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Monday, October 27, 2025

Trump on Asia Trip Signs Peace Treaty Between Thailand and Cambodia

At the 47^th ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Channel News (Singapore): According to Trump, the deal includes both countries agreeing to cease all hostilities, 18 detained Cambodian soldiers being released, and observers from ASEAN, including Malaysia, to be deployed to make sure that the peace prevails and endures. “I have no doubt that it will,” said Trump, adding that the deal could save “millions of lives”. “On behalf of the United States, I’m proud to help settle this conflict and forge a future for the region where proud independent nations can prosper and thrive (with) safety, security and peace,” he added. He said that when fighting broke out between both countries in July, his administration “immediately began working to prevent the conflict from escalating” and there were “a lot of phone calls” between him, Anwar and the Thai and Cambodian premiers (Channel News).

Trump Signs Trade Deal With Malaysia

Bloomberg: President Donald Trump and Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim signed a trade agreement and critical minerals pact Sunday, as the US leader looked to boost trade across Southeast Asia and respond to China’s tightening of access to rare earths. [US Trade Representative Jamieson] said that the critical minerals deal made sure that trade and investment in the rare earths would make trade “as free as possible and resilient as possible.” Anwar called the deals “a significant milestone” that would improve the relationship between the nations beyond trade. Under the trade agreement, Malaysia will provide “significant preferential market access” for US chemicals, machinery and electrical equipment, metals and passenger vehicles, as well as agricultural exports (Bloomberg).

Today: Trump to Japan to Meet With New Prime Minister

Sanae Takaichi—the conservative who counts Iron Lady Margeret Thatcher her hero—was sworn in last week Tuesday. ABC: Just days after taking office, Japan’s new leader faces a series of back-to-back foreign policy tests, with a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Tokyo sandwiched between Asia-region summits in Malaysia and South Korea…. She arrives in Malaysia on Saturday for meetings with Southeast Asian leaders, then returns to Japan to meet Trump before heading to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit at the end of the week. In her first news conference as prime minister, she described her schedule as “packed” with diplomatic events and said it will be a valuable opportunity to meet other regional leaders (ABC) For some odd reason, China has been slow to congratulate the new prime minister: China has held off on congratulating Japan’s new prime minister nearly a week after her appointment, a break with precedent that sends alarm about the state of relations between the two countries. China hawk Sanae Takaichi, 64, took office on Tuesday, becoming the first woman prime minister in the country’s history and the fifth person to hold the office in five years…. Asked on Thursday whether Beijing would congratulate Takaichi, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: “China made proper arrangements according to diplomatic practices” (South China Morning Post).

Javier Milei’s La Libertad Avanza Party Wins Sweeping Victory in Argentinian Midterms

It was a decisive win for Milei. Wall Street Journal: President Javier Milei scored a decisive political win Sunday, strengthening his position in Argentina’s Congress and securing a lifeline for his audacious free-market revolution backed by President Trump. With nearly 92% of votes counted, Milei’s Freedom Advances party won almost 41% of the national vote, putting it on track to more than double its representation in Congress. That means his party and allies should secure at least one-third of the seats in both chambers—the critical threshold that allows Milei to preserve his veto power and defend his sweeping decrees. The result, stronger than most polls had predicted, gives Milei fresh political momentum after months of unrest over deep spending cuts and a grinding recession last year (Wall Street Journal). Milei News: In a stunning turnaround, President Milei’s La Libertad Avanza (LLA) party clinched over 40% of votes nationwide in the legislative elections, defying polls and corruption scandals. The biggest upset unfolded in Buenos Aires province, where LLA triumphed over Kirchnerists, erasing a 14-point loss from September. Fuerza Patria (Kirchnerists) suffered a humiliating blow, while the new Provincias Unidas coalition flopped. Youth mobilization and empathetic messaging fueled the surge, granting Milei breathing room for reforms amid economic woes (Milei News).

Mamdani’s Closing Argument: Accusing New Yorkers of Islamophobia

So: The intolerant on 9/11—and in the wake of 9/11—were those who had an issue with Islamist terror? Perhaps the real intolerant ones were to those who took 3,000 innocent lives. Byron York: Mohran Mamdani has apparently decided to make accusing New Yorkers of Islamophobia the theme of his NYC mayoral campaign’s final week. Here, Mamdani again discusses 9/11 only in terms of post-attack ‘hatred and bigotry’ toward Muslims, without saying a word–no, not a word–about the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and on the planes hijacked by radical Islamic terrorists. The only specific ‘victim’ of 9/11 Mamdani mentions is his late aunt, who ‘stopped taking the subway after September 11th because she did not feel safe in her hijab.’ Will this strategy work in the NYC campaign? Will it work in any campaign in the United States? (York). His “lesson” from 9/11? His own words: Time and again, it is the lesson that safety could only be found in the shadows of our city, that it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace the fullness of our own identities, and that if we are to emerge from them and it is in those shadows where we must leave our faith. These are lessons that so many Muslim New Yorkers have been taught again and again and over these last few days (Mamdani). How about the victims of 9/11? How about a word about the violent outworking of Islamic faith?

