What did the Trump-Xi summit actually achieve? | Planet America

Welcome to Planet America Situation Room.

I'm John Barron.

I'm Chatham Jadot.And again this week, we've got a situation.

President Trump back home after that whirlwind summit here in Beijing.

I don't know if you can overstate the success of this trip.

The future of Taiwan is the most important issue.What did the president's meeting with Xi Jinping accomplish?

Good question.Our guest, the former U .S.ambassador to China, Nick Burns, says Trump bowed down way too far to China.And there's more worrying economic signs for Trump and voters are losing their patience.But first...

Ever since Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit China in 1972, ending as it did more than two decades of frosty relations with the communist regime, U .S.state visits to Beijing have taken on enormous symbolic and practical value.In 1972, China was supporting North Vietnam in their war against the United States and its allies.Fifty four years on and the U .S.

and China are again on different sides of the conflict with Iran, certainly raising the stakes, although Perhaps not by as much as Trump suggested.

There are those who say this is maybe the biggest summit ever.They can never remember anything like it.I can say in the United States it's...People aren't talking about anything else.

Well, not exactly true, although Fox News went big with pretty much wall to wall coverage.

So a warm welcome for President Trump in China ahead of tonight's summit with President Xi Jinping.The president has said he's looking forward to this, that they have a lot to talk about.

And that much was true, although Trump seemed to want to focus on business, bringing an entourage of CEOs, including frenemy Elon Musk and Tim Apple.In fact, he's been getting Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple's name wrong for years now.

We appreciate it very much, Tim Apple.

Don't know what that's about.But speaking of renaming, Beijing had a slightly awkward diplomatic situation on its hands because Secretary of State Marco Rubio wasn't supposed to be allowed into China.As a senator, he was very critical of the communist regime andhe was formally banned from China in 2020.But instead of repealing those sanctions, Chinese state media and official records just began using a different transliterated character for Rubio's name.And according to the Washington Post, the Chinese may also have been having the last laugh this week.

The old character for the first part of Rubio's name was neutral, typically used for surnames.But the new character is It also means rash, rude and clumsy.Meanwhile, the Chinese rolled out the red carpet and hundreds of flag -waving, chanting children.They were reportedly saying, welcome, welcome, enthusiastically welcome.Nice.Trump was clearly impressed and full of praise for his Chinese counterpart.

Such respect for China, the job you've done.You're a great leader.I say it to everybody.You're a great leader.Sometimes people don't like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it's true.I only say the truth.

You heard it here first.Meanwhile, news photographers captured images of what looked like a rather subservient Donald Trump.Time magazine even describing Trump as appearing, quote, awkward and cowed.There were other signs as well of a role reversal between the often belligerent Trump and President Xi.The American was on his best behaviour while the Chinese leader was stating some home truths which could have even been taken as a warning if not a threat.

When we cooperate, both sides benefit.When we confront each other, both sides suffer.We should be partners rather than adversaries.

The major potential flashpoint remains Taiwan, the democratic island which China sees as its own, while the US retains a policy of status quo and strategic ambiguity about whether it would defend Taiwan if Beijing were to invade.Reportedly behind closed doors though, the Chinese president was sounding rather less than ambiguous.

The Taiwan question is the most important issueAnd China now wants to block a major U .

S.arms package for Taiwan worth up to $14 billion that includes advanced interceptor missiles.And it is still awaiting Trump's final approval.It's already been approved by Congress and US law requires America to arm Taiwan.But Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he hasn't decided whether that sale will now proceed.

What about the arms sales to Taiwan?I'll make a determination over the next early start period.You're not necessarily going to go ahead.It was your proposal.I'll make a determination.I'm going to see.

I have to speak to the person that right now is, you know who he is, that's running Taiwan.

Well as for speaking to the person who's right now running Taiwan, China experts say that direct talks between Trump and Taiwan's President Lai are in fact unlikely due to its potential to upset US -China ties.Still, doubts over the weapons sale led to renewed questions about Trump's commitment to defend Taiwan.

defend Taiwan if it came to it?I don't want to say that.I'm not going to say that.There's only one person that knows that.You know who it is?Me. I'm the only person.

