Beltway Insider: Trump/China Trip, Israeli Rape, New York Times, Gas Tax, Alex Murdaugh

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Category: Beltway Insider

Published on Saturday, 16 May 2026 16:28

Written by Janet Walker

President Trump and members of his cabinet met with Chinese President Xi-Jinping this week, in Beijing, as the two world leaders discussed a variety of issues including trade, the Hormuz Strait, and the continued disputed over Taiwan.

The President's job approval rating, according to The New York Times for the period ending May 16, 2026, of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President remained consistent at 38% and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as president has increased by 1% to 59%. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Trump's Visits China

President Trump's trip to Beijing comes at a time when the president has been in a bit of a slump, his efforts to tap into his MAGA base to help approval ratings has been usurped by the rising cost of living, the escalating gasoline prices, and the war in Iran, that could end up becoming a long term commitment to simply return to the starting point.

His trip to Beijing, at any other time, would have put Xi-Jinping on the defensive, especially as the Chinese leader is saber-rattling over Taiwan, and the United States expects to sell weapons to the island nation, which is very close to mainland China, ranging from 1.3 miles to 100 miles, a move the Xi-Jinping opposes.

"Ahead of his trip to Beijing, Trump said that Xi wanted to discuss U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and that he would have the conversation — itself a shift because official U.S. policy has been that it sells weaponry to Taiwan without consulting with Beijing," reported The Washington Post.

Although the trip was hailed a success by all sides, media sources explained that China is in a similar economic situation and hopes that the two nations can bolster a stronger trade deal, just as the United States is seeking the same. Although Xi-Jinping has reinforced his main priority is Taiwan and not trade.

The Strait of Hormuz, which has become a focal point in all international conversations, was also discussed, and as Iran has essentially locked up the world's oil, a critical advancement of the trip would be for Xi-Jinping to facilitate efforts with his Middle East regional partners and help Iran find common ground.

While the trip has been heralded as a success, Trump was privately hoping for the fanfare of his Middle Eastern trip one year ago, with promissory notes and new markets opening for American business. What was concluded was a remaining dedication to stopping the fentanyl trade, and other "soft" deals, including the purchase of American agriculture products and an agreement to purchase Boeing jets.

The United States delegation included Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook, Citibank President Jane Fraser, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and members of Trump's Cabinet including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as well as family members and others.

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Israeli Rape Report

New York Times Opinion Columnist Nicolas Kristof published an in-depth investigative report this week, in which he interviewed 14 sources, victims who alleged they were raped while they were held captive by the Israeli military.

The coverage which the Israeli government has stated they would file a defamation lawsuit does what the New York Times, has rarely done; presents Israel soldiers and others within its military regime as a heinous villains perpetrating the "rapes of men, women, and even children."

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday threatened to sue The New York Times over its publication of an opinion column detailing allegations of sexual abuse against Palestinians by Israeli forces and settlers," MSNOW reported.

Rape is a weapon of war, whether that war is on a battlefield in the Ukraine countryside, or in the prisons of Israel or Palestine or in the hate economy fueled in United States. .   

Even as Kristof writes, "Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape." The truth is that rape is more than a weapon of war in distant lands, from those the United States pledges loyalties and calls an ally.

"There is no evidence that Israeli leaders order rapes. But in recent years they have built a security apparatus where sexual violence has become, as a United Nations report put it last year, one of Israel's "standard operating procedures" and "a major element in the ill treatment of Palestinians." A report out last month, from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a Geneva-based advocacy group often critical of Israel, concludes that Israel employs "systematic sexual violence" that is "widely practiced as part of an organized state policy," The New York Times reported.

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Hate beyond Hate

Hatred of another group of people, another person, and knowing the brutalities of rape will devastate the individual rendering the victim incapacitated is the pleasure the perpetrators derive from inflicting the soul crushing sexual violence on another. Justice is never a possibility in these cases, the victims have no recourse, and even in the most advance societies in the world the rarity of prosecution causes victims to attempt to simply move on.

As these cultures hate each other, with a generational hatred that cannot be described within the scope of the word, to endure the violence is to be cloaked in shame, in a shame so destructive, so breaking that speaking about the crime creates a self-imposed death sentence.

Conflict related sexual violence is not new, victims were raped in the Balkans War, in the Congo, in Ukraine, and in Vietnam.

"In the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia a few years ago, 100,000 women may have been raped. Mass rape is now unfolding in Sudan. Yet our American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security establishment, so this is sexual violence in which the United States is complicit," Kristof reported.

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Protests, Demands

Manhattan's Israeli community has responded to the Kristof report by marching and protesting in mass outside the 41st Street New York Times building, in essence accusing the writer of treasonous crimes by exposing the criminality.

