President Donald Trump is heading to Beijing in an unfamiliar position — that of a supplicant seeking favors. The White House has indicated that his meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday will center on trade, fentanyl, and the war in Iran — issues on which the Trump administration has so far failed to secure meaningful deals or concessions from Beijing. As a result, Trump will struggle to produce the major breakthroughs he has been promising for weeks. Trump described the meeting as a „Monumental Event“ back in March and posted on Truth Social last month that he anticipates nothing short of a „big fat hug“ from Xi. Beijing has yet to release any details about the summit’s agenda. Trump and Xi will talk about „key matters regarding China-U. „China’s relations and global peace and development,“ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday. Trump has offered various responses regarding the topics that will be discussed. On Monday, he said that both Iran and energy were on the list, but on Tuesday, he backtracked on those remarks before departing the White House: „We have a lot of things to discuss.“ To be honest, I wouldn’t call Iran one of them, because we have it very much under control. Instead, he indicated that trade would be the primary focus. „It’s the shrinking summit,“ remarked Zack Cooper, a former aide to the deputy national security adviser during the George W. Bush administration, who regularly engages with both U.S. administration and Chinese officials.
Artificial Intelligence – POLITICO