hesitant to buy it.
Japan's prime minister nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize, White House says
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told US President Donald Trump that she had nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters.
Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the prize, and Takaichi is the latest world leader to nominate the US president or say he should win the award.
The move has become a common tactic to flatter Trump, particularly when trade deals are on the table.
In August, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet said he nominated Trump for the prize for the president’s role in halting a border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. He made the announcement while thanking Trump for a sharply reduced tariff of 19% on Cambodian imports.
Pakistan said in June that it would recommend Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in helping to resolve a conflict with India, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in July he had nominated Trump for the award.
2025 prize: The Norwegian Nobel Committee handed this year’s prize to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, saying she had helped “keep the flame of democracy burning against a growing darkness.” A barrage of threats to her life has forced her into hiding.
At the time, a White House spokesperson said the decision to overlook the peacemaking efforts of Trump showed the committee “place politics over peace.” Nominations for the 2025 award closed at the end of January, the same month Trump began his second term in office.
Trump meets families whose loved ones were abducted by North Korea
US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi met with the families of Japanese citizens who were abducted by North Korea in the late 1970s and 1980s.
The family members held photos of their loved ones as they gathered at the Akasaka Palace following Trump and Takaichi’s bilateral meeting on Tuesday.
Trump, who also met with the families during his first term in 2019, told reporters, “I’ve met the families before and I’m with them all the way.” He then shook hands with some of the families and spoke to them about their loved ones.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also met with the families.
Japan says at least 17 of its citizens were snatched by North Korean agents – alongside hundreds of unexplained cases. Five citizens were returned in 2002; some families are still waiting.
The abductions appear to have been part of North Korea’s espionage program, with a 2014 UN report finding the abductees “were used to teach the Japanese language, accent and culture to (North Korean) spies in training; to enable the study of Japanese identification documents in order to better falsify them; and allow (North Korean) agents to pass themselves off as being Japanese, using the identity of the abducted person.”
Families were hoping that Takaichi would press the issue during her meetings with the president – and that he would take it up with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, should the two come face to face during Trump’s Asian tour. There is currently no known scheduled plan for Trump to meet Kim.
Japan’s prime minister gifts Trump Abe's putter and golf bag signed by sporting hero
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gifted US President Donald Trump a putter owned by assassinated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a golf bag signed by golfing star Hideki Matsuyama.
Abe cultivated very close ties with the US during Trump’s first term, with the president describing him as “one of my best friends.”
The two leaders shared a love of golf and played nine holes alongside Matsuyama during Trump’s maiden diplomatic visit to Asia in 2017.
Matsuyama is a national hero, having become the first Japanese man to win a golf major. This year, he made PGA Tour history by shooting an astonishing 35-under to win The Sentry in Kapalua, Hawaii.
Takaichi, an Abe protege, hopes to foster similar close ties with the US.
After presenting the golf bag and putter, Takaichi and Trump both signed black baseball caps featuring the words “Japan Is Back” in gold lettering – a play on Trump’s often-used phrase “America Is Back.”
US and Japan sign minerals and rare earths framework agreement
US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi signed an agreement on securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths following their bilateral meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
The two leaders agreed to “support the supply of raw and processed critical minerals and rare earths crucial to the domestic industries of the United States and Japan.”
The “framework” will see two allies cooperate to secure supply and mobilize government and the public sector to strengthen investment in mining and processing the resources, which are used to power everything from iPhones to electric vehicles.
The two leaders also signed the implementation of an agreement towards a “new golden age” for Japan and the US alliance.
Some context: China has a near-monopoly on global rare-earth supplies, which Beijing has weaponized in its trade war with the US. Washington has been trying to cut deals with other nations to break the stranglehold on supply.
The topic is likely on the agenda for an expected meeting between Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping this week, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying on Sunday that he anticipates it could result in “some kind of deferral” on rare-earth export controls.
Trial for man accused of assassinating former Japanese leader Shinzo Abe to begin today
The trial of the alleged murderer of late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe begins on Tuesday, hours after US President Donald Trump met his Japanese counterpart Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo.
Takaichi, who was elected only days ago, is a protege of the assassinated former leader and has laid claim to his conservative legacy.
Tetsuya Yamagami was arrested in July 2022 at the scene of the alleged assassination, which stunned the world
Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader, was shot with a homemade gun, police said at the time, as he was delivering a speech in support of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) candidates on a street in the western city of Nara. He had retired from office two years earlier.
Yamagami blamed Abe for promoting the Unification Church, a religious group he held a grudge against after his mother donated to it some 100 million yen ($663,218), local media reported, according to Reuters news agency.
“I think you will be one of the great prime ministers,” Trump tells Japan's Takaichi
US President Donald Trump told Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi that he believes she will be “one of the great prime ministers” during their meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
“This will be a relationship that will be stronger than any before and I look forward to working with you and on behalf of our country,” Trump said.
