• Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleges in an explosive new memoir that former President Donald Trump told him to “shut the hell up for a while” about China hiding early COVID-19 pandemic information — after Chinese President Xi Jinping said it was a sore topic.
• Pompeo writes that Xi was furious about the top US diplomat’s criticism of Beijing’s non-transparency at a March 25, 2020, State Department press conference and asked Trump during a March 26 call to silence him.
• The Chinese leader told Trump that Pompeo was putting at risk the “phase one” trade deal that the two leaders had brokered that January, according to Semafor, which was given a copy of Pompeo’s “Never Give An Inch” ahead of its Jan. 24 release.

Tagged: Capitol Hill