That question was asked to me today by President Xi.I said I don't talk about that.He asked you if you would send Trumps if you would do that.He asked me if I'd defend them.

I said I don't talk about that.Apart from, it must be said, Joe Biden, who said on at least four separate occasions that the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by China.And that attack may not be so bad.far off, because Biden's CIA director, Bill Burns, assessed four years ago that Xi has ordered the Chinese military to be ready to conduct a successful invasion of Taiwan by 2027.And the very fact that Xi asked Trump directly what he would do if he did invade may prove significant, Chas.

Absolutely.We should also mention Iran, John, because there was some speculation that Trump could ask for China's assistance to pressure Iran into backing down in the war.It seems that Xi was happy to make some token concessions, like saying that he wasn't going to send any weapons to Iran and agreeing that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.But when it came to asking for more active involvement from China, Trump seemed, well, uninterested.

of their oil from that location.So what has happened and one thing I think that we're going to make a deal on is they've agreed they want to buy oil from the United States.

So I'm taking that as a no, John.

Sounds like it.For more on all this, I spoke to one of America's most respected diplomats, Nicholas Burns, who served six presidents from both parties, including as Joe Biden's most recent ambassador to China until 2024.Nick Burns was also U .S.ambassador to NATO under President George W. Bush.AMBASSADOR BURNS, WELCOME BACK TO PLANET AMERICA.

IN YOUR VIEW, HOW SIGNIFICANT WAS IT FOR Xi Jinping TO BE WARNING PRESIDENT TRUMP THAT TAIWAN COULD LEAD TO CLASHES OR CONFLICT?China and the United States.

Well, it was really a shot fired across the U .S.bow, President Trump's bow on the very first morning of the summit.It didn't it really wasn't surprising that Chinese, including President Xi, have made such threats before, but it was clearly meant to intimidate the United States and President Trump personally.And I think it's very important that we not be intimidated by it, because we've had a half century long Taiwan policy that every president from Richard Nixon now to Donald Trump has stood by, and I worry that President Trump may be weakening a bit.I hope he isn't.

I hope he'll make the right decisions here.But he seemed to equivocate when he was leaving Beijing on Friday.

Can you explain to us, Ambassador, the significance of this $14 billion US arms sale to Taiwan, and the doubts that President Trump seems to have cast over that, and his suggestion as well that he might talk to the Taiwanese president about it?

Well, there are a lot of signals sent today by President, yesterday, excuse me, by President Trump in his press conference on Air Force One.But here's the American law and American policy.Since 1979, it is the law in the United States, the Taiwan Relations Act, that we must provide or sell defensive military technology for the defense of Taiwan.Every president has done so.It is also true that since President Reagan's time, we have made commitments to the Taiwanese that we will not negotiate these arms sales with the Chinese leadership in Beijing.And President Trump went ahead and did that with President Xi Jinping when they met on Thursday and Friday.

And so President Trump seems to have kind of crossed a lot of red lines here.He did equivocate on whether or not he would go forward with the arms sales.You heard what he said.He said he wants, obviously, peace between China and Taiwan, wanted to cool things down.He noted that President Xi had complained about this, these arms sales to him, and he said he would make a decision.I sure hope he decides to go forward, because if he doesn't go forward, he'll be the first American president in a half a century who will not fulfill these obligations we have, political and ethical, to try to help the Taiwanese to defend themselves.

Think of the message, John, to the Taiwanese people, the 25 million people who live in a free democracy.Think of the message to Japan and the Philippines.very close approximate geographically to Taiwan itself or to South Korea or even, I would say, to Australia.If we're willing to give up our defense commitments to Taiwan, the thought might dawn in all of those capitals that I mentioned, including your own, how good is the commitment of the United States?So I think this is very important.It would be a major strategic mistake should President Trump step back.

I have to believe that cooler heads in the Trump administration will persuade him he must go forward with this arms deal for Taiwan.

