Top 5 US news stories
May 14 2026
Trump and Xi Trade Pleasantries and Warnings as Beijing Summit Opens
Administration Withholds $1.3 Billion in Medicaid Funds From California
Senate Confirms Warsh as Fed Chair in Narrow Vote
AI Drives Grade Inflation, Eroding Value of College Transcripts
Big-City Growth Slows Sharply as Midsize Cities Hold Steady
Trump and Xi Trade Pleasantries and Warnings as Beijing Summit Opens
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed that the Strait of Hormuz should remain a free waterway and that Iran should not be able to charge for use of shipping lanes, according to a White House readout of their talks in Beijing. The agreement came as the two leaders opened a two-day summit, the first U.S. presidential visit to China in nearly a decade, in a ceremony marked by a 21-gun salute and an honor guard outside the Great Hall of the People. Xi delivered a warning on Taiwan, saying the issue could lead to conflict and an extremely dangerous situation if handled poorly. Trump praised Xi as a great leader and said the U.S.-China relationship would be better than ever, while Xi said the countries should be partners rather than rivals. Several top executives, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang and Tesla's Elon Musk, joined the president on the trip as American business leaders pressed for greater access to the Chinese market. Trump is also likely to raise Iran, China's closest partner in the Middle East, during the talks.
WSJ / NYT
Administration Withholds $1.3 Billion in Medicaid Funds From California
The Trump administration will withhold $1.3 billion in federal Medicaid payments from California, Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday, saying the state had failed to combat fraud in the public health insurance program. Vance said California had not taken fraud seriously, speaking at a White House news conference. He also announced an audit of state-level watchdog agencies known as Medicaid fraud control units, which are tasked with identifying inappropriate spending. The administration sent letters to those offices asking them to demonstrate that they were effectively and aggressively combating fraud, and Vance said they too could lose funds. The announcements were part of the administration's growing focus on fraud in public health insurance programs. In March, Trump established a task force to crack down on the misuse of public funds in federal programs and appointed Vance to lead it.
NYT
Senate Confirms Warsh as Fed Chair in Narrow Vote
The Senate confirmed Kevin Warsh as the Federal Reserve's 17th chair on Wednesday in a largely party-line vote that reflected how tensions with the White House have pulled the central bank deeper into political conflict. Warsh, nominated by President Trump in January, won confirmation 54 to 45, earning support from all Senate Republicans and one Democrat, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York did not vote. No Fed chair has been confirmed by such a narrow margin since Senate approval became a requirement for the position in 1977. Chair Jerome Powell, whose leadership tenure ends Friday, drew at least 80 votes in each of his two confirmations. The previous chair, Janet Yellen, was confirmed 56 to 26 in 2014, with many senators absent because of bad weather.
WSJ
AI Drives Grade Inflation, Eroding Value of College Transcripts
Artificial intelligence is making A grades easier to earn and less useful to employers trying to evaluate college graduates, according to a new study. The share of A's in college classes heavy on writing and coding, work more susceptible to AI use, has grown more sharply than in other classes since ChatGPT's debut, according to a paper from the University of California, Berkeley, released Wednesday. Professors teaching AI-exposed classes gave out roughly 30 percent more A's and fewer A-minus and B-plus grades. The results suggest that students have used generative AI to raise their grades, not necessarily that they are learning more, said Igor Chirikov, a senior researcher at Berkeley's Center for Studies in Higher Education and the paper's author.
WSJ
Big-City Growth Slows Sharply as Midsize Cities Hold Steady
Growth in the nation's largest cities slowed sharply over the past year, even as midsize U.S. cities held steady and the national population grew at one of the slowest rates in history, according to new figures released Thursday by the Census Bureau. Drop-offs in average growth were steepest in the largest cities, especially those in the Northeast, where average growth rates fell by at least half compared with a year earlier. The growth of large cities was outpaced by that of surrounding midsize cities, defined as municipalities with populations between about 25,000 and 70,000. Fort Mill, South Carolina, was the fastest-growing city, increasing its population by 6.8 percent to 38,673, outpacing nearby Charlotte, North Carolina. The estimates capture changes from July 1, 2024, to July 1, 2025, a period when immigration declined under tighter border policies and aggressive enforcement, and they also reflect the continuing effects of declining birthrates. The nation's population increased by about 1.8 million over the year, reaching almost 342 million on July 1, a roughly 0.5 percent growth rate and the lowest since 2021.
NYT
MAY 14, 1804: LEWIS AND CLARK DEPART TO EXPLORE THE NORTHWEST
Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery left St. Louis to chart the newly acquired Louisiana Territory, traveling from the Mississippi River toward the Pacific Ocean. Over nearly two and a half years, they covered thousands of miles, gathered vital geographic and scientific knowledge, and strengthened U.S. claims to the Oregon Country.
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