Trump said the United States would be there to help Japan, adding that “we are an ally at the strongest level.”
White House withdrawing nominee for top State Department role, source says
The White House is withdrawing the nomination of Joel Rayburn to be assistant secretary of state for near Eastern affairs, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The source noted that Rayburn did not have the votes on Capitol Hill to be confirmed to the position and that the administration intends to “proceed in a different direction.”
When reached by CNN, Rayburn said he had no comment.
Rayburn served as President Donald Trump’s Syria envoy during his first term and the president had nominated him earlier this year to head the Middle East portfolio for the State Department.
Late last year, Rayburn doubted that the world would support Ahmed al-Sharaa as Syria’s new leader given his jihadist past, but during his confirmation hearing in earlier this year, he repeatedly promised to enact the administration’s policies on Syria.
Japanese prime minister declares hopes for “new golden age” of US-Japan alliance
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi kicked off Tuesday’s bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump with a warm welcome, heralding what she said she hoped would mark “a new golden age of the Japan-US alliance.”
Welcoming the US leader to the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, she offered effusive praise for Trump’s work to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, while pledging Japan’s support “toward our shared goal of achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
And, in a nod to the United States’ 250th anniversary next year, Takaichi confirmed that Japan would donate 250 cherry blossom trees to Washington, DC.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida first announced the gift during a visit to Washington last year with then-President Joe Biden.
The gesture has its roots in US history — in 1909, the city of Tokyo donated 2,000 cherry trees to the United States, though the trees were later destroyed after it was discovered that they were infected with insects.
A second donation of 3,020 cherry trees was made in 1912 to replace the diseased trees, some of which — along with propagates of that gift — remain at the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC.
Trump says Japan’s late PM was one of his “best friends.” Shinzo Abe’s successor hopes to build on those ties
President Donald Trump is meeting now with Japan’s new conservative prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, a protégé of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who cultivated very close ties to the US president.
Takaichi, who took office last week, is now hoping to foster similar close ties with Trump.
Abe took great care to develop the US-Japan relationship during Trump’s first term at a time when the president did not have a lot of support on the world stage. Abe hosted Trump on three occasions, including multiple golf outings, a state banquet, and even a sumo wrestling tournament.
Trump has described Abe as “one of my best friends – one of, maybe, my closest friends in government.” And as he arrived at Akasaka Palace on Tuesday, he told the new prime minister, “Shinzo was a great man – he loved you.”
Abe was assassinated during a campaign speech in 2022. Trump hosted Abe’s widow, Mrs. Akie Abe, at Mar-a-Lago last year.
During her opening remarks at a bilateral meeting, Takaichi thanked Trump for his “enduring friendship” with Abe.
Trump said he was “very saddened” by Abe’s death but told his counterpart that he “spoke highly” of his successor.
Families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea hope their fate being discussed by Trump and Takaichi
For the families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korean agents decades ago, this week is perhaps the best shot they’ve had in years of substantive progress.
Not only does Japan have a new prime minister, but US President Donald Trump is in their part of the world, with unfinished business when it comes to the return of their loved ones.
Japan says at least 17 of its citizens were snatched by North Korean agents in the late 1970s and 1980s – alongside hundreds of unexplained cases. Five citizens were returned in 2002; some families are still waiting.
Pyongyang disputes the total number taken and says some died in traffic and drowning accidents, as well as suicide, and it considers the matter over.
Families are now hoping that new Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will press the issue during her meetings today with Trump – and that the US president will take it up with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, should the two come face to face during this Asian tour.
Read more here about the missing Japanese citizens
NOW: Japan's new prime minister greets Trump ahead of bilateral meeting
US President Donald Trump has arrived at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo where he was greeted by Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi.
The two leaders shook hands, chatted a bit and then posed for a photo in front of their countries’ flags.
They are expected to hold bilateral talks and though the US-Japan alliance is one of the world’s strongest, Takaichi’s limited diplomatic experience and Trump’s unpredictability make their first meeting a crucial test.
Expected topics: Their talks are expected to cover tariffs, regional security and Japan’s defense spending, all points of tension in recent months. Within Japan’s conservative ruling party, some worry Washington’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific is fading, as it demands more from allies.
Vance planning to attend Senate GOP lunch on Tuesday, source familiar says
Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend Tuesday’s Senate GOP lunch, a source familiar tells CNN.
The vice president’s attendance at Tuesday’s lunch comes as the government shutdown enters almost a full month with no signs of concluding in the near future.
CNN has asked the vice president’s office for additional information on what the vice president plans to talk to senators about.
GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer "exasperated" by Canada-US trade talks falling apart
GOP Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota told CNN that he is “exasperated” by the Canada-US trade talks falling apart, after President Donald Trump increased tariffs following Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s anti-tariff ad.