Ambassador Burns, the language of diplomacy is well established, it is nuanced, it is textured, it is highly informed.Words matter and the choice of words are often poured over in intricate detail.Donald Trump, though, sort of upsets that paradigm.How difficult is it to pass diplomatically what Trump is saying in these kinds of meetings?

Well, you know, he speaks off the cuff.He doesn't school himself in all the details or the history of these policies, in this case, the 50 -year long history.I thought when President Trump and the forced mourning went on and on about how great a President Xi Jinping was and how much he, President Trump, admired President Xi, you know, it's understandable.that President Trump would want to be polite and civil.Of course, anyone should in that situation.But in a Chinese context, it struck me that President Trump might have looked more like a supplicant.

Unfortunately, I don't think he wanted to look like that.But I think it came off that way.The excessive personal praise for the Chinese leader and from an American context, you know, to say that Xi Jinping is a great president.Well, He's the president, Xi Jinping, who's launched the most aggressive cyber attacks against the United States in our history.He's the president, Xi Jinping, who is building up the People's Liberation Army to exceed the power of the United States military in the Indo -Pacific.And he's a major human rights violator.

And so he's only great in his power, but he's certainly not great in the moral or ethical sense for a democratic country.And I thought that was a great mistake for the president to be So obsequious.

That obsequiousness that you described Trump as showing to President Xi, being overly deferential towards him.How do you account for that?Was that inexperience?Was it because, in fact, Trump's focus really was on the business language of flattery rather than on diplomacy?He just wanted to sell a bunch of Boeing jets and other things to China.

I learned in China as ambassador, flattery will get you nowhere with the Communist Party of China.These are hardheaded realists, and they're highly intelligent, highly practiced in the arts of diplomacy, and you didn't see President Xi returned the favor.He didn't praise President Trump at all.And President Xi felt very comfortable in using that extremely aggressive language on Taiwan.You know, my advice would be that we should feel as comfortable in a private diplomatic setting as being as critical in a civil way, but as critical right back.You've got to show steel has to be met with steel in a

like the one we have, the complicated relationship with with the Chinese government.Nick Burns, thanks for being with us on Planet America.

It's a great pleasure, John.It's good to see you.And thanks for having me on your show.Now, you know, this is the kind of comment that is just going to be cut into hundreds of attack ads in the run up to November's midterm elections.I don't think about.American's financial situation.

I don't think about anybody.That didn't sound good, but to be fair to President Trump, the context of that comment does matter.

To what extent are American financial situations motivating you to make a deal?

Not even a little bit.The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon.I don't think about American's financial situation.I don't think about anybody.I think about one thing.You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.

That's all.

OK, so he was denying the economic impact of the war with Iran is driving his approach to the peace process.He says his focus is still on their nuclear program, not the economy.Now, whether he's being honest about that or not, Trump really should be worried about how the American people are feeling about their finances right now.It was once one of his strongest issues.Not any more.Trump's approval rating on the US economy has fallen to its lowest level yet.

35 .6%.60 % of Americans now disapprove of the way Trump is handling the economy.

And you can tell Trump's people know he's really screwed this up because even when the reporter put to JD Vance Despite the fair context of Trump's remarks, Vance still pretended that Trump had been taken out of context.

Well, I don't...I think the president said that.I think that's a misrepresentation of what the president said.But look, I agree with the president that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.

No, that's exactly what Trump said.Twice, actually.He backed over it.And as you said, John, economic polling suggests that was a mistake.

Yeah, potentially a very big one.When it comes to inflation in particular, Trump is faring even more poorly than on the broader economy.Just 25 % approval, according to a Reuters Ipsos poll last week, with a staggering 71 % of Americans disapproving of Trump's handling of inflation.Three other polls this month have come with a similar result.And Chas, it looks as though things are only likely to get worse for the President from here.

