It’s Tuesday, October 28. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Meet the man accused of setting the Pacific Palisades fire. Why New Jersey still won’t let you pump your own gas. How Milei’s Argentina bounced back—with a little help from a well-connected billionaire.
But first: What to expect when you’re expecting a U.S.-China trade deal.
Believe it when you see it, but President Donald Trump is sounding confident about striking a trade deal with Chinese leader Xi Jinping when they meet in South Korea on Thursday.
“I really feel good,” Trump said on Monday. Stocks hit a record high, even though the “very substantial framework” that emerged last weekend, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put it, did not resolve issues at the very heart of the trade war Trump declared in April, especially righting the wrongs of imbalanced trade.
With so much still up in the air, we turned to people we trust to help answer some of the most important questions about the Trump-Xi meeting. Among them: What should we hope for—or worry about—in any potential deal? How might it shape the American economy and Washington’s struggle for primacy against its most powerful rival? Their answers are well worth reading.
Regardless of the outcome in South Korea, Trump’s tariffs are headed for a showdown next week in the Supreme Court, which will hear a case about whether the tariffs are legal. Free Press columnist Charles Lane writes today that it might be the most consequential test of the court’s legitimacy since Marbury v. Madison, the 1803 ruling that established the justices’ power to declare laws unconstitutional.
Finally, our columnist Matthew Continetti explains what really made President Trump furious about that 60-second ad with the voice of Ronald Reagan, made by Ontario’s government. The reason has much more to do with Reagan’s legacy than Trump’s.
—Rick Brooks
Who is Jonathan Rinderknecht, the suspected arsonist who caused the January fire that killed 12 people and destroyed 7,000 homes in Los Angeles? And why did the police, who suspected Rinderknecht from the start, not arrest him for nearly 10 months? Peter Savodnik spoke to lawyers, family members, and neighbors to find some answers. “There was, about Rinderknecht’s descent, a gradual curdling of his worldview—a progressivism gone awry,” writes Peter.
Those who decry “late capitalism” have built a feudal underclass to serve it. That’s the problem with New York City’s exploitative “gig economy,” argues Sagnik Basu. It’s actually a form of debt peonage. Read his article on the power brokers who built the system, the victims who suffer under it, and why most of your tip money won’t actually make it into the pockets of the migrant who delivered your $72 sushi.
Billionaire hedge fund manager Rob Citrone made $730 million last year, in large part because he bet big on Javier Milei’s Argentina. Citrone also is a friend of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who recently brokered a $20 billion swap that propped up the peso right before Argentina’s most recent elections. If Argentina keeps winning, the U.S. makes money and Citrone gets richer. If it blows up, American taxpayers eat it. The question now: Was this strategic statecraft—or needless meddling, topped with a payday for a well-connected billionaire?
In New Jersey’s tight governor’s race, the Republican and Democrat seem to agree on one thing only: You shouldn’t be trusted with a gas pump. Why is the Garden State the only one in the union with this archaic law? Read Max Raskin on how both parties disguised labor regulations and entrenched interests as cultural heritage—and why they won’t let this ridiculous policy die.
Spiral Episode 3: Motive and Opportunity
Samantha Woll—the beloved president of the last remaining synagogue in downtown Detroit—is murdered outside her home. Police arrest a prime suspect. And then, one panicked 911 call blows the whole case open. Nothing is what it seems in this real-life murder mystery. Don’t miss the latest episode of Spiral, a new podcast from The Free Press.
During routine operations, two U.S. Navy aircraft plummeted into the South China Sea on Sunday. The aircraft were stationed there to participate in freedom-of-navigation exercises, designed to counter China’s growing influence in the tumultuous region. The crew members were rescued, and the crashes are under investigation.
Early voting in New York City’s mayoral race began with a major surge, and people who are at least 55 years old cast a majority of the ballots. A total of 164,190 New Yorkers voted on Saturday and Sunday—roughly five times the turnout from the first weekend of early voting four years ago, when Eric Adams was already the clear Democratic front-runner for mayor.
Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica on Monday, making landfall as a Category 5 storm. The island is expected to experience heavy flooding, with some parts expecting up to 40 inches of rain.
Flights to Los Angeles International Airport were temporarily halted on Sunday due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, “Just yesterday. . . we had 22 staffing triggers. That’s one of the highest that we have seen in the system since the shutdown began. And that’s a sign that the controllers are wearing thin.”
The Trump administration announced that it will not issue federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, or food stamps, starting November 1. The program helps low-income families but is another casualty of the government shutdown. “Bottom line, the well has run dry,” says the United States Department of Agriculture’s notice.
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s campaign manager stepped down, just days into the job. The news comes after Platner, a Democrat trying to unseat incumbent Republican Susan Collins, came under fire for antigay Reddit posts and a tattoo of a Nazi symbol.
Jack DeJohnette, the legendary jazz drummer, died at the age of 83. DeJohnette played with icons Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, and many more over his storied career. “I’m like a colorist on the drums,” DeJohnette said in 2015.
Us non Jews are with you Disa sacks. David Jisha, Beaumont Texas.
Please do an in-depth story about the upcoming food stamp mess. I honestly do not know who's truly to blame on why people will not be getting their food stamps next month. Every article lacks details and just blames Trump.