“It’s Canada. It’s like, it’s like a large Minnesota, you know, I just, what I worry about is our integrated supply chain — it’s just – it’s so important,” he said.
Cramer, who says he knows Ford “pretty well,” and thinks that Ford has a lot in common with Trump, indicated Ford had miscalculated when he aired the ad.
“If you’re gonna, if you’re gonna fight with Trump, you’d better, you know, you’d better have a little, some leverage and so — but anyway, I haven’t talked about it. He obviously has been gone since, since this whole announcement. I’m anxious to visit with him about it and see what I can do to help,” he said.
Cramer added, “it was clearly a domestic political move on his part that will have geopolitical ramifications. And I just hope it doesn’t last long. When the president gets back, we can get Jamieson Greer back, negotiating.”
Pressed on how North Dakota farmers are reacting, Cramer argued that if Trump “can actually pull off a big trade deal with China that involves the sale of soybeans, all will be forgiven,” including the Argentine beef deal.
“They’re uptight, and they’ve been gracious to him, and you know – up until the Argentine beef thing is a bit of a over the top insult to our ranchers, who don’t take insults very well. But I think that that that can all be worked out and forgiven.”
Trump administration says 500,000 immigrants deported since January. Here's how that number was calculated
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today that it has deported more than half a million undocumented immigrants from the United States since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term.
A closer look at the numbers: The figures include deportations by multiple agencies, including people who were turned back at the border or ports of entry and who never lived in the US. Internally, administration officials remain frustrated by the pace of immigration arrests and deportations, which fall short of the White House-imposed goal of one million deportations a year.
DHS has also repeatedly touted its efforts to encourage people to voluntarily leave the country — taking to the airwaves in multimillion-dollar ad campaigns and offering financial incentives.
FAA reports staffing shortages at 8 air traffic control facilities today
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reported staffing problems at eight US airport air traffic control facilities today.
- The TRACON facility that handles flights approaching and departing Dallas Fort Worth International Airport reported staffing problems until 11:15 p.m. ET, according to the just released operations plan. A ground delay program is in place for DFW until midnight ET, requiring flights heading there to wait on the ground an average of 18 minutes.
- The control tower at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is also short-staffed until 10 p.m. ET. Ground delays for flights to Austin average 39 minutes.
- The facility that controls flights landing or departing Las Vegas is now short staffed until 2:45 a.m. ET, Tuesday, according to an addition to the FAA operations plan.
- Earlier today, the TRACON which handles flights approaching or departing LAX saw staffing problems which resulted in delays. Atlanta and Newark also saw problems with their approach facilities earlier.
- Two staffing shortages at the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center, coupled with bad weather in the area, are causing average delays of nearly two hours at Orlando International Airport. One of the short-staffed areas is back to normal at 9 p.m. ET, the other at 10 p.m. ET.
Some context: Not every staffing shortage is related to the shutdown, but there have been 272 reports since it started on October 1, more than four times the number reported on the same days last year.
Controllers are set to miss their first full paycheck since the start of the shutdown on Tuesday. A partial paycheck, for hours worked before the shutdown, was paid two weeks ago.
This post was updated with details on delays at Las Vegas airport.
Murkowski calls for senators to "stop pretending everything is OK" and work to end shutdown
GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski called on her colleagues to “stop pretending everything is OK,” and work to end the shutdown. She also diagnosed the main issue keeping senators from striking a deal as a “lack of trust” separating the two sides.
In a speech on the Senate floor, Murkowski decried the Senate’s slow work schedule and demanded that they stay in session and keep voting, so that senators are forced to stay in town and try to cut a deal to reopen the government. She also pushed for a vote on a standalone bill to ensure food aid continues to go out.
She added afterwards, “Why weren’t we here instead? Why weren’t we? And even if it means, you know, we just do vote after vote after vote, at least that gets us in the building where I might have to talk to somebody.”
Asked if Senate Majority Leader John Thune is open to keeping the Senate in session this weekend, she laughed and said, “I don’t know. I kind of went rogue just now. So nobody, nobody knew about this.”
Murkowski added that bipartisan talks have been starting and stopping, and argued that the underlying reason they can’t cut a deal is simple: “It’s lack of trust.”
Administration says it’s given 7 classified briefings to Congress on military strikes on alleged drug boats
The Trump administration said today it has provided seven separate classified briefings on US military strikes on alleged drug boats, even as lawmakers have told CNN they have not received information.
The White House confirmed to CNN that those briefings were specifically about the strikes. CNN has reached out to Senate and House leadership and the various committees named.
But the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith, told CNN last week that the administration has “provided no answers to Congress to date” on the strikes.
CNN’s Ali Main contributed to this post.