For Trump in China, a tonal shift yields few results
BEIJING — A conciliatory President Trump on Friday touted the success of his state visit to China and claimed the tone had reset with Xi Jinping despite leaving Beijing with few tangible achievements.
The visual spectacle of Trump’s visit was considered a breakthrough for both sides, which have expressed a desire to enter into negotiations after years of deteriorating relations.
But Trump’s deference and reverence for Xi was a striking demonstration of an often authoritarian president adapting to a new power dynamic, understanding the rise of China and its emerging role in the world.
Trump deployed a charm offensive during his stay, confident in the impact his personal touch had on world leaders, and was often seen patting Xi on the back and repeatedly calling him his friend.
But private talks have been plagued by tensions, with negotiations touching on nearly every major issue on Trump’s agenda, from trade relations to the U.S. war in Iran.
“He’s a businessman through and through,” Trump said in an interview on Fox from Beijing.
U.S. officials say China has agreed to buy 200 Boeing jets and spend billions of dollars on American agricultural products; These modest deals fall short of returning China’s investment levels to their pre-2025 highs before Trump launches a trade war aggressively targeting Beijing.
However, Trump called the trade deals “great” and said Xi had promised to buy energy from the United States going forward. Beijing has not approved such a deal.
China’s Foreign Ministry also had no comment on the Trump administration’s commitment to help the United States reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by Iran since it launched a war against the Islamic Republic earlier this year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump participated in a friendship walk at Zhongnanhai Garden Fridah in Beijing.
(Evan Vucci/Pool/Reuters via Associated Press)
“We feel very similarly about Iran, we want this to be over,” Trump said Friday. “We don’t want them to have nuclear weapons. We want the straits to be opened and to stop this, because it’s crazy; they’re a little crazy.”
At the beginning of the summit, Xi warned the Trump administration that longstanding U.S. strategic uncertainty over Taiwan had put the two countries on a collision course, Chinese state media reported. But Marco Rubio, the president’s national security adviser and secretary of state who has left Beijing, said Washington’s stance on Taiwan “has not changed.”
The second day of their meeting was held in Zhongnanhai, the imperial garden and lake district that has served as the secret center of power of the Chinese Communist Party since the 1949 revolution.
The two men walked along quiet paths lined with Chinese roses and ornate arches before having tea and lunch at Xi’s private apartment. The Chinese said Trump was offered rose seeds to bring home for the White House Rose Garden.
“This was an incredible visit,” Trump told reporters at the facility. “A lot of good came out of that.”
This was not the first time Xi hosted a president at the historic facility. In 2014, the Chinese leader, still relatively new to the presidency, hosted President Obama overnight in Zhongnanhai, where the two met privately for dinner.
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping tour Zhongnanhai Garden.
(Evan Vucci / Pool / Getty Images)
It was another smoky day for Trump in China’s capital, but it was cooler than Thursday, when Xi gave Trump a lavish state welcome in Tiananmen Square. There, Xi hosted Trump and his delegation at the Great Hall of the People for a day of meetings and a banquet meal of Peking duck and stir-fried pork buns.
The two men will have opportunities to meet in the future when Trump invites Xi to Washington for a state visit to the White House in September.
“He’s a man I have a lot of respect for,” Trump said.
