tension

Given the tensions between the two leaders, some diplomats said this might be no bad thing and could avoid the risk of a confrontation like that in the Oval Office in February.

But there's a moment just before the curtain rises, when the stage is still, the lights dim, and there's a silence that crackles with a mixture of tension and anticipation.

The tensions cooled this week, when Trump, a day after a market slide that some analysts tied to the comments, denied to reporters that he ever had any intention of firing Powell.

It's gross, and it's coming at a high cost for the families involved and the larger community, ratcheting up racial tensions and sowing paranoia, all over a case that is already heart-wrenching enough.

But analysts say Washington's inability to secure the supply of rare earths has become one of the Trump administration's chief anxieties, especially as diplomatic tensions with Beijing have deepened.