Key events
A delegation of US lawmakers met with Chinese defence minister Dong Jun on Monday in the first House of Representatives visit to Beijing in six years, with talks aimed at bolstering exchanges including military-to-military communication.
The bipartisan delegation was led by Democratic US representative Adam Smith, the current top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee that oversees the US Defense Department and armed forces.
“We are the first delegation from the United States House of Representatives since 2019 and we feel strongly that there should be more frequent visits and more robust conversation,” Smith told Dong.
“We want to open up the lines of communication. And in particular around military matters,” Smith said, according to a pool report organised by the US embassy in Beijing.
Dong said the visit marked a “good” phase in efforts to strengthen China-US communications.
Donald Trump’s administration is on Monday expected to tie pregnant women’s use of the popular medicine Tylenol – known as paracetamol elsewhere in the world – to a risk of autism, contrary to medical guidelines, the Washington Post has reported.
Trump officials are also expected to announce an effort to explore how the drug leucovorin could purportedly and potentially treat autism, according to the Post report published Sunday, which cited four sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made.
Medical guidelines say it is safe for pregnant women to take Tylenol, the over-the-counter pain medication whose active ingredient is known as acetaminophen in the US and paracetamol elsewhere in the world.
Trump teased the announcement during the memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sunday, telling the crowd “I think we found an answer to autism.” On Saturday, the president said the planned announcement would be “one of the most important things that we will do.”
Opening summary
Good morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines over the next few hours.
We start with the news that Donald Trump praised Charlie Kirk as a “great American hero” and “martyr” for freedom as the president and other prominent conservatives gathered on Sunday evening to honor the slain conservative political activist.
The memorial service for Kirk, whom Trump credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, drew tens of thousands of mourners.
“He’s a martyr now for America’s freedom,” Trump said in his tribute to the 31-year-old. “I know I speak for everyone here today when I say that none of us will ever forget Charlie. And neither now will history.”
Kirk’s assassination at a 10 September appearance on a Utah college campus has set off a fierce debate about violence, decency and free speech in an era of deep political division.
The Associated Press reports that those close to Kirk prayed and the floors at the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals shook from the bass of Christian rock bands, as the memorial started with the feel of a megachurch service before veering into something more akin to a political rally.
Kirk’s widow, Erika, in her own address said in the midst of her grief she was finding comfort that her husband left this world without regrets. She said she forgives the man who is charged with killing him.
Trump, who closed out the service, remarked that Charlie Kirk “did not hate his opponents” and “wanted the best for them,” an attribute he found hard to understand.
“That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponents, and I don’t want the best for them,” Trump said. “I’m sorry, I am sorry Erika.”
You can read our report here:
In other developments:
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Donald Trump met with billionaire Elon Musk, his once trusted adviser with whom the president had a spectacular public falling out, at a memorial event for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, raising speculation that the two could be reconciling. Trump shook hands with and chatted to Musk, who once led the president’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which took a hatchet to the US federal workforce and agencies in the early months of Trump’s second administration.
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Trump’s administration is on Monday expected to tie pregnant women’s use of the popular medicine Tylenol – known as paracetamol elsewhere in the world – to a risk of autism, contrary to medical guidelines, the Washington Post has reported. Trump officials are also expected to announce an effort to explore how the drug leucovorin could purportedly and potentially treat autism, according to the Post report published Sunday, which cited four sources with knowledge of the plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not been made.
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The United States called on Sunday the recognition of a Palestinian state by several key allies – including Britain, Australia and Canada – “performative”. “Our focus remains on serious diplomacy, not performative gestures. Our priorities are clear: the release of the hostages, the security of Israel, and peace and prosperity for the entire region that is only possible free from Hamas,” a US State Department spokesperson said on condition of anonymity.
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Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan Murdoch will probably be involved in the effort to buy TikTok in the US, Trump said in an interview on Sunday. The president was asked about the status of the sale of the app during an interview with Peter Doocy on The Sunday Briefing on Fox News.
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Trump said he was appointing his former lawyer Lindsey Halligan to be US attorney for the eastern district of Virginia after an extraordinary outburst in which he overtly put pressure on his attorney general to more aggressively pursue senior public officials he regards as his political enemies.
