Axios

The U.S. and China are talking on key economic matters, despite what the Chinese government may say publicly, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday.

Why it matters: The trade war between the world's two largest economies threatens the entire global order, but there's significant disagreement about whether there's any actually progress toward a resolution.

Trump administration officials on Sunday defended the administration's aggressive crackdown on undocumented immigrants after immigration advocacy groups reported U.S. citizen children had been deported.

The big picture: Both Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Trump's border czar Tom Homan in Sunday TV interviews denied the children, who were sent with their mothers from Louisiana to Honduras, had been deported.

The Trump administration has quietly been holding discussions and consulting outside experts as it considers options for potentially restarting dialogue with North Korea, a senior U.S. official and three additional sources familiar with those discussions tell Axios.

Why it matters: North Korea has made alarming nuclear advances since President Trump and Kim Jong-un held two dramatic but ultimately failed summits. While nothing appears imminent, Trump has made clear he'd like to reconnect with Kim — perhaps face-to-face — and his national security team is preparing for that scenario.

Pope Francis' open coffin at the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica drew tens of thousands of mourners, and his funeral Saturday attracted some 250,000 in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican.

The big picture: Early video shows people lining up for hours to view the open coffin of the Catholic leader, who died on Easter Monday. President Trump is among the world leaders who attended the papal funeral.

The U.S. and Iran concluded on Saturday the third round of nuclear talks and agreed to meet again on May 3, said Omani foreign minister Badr Al-Busaidi, who is mediating between the parties.

Why it matters: The talks in Muscat on Saturday were the first time the parties dived into the technical details of a possible nuclear deal, especially the limitations the U.S. wants to impose on Iran's nuclear program and the sanctions Iran wants the U.S. to lift.

President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky met on Saturday in Rome on the sidelines of Pope Francis' funeral and discussed the effort to end the war with Russia.

Why it matters: This was the first meeting between Trump and Zelensky since their explosive Oval Office shouting match in late February, which led to an unprecedented diplomatic crisis.

Sales to China of key commodities, like soybeans and pork, are plunging as the trade war begins to impact the domestic economy.

Why it matters: U.S. farmers export more than $176 billion in agricultural products annually — almost 10% of which is just soybean and pork shipments to China.

Heads of state and royalty were among the 250,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for Pope Francis' funeral Saturday morning.

The big picture: Attendees included the Trumps, the Bidens, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prince William.