Oh yeah, big time.April's inflation figures came out this week, John, and the Consumer Price Index rose 3 .8 % in the last 12 months.That's a rise from a 2 .4 % annual increase only a few months ago before the war began.And then there was a 3 .3 % annual increase back in March.So you can see price inflation is rapidly kicking in during this war.But let's look at that on a graph.

The spike during this war still pales in comparison to the 18 -month Biden spike around the post -COVID period in 2022.That's in the middle of the graph there.But still, you can see at the end of the graph, inflation is becoming a real problem again.And if we break those figures down further, It's not hard to see why this is happening.While all prices went up 0 .6 % during the month of April, energy prices went up 3 .8 % just during April.That's after going up 10 % just during March.

Energy prices have gone up 18 % over the last 12 months is when you add them all up.Gasoline's gone up 28 % over the last 12 months and fuel oil has gone up 54 % over the last 12 months.months.So that's obviously a massive issue.But even grocery prices rose 0 .7 % in April alone, which is still a lot for one month.In fact, that's the largest grocery price hike since 2022.

As for core inflation, which is inflation for products other than fuel and food, that was 2 .8 % over the last 12 months, which on one hand is still a fair bit higher than the Federal Reserve's 2 % inflation target.But on the other hand, that core inflation number, that's a lot lower than the energy inflation number.So that suggests if the war ended tomorrow and energy prices could settle down, then inflation overall might still potentially calm down quite quickly.Maybe.Except there might already be further price increases set to happen over the next few months.You see, there's a stat called the producer price index.

That's the inflation that wholesalers are experiencing.And the producer price index for the last month alone was 1 .4%.That's 1 .4 % more price increases ready to be passed on to consumers.It's the largest monthly increase since the peak of inflation back in 2022.That's double the producer inflation last month.And it's almost three times the inflation that Dow Jones projected for this month.

So that is bad news.Particularly bad news is the producer price increases for services.That was 1 .2 % for the month.Once again, the highest since March, 2022.And to be clear, those extra costs for people producing services of 1 .2%, that was not about petrol.or even food, that's tariffs, that's wages, that's a lot of things that are not going to be going away even if the war ends.

So that's the clear assignment.yet that inflation might be taking hold for good.And here's the real killer.Here's the rate of inflation over the last few years and here's the wages growth rate.You can see usually wages grow faster than prices.That's what it's been recently.

But now prices are rising faster than wages in the last month.Workers are going broke.backwards.And that's exactly the kind of situation that drives the Michigan Uni index of consumer sentiment through the floor.Look at this.Consumer sentiment.

is even lower at the moment than it was in 2022.That's not good.In fact, consumer sentiment is actually the lowest it's been in the history of the Consumer Sentiment Index.Even lower than it was under Jimmy Carter in the late 70s.We have never seen people hating the economy more.Just ask Harry Enten from CNN, he'll tell you all about it.

They have all occurred in the last month, a CNN poll, one of them 48 points below water on the net approval rating.So what we're talking about here is the worst numbers ever in multiple polls now belong to the President of the United States, Donald Trump.

The details in some of CNN's polling are quite interesting as well.For one thing, this is how Trump defends himself against complaints about inflation.

Alex says, I voted for you three times.He just, he can't handle the costs, and he's not for this foreign conflict.I hate it.He's not for the foreign conflict, but Roy in Pennsylvania, he's a retired farmer.He can't handle the fuel going up, and he's just, he says he's disappointed.

He's gonna come down very fast.Look, I'm disappointed.I'm just telling you what they said.When you say to him, Roy, Alex,we got a problem.We just hit the highest stock market price ever, by the way, then, when I went in.

Now, again, with the war, it's higher than it was when I went in.Think of that.

No, think about this.In CNN's latest poll, only 25 % of people said the recent performance of the stock market has had a positive effect on their financial situation.That's not going to cut it.Meanwhile, 77 % of people say that Trump's policies have increased the cost of living in their community, 26 % of Americans approve of Trump's performance on inflation, and only 21 % approve of his performance on gas prices.However, interestingly, not everyone, even in that poll, is a Democratic fan.Over 30 % of Americans say they trust neither party on the economy.