The protests are not in support of rapists, or in support of rape, it is against the Palestinians, accusing the New York Times, who is owned by the Sulzberger Family, of Jew hatred. Essentially the protesters are saying let the Palestinians suffer, they deserve to be raped, they deserve death, they deserve to be murdered, bombed, starved to death, they are lowest form of humanity. The hatred between the two ethnicities is unfathomable and the injury by one to the other has no moral or ethical registry.

As the saber-rattling from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues, The New York Times has stood its ground, and possibly the wartime atrocities inflicted upon these survivors will be a call to action.

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Rape is a Weapon of War

Rape is used in every culture, in every boy's club, in every profession to mute those who are deemed threats or are seen as someone who will excel.

Rape is not uncommon, unfortunately prosecution for rape is, the rarity that a victim of rape will see the inside of a courtroom is so infrequent that most victims refuse to report the crime. Why should they? The archaic notion that reporting rape is the second rape remains a truism, and many judicial officials begin laying out the railroad tracks the minute the victim arrives to report the crime so to somehow railroad them for other unknown crimes, or for the audacity of demanding justice.

Support? No. Most victims will not receive trauma support by judicial authorities; they will not be treated kindly; they will be repeatedly victimized by those who pledge a loyalty to the law, with their fingers crossed, of course. The truth is more insidious, as the effort is to erase the victim as if they never existed; paperwork will disappear, reports lost and the crucial rape test will either be of no use or mysteriously gone.

The only loyalty many detectives and judicial officials have is to themselves, like the majority of society. It's a "me" world, and if there is any money to be made on this crime or that one, then the shut down of the victim benefits those focused on only themselves. 

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If the plan is to force the victim to commit suicide than rape will not be enough, and when victims are drugged, the mind will visualize the lowest possible darkness and the arsenal that perpetrators of means will gather, either during the planning stage or after the victim fails to respond according to the gamified conclusions, to ensure the victim will never escape them and they will be forced to relive the crimes, again, again, again, and again, now, in the future, until tomorrow ceases to exist.

The rapists, if the victim manages to recover even slightly, will contact their employer, and worse, force them to leave the city of their choice, as they attempt to rebuild somewhere else, losing time, money, and all professional relationships built throughout the years.

The perpetrators will circumvent the victim and contact professionals, and with each visit the victim will again be assaulted. Men will press their penis' against the victim, women medical assistant's will become overly aggressive during breast examinations, dentists will intentionally cause irreparable damage. And this is in the United States, not in third world country, or in a traditional conflict or war. This happens every day in the United States. And I know this happens every day, in the United States, because it happened to me.

While the reality of prosecution for rape is overriding reasoning in the United states for not reporting the crimes, there are some countries and some victims who do have the courage to speak out.

France, a nation who is also called an ally, saw to it that Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged by her husband and raped repeatedly for decades by men he invited into their home received justice, and Virginia Giuffre, the young victim of Jeffrey Epstein, who through tenacity brought down a prince and had the courage before her death to tell the world of the violence.

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Coronavirus Total

At the order of the President of the United States, the U.S. no longer recognizes the value of The World Health Organization. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens should receive at least one shot of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, annually.  The death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from each new variants.

For the 7 days ending May 16, 2026, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by the World Health Organization increased by 8,641 to 779,213,618. The total worldwide death toll did not increase over the past seven days increased by 444 to 7,114,800 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated April 26, 2026, from the World Health Organization).

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Trump Considers Lifting Gas Tax

President Trump is said to be entertaining the idea of lifting the federal gasoline tax, which would lower refinery prices from $0.18 to $0.24, meaning the savings the oil companies receive may or may not be reflected in pump prices.  

"Higher prices have contributed to Trump's declining approval ratings ahead of November's midterm elections. The national average hit $4.452 last week, the highest since 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Almost two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy, the highest level in either of his terms, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted in late April," The Washington Post reported.

The action which requires congressional approval, would need to be completed while the president maintains a majority in both houses, as the midterms are looming and even the most dedicated supporters are questioning the president's ability to secure house majorities even with the continual redistrcting.

Court Overturns Murdaugh Conviction

The conviction of Alex Murdaugh, the former South Carolina lawyer who was found guilty of murdering his wife and son, has been overturned

"South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said Friday that his office may pursue the death penalty when it retries Alex Murdaugh in the 2021 murder of his son and wife. "In light of the Supreme Court's decision, we're back to square one on this case, and that means all our legal options are on the table, including the death penalty," Wilson said," NBCnews.com reported.

Murdaugh, whose case became a media sensation spawning both fictionalized and documentaries, will remain in prison as he is serving a 40-year term for various financial crimes.

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For more information on President Donald Trump: Whitehouse.gov.

Sources: Various © Articles covered by Copyright protection.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade.  A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Ms. Walker has completed five award-winning screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," a non-fiction narrative, "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," and "Songs of Freedom: A Collection of Biblical Teachings," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.