White House media standoff hangs over Xi visit

It’s Thursday. Congratulations to the Bad News Babes, who beat Team Congress Wednesday night in the Capitol press corps vs. lawmakers softball game.

The Hill’s reporting intern Ryan Karlin was there for the action .

Programming note : We’re Claire Leibowitz and Abigail Walker, filling in for Cate today. Please send your tips, comments and story ideas to cleibowitz@thehill.com or awalker@thehill.com.

The White House must immediately restore press access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico, a federal judge ruled early Thursday.

After being denied entry this morning, CNN and MS NOW are saying their reporters have regained White House access mid-morning.

ABC is the assigned TV pooler today. But Jeremy Barr of the Guardian had this update in the morning: “I am told they are in a bit of a stand-off with the White House staff and are refusing to go into any events until they have proof CNN is on campus.”

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly ordered the White House to lift the ban following an emergency hearing Wednesday. In his ruling, Kelly cited a lack of due process regarding the president’s ban.

“Defendants do not dispute that Plaintiffs did not receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before their hard passes were revoked,” the federal judge, a Trump appointee, wrote.

What now? CNN, MS NOW, Politico asked Kelly this morning for an immediate hearing over White House noncompliance with his order, which is meant to last for two weeks.

The judge gave the Department of Justice until 12:30 this afternoon to reply.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived yesterday for an anticipated state visit, with talks getting underway this afternoon on a range of topics.

He announced on Thursday that China will gift two pandas to the U.S. and is inviting 100,000 American students to study in China. The pandas will head to Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Ga.

“The hope of China-U.S. relationship lies in our people, and its future lies with the young,” he said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday that the U.S. and China will extend their trade agreement until January, taking some of the urgency out of Trump-Xi talks on that issue.

AI on the menu: Trump and Xi are also expected to discuss ways the two nations can team up to manage artificial intelligence , which has stirred fear in recent months among lawmakers and industry executives.

In a Thursday speech, Xi said the U.S. and China have obligations to monitor AI’s advancements.

“We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people,” Xi said.

“Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is,” the American president wrote earlier on Thursday on Truth Social, referring to his new name for AI. “That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ!”

And the literal menu? Trump will host Xi for a state dinner at the White House on Thursday.

“The menu showcases American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence, bringing the culinary traditions of both nations together,” first lady Melania Trump ’s office said.

As is typical for formal gatherings like tonight’s, symbolism plays a heavy had.

The Hill’s Tara Suter notes : “The first lady’s office selected Schramsberg Blanc De Noir as the dinner’s wine accompaniment, which it says is a reference to the 1972 ‘Toast to Peace’ between former President Nixon and former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing.”

An Emerson College Polling survey released Thursday found Democrats led Republicans on a generic congressional ballot at 53 percent and 42 percent, respectively.

“While the generic ballot test doesn’t capture nuances of individual races, it’s an important metric to gauge the magnitude of a potential Democratic wave,” Spencer Kimball , executive director of Emerson College Polling, explained in a Thursday press release.

But RNC Chair Joe Gruters on Wednesday night said he expects his party to maintain its majorities in Congress. He told Blake Burman on NewsNation’s “The Hill” that he predicts the GOP will clinch 220 seats in the House and 53 in the Senate.

“We have our secret weapon and president, Donald J. Trump, and I say that because we’re going to barnstorm the country,” Gruters said. “We’re going to do lots of rallies … and we’re going to deliver for the American people.”

Meanwhile, Trump’s disapproval rating looks…high: It hit its highest mark yet — 58 percent — amid rising energy costs and economic woes, per an Emerson College poll.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) leads Democrat Troy Jackson by 3 points in her bid for a sixth term, a New York Times/Siena University survey found.

The incumbent’s edge was within the roughly 5-point margin of error, while another 5 percent of the 619 respondents were undecided.

It’s been a roller-coaster week for Collins. A bombshell ProPublica report on Tuesday said that the FBI was investigating an alleged pay-to-play scheme between the senator’s office, a pro-Collins super PAC and defense contractor Navatek, before the probe was dropped when Trump returned to office.

She and her team have denied the claims, with Collins calling the report “a partisan hit job.” ProPublica responded in a follow-up piece , saying “some of her claims aren’t true.”

Collins also faces a test of her pro-choice bona fides with a confirmation hearing for anti-abortion Dr. Heidi Overton, Trump’s nomination to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

The senator has kept her concerns quiet, The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports . Collins told him that she raised the issue of abortion in a private meeting with the doctor.

“That’s one issue, but another is vaccines and third is the slow pace that FDA approves treatments and medications in cases where there are rare diseases for which there are no medications currently on the market,” Collins said.

Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico and gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa are leading GOP opponents Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott , a Marist Poll Texas survey finds .

Former President Barack Obama said in his newly launched literary-focused podcast that the federal government is “so much less corrupt” today than it was in the past.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Wednesday accused Iran’s leaders of being “part of a colony of reptiles,” and grouped them with other U.S. adversaries , including China, North Korea and Russia.

Trump dismissed a report that alleged White House officials pushed to add his name on Ford’s Theatre, where former President Abraham Lincoln was shot.

Associated Press : Starbucks announces 2nd wave of store closings in less than a year

CNN : What we know as officials investigate the deaths of 2 Ole Miss students

New York Times : Stanford Used A.I. to Swap Black Student for Hispanic Student in a Photo (And here’s an earlier story from The Stanford Review )

NBC News : Far-right U.K. activist arrested after migrant dinghy slashed in the English Channel

The House is out and the Senate is in. President Trump is in Washington. (All times EST)

2 p.m. : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the U.N. General Assembly

2 p.m. : Trump receives an intelligence briefing

2:30 p.m.: House convenes for a pro forma session

7:55 p.m. : Trump and Xi deliver remarks

❗ Celebrate : Today is National Punctuation Day. We’d like to shout out The Hill’s copy editors, aka Punctuation Geniuses.

✈️ X has been going crazy over Trump’s wincing reaction to the loud flyovers at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday night compared to Xi’s calmness.

Because you made it this far, here’s a fox running around near the Capitol. Maybe it was late for a vote. Remember the one with rabies that bit Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) and at least eight other people back in 2022? Watch out, Hill staffers.

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