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The Short List

Mon May 12 2025

John Riley | Audience Editor

The U.S. and China stepped back from the brink in their fledgling trade war. President Trump is pushing drugmakers to lower prescription drug prices. And Sean "Diddy" Combs' blockbuster sex-crimes trial got underway for real.

👋 Hey there! John Riley here, filling in for the irreplacable Rebecca Morin while she enjoys a well-deserved break. Here's Monday's news.

But first, breaking news 🚨: Rapper Tory Lanez, who's behind bars for shooting fellow hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion, has been hospitalized after being attacked in prison.

Let's make a deal

The Trump administration and China on Monday agreed to slash tariffs for the next 90 days in a push to deescalate a trade war while the two sides work on a long-term agreement. The deal marks a momentary retreat for President Donald Trump, who insisted steep tariffs were vital to boosting the economy, even as the moves rattled markets and worried many Americans − even some supporters. Stocks surged on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average soaring by more than 1,000 points, or 2.5%.

Here's what we know about the agreement:

•	The U.S. will reduce 125% reciprocal tariffs imposed on Chinese imports for 90 days to 10%. Combined with a 20% tariff slapped on China over fentanyl production, tariffs on China will total 30%.
•	In return, the Chinese government will reduce retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports for 90 days from 125% to 10%.
•	The deal does not apply to universal 25% tariffs that Trump imposed on automobiles, auto parts, steel and aluminum.
•	Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said talks between the Trump administration and China will continue as the U.S. seeks to end China's trade imbalance.

President Donald Trump at the White House on May 12, 2025.

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Trump takes aim at high drug prices. Will it work?

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday directing drugmakers to lower the prices of medicines so they line up with what other countries pay. Trump's order gives the U.S. government 30 days to give drugmakers price targets and requires drugmakers to make "significant progress" towards those goals within six months or face further action from the government. The real impact of Trump's executive order was unclear. Trump said in a social media post on May 12 that they'd be cut by "59%, PLUS!" Later at the White House, Trump put the figure at between 59 percent and 80 percent before adding, "I guess even 90%." 👉 Trump wants to bolster US drug manufacturing factories. Will this plan work?

(L-R) Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Mehmet Oz speak with each other before the start of a news conference with US President Donald Trump about prescription drug prices, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 12, 2025, in Washington, DC.

JIM WATSON, AFP via Getty Images

Real quick

•	🍎 Did Apple's Siri eavesdrop on your call? You may be eligible to receive part of a $95 million class action lawsuit accusing the tech company's famous voice assistant.
•	🚒 John Cena's cancer diagnosis was 'sobering.' What the 17-time WWE world champion wished he knew sooner.
•	☔️ A major storm system could bring two months' worth of rain to parts of the U.S.
•	🚨 Hamas freed US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, as Israel says no ceasefire.
•	🎤 Morgan Wallen (finally) addressed why he abruptly walked off "SNL."
•	👶 Gisele Bündchen shared the first photo of her newborn baby.

Diddy courtroom drama begins: Baby oil, drugs and violence

Lawyers made their opening statements Monday as Sean "Diddy" Combs' blockbuster sex-crimes trial got underway . Prosecutors alleged Combs lured women into romantic relationships, then "viciously attacked" them when they resisted taking part in drug-fueled parties, known as "freak offs." "They will tell you about some of the most painful experiences of their lives. The days they spent in hotel rooms, high on drugs, dressed in costumes to perform the defendant's sexual fantasies," prosecutor Emily Johnson said. Later, the Bad Boy Records founder's defense lawyer Teny Geragos countered that prosecutors were trying to twist Combs' romantic relationships into a criminal case. "This case is about voluntary choices made by capable adults in consensual relationships," Geragos told jurors.

•	Diddy jury selected: What to know
•	Diddy accusations: Every lawsuit and sex abuse allegation

U.S. Marshalls sit behind Sean "Diddy" Combs as he sits at the defense table alongside lawyer Brian Steel in the courtroom during his sex trafficking trial in New York City, New York, U.S., May 9, 2025 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg

Jane Rosenberg, REUTERS

Fear the screwworm: Parasite halts cattle imports

If you're squeamish of creepy crawlies, you might want to skip this one. The U.S. is suspending imports of livestock through the Mexican border to protect U.S. cattle from the New World Screwworm, a dangerous, flesh-eating parasite. The parasite gets its name from how it will burrow, or screw, into a wound or opening in an animal, creating "extensive damage by tearing at the hosts' tissue with sharp mouth hooks," the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says. The screwworm was eradicated in the United States almost 60 years ago but was recently detected in remote Mexican farms.

Cochliomyia hominivorax, the New World screw-worm fly, or screw-worm for short, is a species of parasitic fly that is well known for the way in which its larvae (maggots) eat the living tissue.

Ramdan Fatoni, Getty Images

A break from the news

•	🏡 Is it finally a buyer's housing market? What to know about home prices.
•	👨‍✈️ Watch a hilarious duo dress up as "personal drivers" to take friend to the doctor.
•	🎬 15 new movies to stream this summer, from "Happy Gilmore 2" to "Predator."