Trump Threatens to Resume Nuclear Tests, and Nvidia Crosses $5 Trillion

0:02From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, October 30th. Here's what we're covering.

0:13We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don't do testing. We've halted it years, many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also. President Trump says that the U.S. will resume testing nuclear weapons, something the country hasn't done in more than 30 years. It'll be announced. You know, we have test sites. It'll be announced. It's unclear what that will entail, and Trump didn't clarify his remarks when asked. He could intend to just show off the U.S.'s missiles or other nuclear-capable assets, potentially prompted by Russia's announcements in the last few days that it had tested both a nuclear-powered missile and a nuclear-powered torpedo capable of causing a tsunami.

0:58Or Trump could mean detonating a weapon, like the testing that used to be done in the Pacific or underground in Nevada. For years, American weapons engineers have said that's unnecessary because they can model tests on a computer. But recently, as the U.S. has been updating its aging arsenal, there have been some calls to start testing again. If that does happen, it would likely trigger similar actions by other nuclear-armed countries. President Trump's comments about nuclear testing came while he was in the middle of a high-stakes diplomatic tour of Asia, a tour that wrapped today after a face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

1:40No big trade deal was announced, but there were signs of progress in easing the tensions that have rocked both countries' economies since Trump returned to office and took an aggressive stance toward Beijing. After the two spoke, Trump said he's reducing a small slice of his tariffs on the country. He also said China agreed to postpone its restrictions on exporting rare earth minerals, a resource China has a near total lock on. The minerals are crucial for batteries and computer chips that are used in everything from coffee makers to fighter jets. China had previously tightened controls on the materials in a tit-for-tat response to Trump's high tariffs.

2:20This meeting was a really important step in stabilizing what really was a relationship that had looked like it was going to go off the rails again. My colleague David Pearson was in South Korea for the meeting between the world leaders, which only came together after months of escalating trade threats. I think the thing that really changed was the realization on the U.S. side that this leverage that China has over rare earth is a really big deal. by taking away these minerals, these magnets that are the cornerstone for modern life, I think President Trump realized, OK, we need to come up with some sort of solution here.

2:58And so I think we can expect things to stabilize for the near future. But, you know, the reality is this is a very, very fragile relationship. And I don't think that is fundamentally changed. There's still reservoirs of mistrust between these two countries that can't be resolved. So what we have is a Band-Aid.

3:25Meanwhile. Well, it just continues to go higher. It is opening at a$5 trillion market cap. NVIDIA, the tech giant that makes almost all of the chips used for artificial intelligence, smashed a record yesterday, becoming the first publicly traded company to be valued at$5 trillion. $5 trillion is extraordinary, considering it was only four months ago, it hit$4 trillion. Part of what tipped the stock price into record-breaking territory was signs of a potential thaw on trade between China and the U.S. The U.S. currently prohibits NVIDIA from selling its most advanced chips to the country, but a change on that front would be a multi-billion dollar opportunity for the company.

4:08Since Trump returned to office, he's repeatedly used NVIDIA's chips as leverage in foreign policy discussions, striking deals to sell the chips everywhere from the UAE to Japan. At the same time, as NVIDIA's stock continues to boom, its growing role in the American economy has set off alarm bells for many on Wall Street. They're concerned that potentially too much of the U.S. economy is riding on the success of AI. NVIDIA now makes up almost 10 percent of the value of the S &P 500. And according to one economist, almost all of the growth of the U.S.'s GDP in the first half of this year came from spending on data centers.

4:54Now, one last update related to the Trump administration. In D.C., officials are continuing the president's retribution campaign against those involved in prosecuting cases related to January 6th. Here's what happened. This week, two federal prosecutors filed sentencing paperwork for a man who'd been found guilty of showing up near President Obama's house with firearms and ammunition back in 2023. In their memo, they requested a stiff sentence, writing that the man had previously been part of the, quote, mob of rioters on January 6th, something he'd also faced charges for before Trump granted blanket clemency to those accused of being involved.

5:35The memo also noted that the man had apparently found Obama's address from one of Trump's social media posts. Then, yesterday, in an extraordinary move, the Justice Department withdrew the sentencing papers, saying they'd been entered in error. When they were resubmitted hours later, all references to January 6th were gone. So was any mention of Trump's message. And the prosecutors who originally filed them were placed on leave. Since Trump returned to office, many prosecutors who've worked on January 6th-related cases have been demoted or fired by the administration as part of Trump's broader effort to root out people he believes to be disloyal.

6:26Melissa absolutely decimated this portion of the island. Only places that have four concrete walls are still standing, and usually their roofs are gone. In Jamaica, the Times has been speaking with people on the ground after Hurricane Melissa slammed into the island this week. There are some things that are just completely level, where there's nothing there. The Category 5 storm knocked out power and a lot of communications, and that's complicated search and rescue efforts. Officials say they're still looking for victims after finding at least five bodies in St. Elizabeth Parish on the southwestern coast.

7:02Tell me, how are things looking in St. Elizabeth? It's not looking good at all. We were hit very hard. Total devastation. Conditions are really bad. In one town there, Black River, the mayor told The Times his community was, quote, totally destroyed, with the courthouse, the libraries, churches and other buildings gone. The hospital was badly damaged and they are making best use of the conditions that they have there currently. He estimated that the surge of seawater rose to 16 feet. A U.N. official said the devastation in Jamaica was unprecedented and recovery will be a challenge, as many roads are still blocked.

7:46The U.N. also said it's moving to help other countries in Melissa's path, including Cuba and Haiti, where at least 20 people were killed. The storm has weakened to a Category 1 at this point, but is still wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, causing damage in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos overnight. It's expected to approach Bermuda later today.

8:12And finally, something may have changed about your favorite chocolate bar in recent years without you noticing. Chewy chunks of caramel, each covered in real milk chocolate. Candies like Rolo's. Almond Joy's got real milk chocolate. Coconut and munchie nuts, too. Almond Joy. Good peanuts and good chocolate make a very good bar. And Mr. Goodbar used to say milk chocolate on the wrapper. Now the wrappers say chocolate candy. The difference is that milk chocolate is an FDA-regulated term. To use it, you've got to have a certain amount of cocoa butter in the product. But as climate change and droughts have driven up cocoa prices, some candy companies have pivoted, replacing cocoa butter with other fats.

9:00The Hershey Company, which makes Mr. Goodbar's Almond Joys and Rolos, declined to comment, but the Times compared product labels and checked an ingredient database run by the Department of Agriculture to find that the labels have changed in the last few years. An expert in the world of candy science, the woman who developed Flavored Peeps, told the Times there's lots of techniques to subtly cut cocoa costs, like replacing chocolate coating with compound coating, which uses vegetable fats instead. Butterfinger and Baby Ruth have been made that way for years. Another method, add more sugar. One analyst told The Times that candy companies had been cutting back on added sugar for the last decade or so in response to health trends, but they've been quietly putting it back in to replace the ever more expensive cocoa.

9:50There's also been another, more dramatic strategy. Drop the chocolate altogether. You may see that in the Halloween bag of treats this year. The Hershey's Halloween assortment includes light green Kit Kats and cookies and cream fangs, neither of which contains any chocolate at all. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily, Palestinians in Gaza share their experiences of trying to return home after the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday News Quiz.