Despite summer being two weeks away, temperatures soared past 110 degrees from southeast California to Arizona on Thursday amid the region’s first heat wave of the year.
On Wednesday, the National Weather Service’s Las Vegas Office reported that Death Valley’s temperature was expected to reach 122 degrees.
Chris Outler, a forecaster for the Las Vegas office, told USA Today there’s a 20% chance the park could hit 130 degrees Monday and Tuesday.
The all-time high in Death Valley, and the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, was 134 degrees on July 10, 1913. The currently highest reliably measured temperature is 130 degrees, recorded in Death Valley in August 2020 and July 2021, according to Scientific American.
President Donald Trump may send the wrong signals to Chinese President Xi Jinping when he travels to China later this week, and that could ignite a new round of global chaos, according to one analyst.
Trump is scheduled to visit China between May 13 and 15, where he will meet with Xi and perform what is known as the "great kowtow," according to political columnist David Rothkopf of The Daily Beast. He noted during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" with host Joanna Coles that it will be the first time in American history that the President of the United States visits China while not being the most powerful leader in the world.
Rothkopf also noted that the dynamic between the two world leaders has some people worried that Trump may inadvertently send the wrong message to Xi, one that escalates the likelihood of another global conflict.
"There is a long history of world leaders making their way to China, the middle kingdom, because it was so important," Rothkopf said. "In this case, we have our wannabe king going to their successor to the emperor, but Xi Jinping is the emperor, and what is going to happen is that same thing that has happened throughout history, which is called "The Great Kowtow," when these leaders come in, and they have to bow to the Emperor of China. Trump is going to do a bunch of that. You just know that he is."
Rothkopf noted that there is plenty of stuff Trump could ask Xi for help with on the trip, such as his disastrous war in Iran. That could give Xi enough leverage to get Trump's help with a move that benefits China.
"In private meetings, this is what really worries people: Is he going to give a wink and a nod and say, 'I don't really care so much about Taiwan, ' or 'Help me out on Iran, and I'll help you out with Taiwan,'" Rothkopf said. "Nobody knows because everybody knows Trump doesn't actually believe in anything that doesn't put money in his pocket."
