Axios

Trump's U.S. Trade Representative nominee Robert Lighthizer testified before the Senate Finance Committee today. If confirmed, he could calm down some choppy water in the Oval Office, where disagreements about U.S. trade have ignited in recent weeks, as we wrote earlier.

Lighthizer may need a waiver to serve since he used to represent an arm of the Brazilian government about thirty years ago, although Republicans, such as Orrin Hatch, say he doesn't need one. Democrats are pushing to link the waiver process to a bill that would fund health care for miners, so it may see some sticky deliberations ahead, but Democrats are generally supportive of Lighthizer.

The UK Parliament gave Prime Minister Theresa May the go-ahead to leave the European Union in a long-awaited approval, per the AP. Both the amendments that were pending approval were rejected, one of which would have allowed EU residents to remain in Britain. The proposal now awaits royal approval, and then May can trigger Article 50 to exit the union.

Compare that to... Scotland, which is calling for a referendum to leave the UK since it doesn't want to leave the EU and says it has been "taken down a path that we do not want to go down without a choice." That could take place between the fall of 2018 and the spring of 2019.

Bloomberg reports that Kushner Companies, owned by the family of Trump advisor Jared Kushner, is set to receive $400 million from Chinese company Anbang Insurance Group in a deal for a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper. The terms of the sale as seen by some as a sweetheart deal for the Kushners, plus it is set to take advantage of a controversial federal program that gives residency permits to foreign investors.

The response: "Kushner Companies has taken significant steps to avoid potential conflicts and will continue to do so," a spokesperson told Bloomberg. The White House said Jared would recuse himself from any matter as needed.

But consider that Anbang's ties to the Chinese government are so murky that Barack Obama refused to stay in New York's Waldorf Astoria after the company purchased it due to espionage concerns.

Dick Clark Productions owner, Eldridge Industries, has terminated its $1 billion November agreement to merge with Dalian Wanda Group after the Chinese corporation "failed to honor its contractual obligations," reports Forbes, citing Eldridge's statement.

The potential termination fee is reportedly close to $25 million, in addition to the $25 million Wanda paid Eldridge in January for extending the close date, bringing the total cost of failed deal to about $50 million for Wanda.

Why this matters: Wanda's purchase of Dick Clark Productions would've helped the Chinese company's efforts to expand its influence in the U.S., which Wanda owner and China's richest man, Wang Jianlin, has been trying to do for the past few years. In 2012, Wanda purchased AMC Entertainment for $2.6 billion.