Politics and views in the United States.

The White House says prospects are good for a trade deal with China. The president may ramp up strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers. Government-run grocery stores grow in popularity, and legal professionals work to protect the rule of law. 

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to 2025 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

I believe when the announcement of the deal with China is made public that our soybean farmers will feel very good about what's going on both for this season and the coming seasons for several years.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besant tells ABC the anticipated trade deal with China will be good for farmers who lost their entire export market.

He says China will loosen export controls on rare earths, while the US will back away from threatened steep tariffs.

President Donald Trump is set to meet with the Chinese president this week.

While in Malaysia, Trump attended a ceasefire signing between Thailand and Cambodia.

The White House says the threat of increased tariffs pushed the two countries into halting skirmishes along their contested borders.

Reversing position, the president says the administration might brief members of Congress on possible land strikes against alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers.

Some in Congress say even with briefings, those kinds of attacks would still be illegal and unconstitutional.

Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul says even at sea, using the military to enforce the law without proof amounts to extrajudicial killing.

The drug war has typically been something we do through law enforcement.

And so far they have alleged that these people are drug dealers.

No one said their name, no one said what evidence, no one said whether they're armed.

And we've had no evidence presented.

So at this point, I would call them extrajudicial killings.

The US has hit 10 vessels in international waters, killing more than 40.

According to the Washington Post, Trump officials have defied one in three judges who have ruled against him.

A Supreme Court ruling now means the president can't be prosecuted for crimes committed in office, and Trump has ordered the Justice Department to prosecute his perceived enemies.

Prominent New York attorney David Boies says thousands of lawyers, judges, and ordinary citizens are starting to organize to defend democracy and the rule of law.

These kind of attacks on judges, threats to judges, threats to disregard decisions.

They're absolutely, irretrievably, irredeemably wrong.

We know that.

With the government shutdown in week four, major US airports are reporting problems.

Air traffic controllers are calling in sick at already short-staffed towers.

Meanwhile, half of the states say they expect SNAP nutrition benefits may be disrupted.

Food banks say they have no way to keep up with the expected demand.

Meanwhile, government-run grocery stores are gaining traction in New York City.

Leading mayoral candidate Zohra Mamdani says they could fight rising grocery costs urban food deserts.

Liz Miller with the Boston Food Access Council says they're considering them there as well, especially for neighborhoods without stores.

They don't have it at the price point that they need.

It's not physically accessible to them.

It's not meeting their cultural needs.

So it's really valuable that the municipal government is wanting to explore this and and think through some solutions.

Critics of the program say government run grocery stores would put other local independent groceries at a disadvantage.

But Miller says, especially with SNAP benefits under threat and food pantries at a breaking point, people need better options.

I'm Zimone Perez for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.