Last-Minute Plea From New Yorkers: Stop Mamdani

And to do so, some are making a difficult shift. That would include former NY state assemblyman and outspoken Jewish American Dov Hikind: As difficult as it is for me to post this video, I must face the reality as I see it. I endorsed Curtis Sliwa and while I never thought I’d say this, I am now asking that you vote for Andrew Cuomo. Why? Because if Mamdani wins, the very future of New York City is at stake. You don’t have to love Cuomo. I’ve been clear about how I feel about him. This election though isn’t about who we like. It’s about saving New York City from Mamdani. Save NYC. Vote Cuomo (Hikind).

DHS Revokes Visa of British Journalist for Support of Terrorism

Sami Hamdi is the editor-in-chief of The International Interest. Peter Aitken of Newsweek: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on Sunday that the United States has revoked the visa for British journalist Sami Hamdi, alleging that he has supported terrorism and worked to “undermine American national security.” The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) confirmed that Hamdi has not been deported but remains in custody, and lawyers for the advocacy group are “working to address this injustice.” He was detained at San Francisco International Airport earlier this morning, according to CAIR (Newsweek). Tricia McLaughlin: Thanks to the work of @Sec_Noem and @SecRubio and the men and women of law enforcement, this individual’s visa was revoked and he is in ICE custody pending removal. Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country. It’s commonsense (McLaughlin).

Surprise: Washington Post Defends White House Ballroom

As elite media were trying so very hard to present a unified front, the Washington Post has the audacity to break rank. David Strom: Months ago, Jeff Bezos made clear that he wanted to clean out the most insane Opinion Page columnists and restore some sanity to the Washington Post’s Opinion/Editorial Page. And there was quite the exodus as the Augean Stables were cleaned out. David Shipley, the editorial page editor, resigned. Ruth Marcus, out. Karen Attiah, out. Philip Bump, out. Jonathan Capehart, out. We all laughed and toasted Jen Rubin’s departure, of course. But even with the massive turnover in personnel, how many of us expected the Post to do more than make a nod to sanity as it continued on much the same course? Yet, here we are. Hell has, indeed, frozen over: “Washington Post lead editorial in Sunday’s newspaper is a defense of the White House ballroom: In defense of the White House ballroom.” … Everybody who is not Trump-deranged knows that if any other president had done the same thing, the reaction would be entirely different. The issue is Trump, not the ballroom. Nobody has any special feelings about the East Wing–it’s likely that many people who are blowing their tops didn’t even know that it existed (Hot Air). Truth is: It’s not that big a deal. Andrew Stiles looks at the concerted effort at outrage: Many have wondered: “What the …. is wrong with you people? Do you need a hug? No one actually cares, so it’s probably a good idea to calm down, OK?” (Free Beacon).

“Will China bury us?”

That’s the title of a new essay by esteemed British historian Andrew Roberts on a subject that ought to be top of mind for all Americans. Roberts: We might as well start with the bad news: China undoubtedly wants to bury us, and unlike the emanations that came from Khrushchev, this is not bluster…. We seem busily to be digging the graves in which China intends to bury us. Lenin enjoyed black humor and once joked that “The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.” Today our elite universities train thousands of Chinese scientists in sensitive research areas at mit, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Melbourne, and many of the other great Western seats of learning. Having sucked up our knowledge and expertise, these students go straight back to China to use that knowledge against us…. If the West eventually emerges victorious in this long race for primacy, it will not be because of anything we are doing today, but rather because of the genius of the American Founding Fathers two hundred fifty years ago, who ensured that the United States had an open society, separation of powers, free speech, and free markets…. Because of the Founding Fathers and Western ideals since the Enlightenment, but certainly not because of ourselves and our pathetic responses today, we ought to get through this incredibly fraught period in our history. So even as the city of New York has removed its Thomas Jefferson statue from City Hall, we still depend on his ideas (New Criterion).

10.

Charles Barkley Is Done With Men in Women’s Sports

The former NBA player and now television analyst doesn’t make a habit of leaving you wondering what he really thinks. But when he’s right, he’s right: Men should not play sports against women. I’m not going to get into all the b******* that’s going on out here in the world today. If anybody thinks that I think they’re stupid…. And I don’t even think that’s controversial. That’s the thing. That’s funny. I don’t either. Some of this stuff, when you see these debates on television, I like, yeah, man, shouldn’t play sports against women. I’m done. I don’t want to hear you try to explain it to me. No, no, no, no. I don’t want to hear it. I’m not going to argue with you. Men shouldn’t play sports against women. I’m done. There’s a lot of s*** we can argue over. That ain’t one of them (X).

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