And this was especially interesting, 8 % more people say there's a bigger problem with the government helping too many people who don't deserve it, rather than those saying the bigger problem is failing.to help enough people.And John, the reason I find that so interesting is because even as we speak, J .D.Vance has launched a huge campaign to crack down on supposed Medicaid fraud.

For the first time in a very long time, you've got an administration in Washington, D .C.that is fighting for you, fighting to protect your tax dollars, and fighting to put the fraudsters in prison, which is where they belong.

That might be the administration's big push to save the midterms there, John.And maybe even J .D.Vance's sneak preview pitch for the next presidential election.

Finally this week, some potentially good news for the Trump supporters who paid a $100 deposit for a Trump mobile phone.These were the ones announced by Don Jr. and Eric Trump last June as a new Androiddevice made in the USA that would retail for just a smidge under $500 with monthly fees of $47 .45.Trump being the 47th and 45th president, of course.An estimated 590 ,000 pre -orders of $100 were placed by customers to the tune of $59 million in deposits.And since then, A delivery date of last November came and went, a promise to have the phones shipped in the first quarter of this year also slipped quietly by, and people claiming to be buyers of these phones were getting pretty mad.

Good question.Last month there were some signs that these phones may in fact never materialise.Trump Mobile's terms and conditions were updated to make it clear that that $100 payment is not a purchase and does not guarantee that a device will be produced or made available for purchase.But then, after a series of negative news reports last week, something did happen.Not a phone, but a social media post promising they'd start shipping this week.And with that came a slick promotional video.

Built with premium materials and a sleek modern design.The T1 delivers the speed and responsiveness you expect from a flagship smartphone without the flagship price.

It's certainly very gold, but is it made in America as promised?Trump Mobile now says its final assembly was in Miami with bulk production in an unspecified favoured nation.In fact, one expert says this is just a rebadged Wingtech Revell 7 Pro 5G made in China.And you can buy one of those for a little over $115 compared to the Trump mobile price of $500.So that gold paint...Trump name costs about $385.

We'll see how many Trump mobile customers actually get offered a phone and whether they still want one or try and get their money back somehow.

One more thing, John.That slick video you mentioned has actually sparked a fair amount of scrutiny for appearing to rely very heavily on AI.So does this phone even exist in real life?We'll find out soon.But while we're providing grift updates for the folks at home, I've got a few of my own.Did you hear about how the Syrian billionaires, the Kayak Brothers, were trying to get America's sanctions against Syria permanently lifted?

So they've been negotiating a lucrative partnership with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, where they help those two finance a multi -billion dollar resort in Albania.You probably haven't heard about that, even though that would be a massive corruption scandal in any other administration.Because the definition of what a corruption scandal is has changed somewhat.Like, do you remember how upset people were in 2019 about Trump potentially hosting a G7 summit at his golf club in Doral?President backed down only when there was talk of a House resolution disapproving of his self -dealing, possibly even an article of impeachment over it.But later this year, America is going to host the G20 Summit.

in Trump's Doral Golf Club.No one seems to care at all this time round.There's been almost no backlash because the corruption and grift is so extreme now that it's reset all our expectations.Take this week's example.Back in January, Trump and his sons and business sued the Internal RevenueService for at least $10 billion over the leak of their tax returns in 2020.

Now there are all kinds of problems with this lawsuit.For example, the guy who leaked the returns didn't work for the IRS.He was a contractor so you can't sue the IRS.That's why when another victim sued, his lawsuit was settled without paying any damages at all.And Trump's lawsuit?Way weaker than that guy's.

Firstly, Trump claimed that exposing his tax returns caused him public embarrassment, unfairly tarnished his business reputation, portrayed him in a false light and negatively affected his public standing.When every president other than him has voluntarily disclosed their tax returns.And Trump often promised to do exactly that.And besides, it can't have hurt his reputation too much, could it?He still was re -elected president.And his net worth now?

is about three times what it was worth back then when the tax returns were leaked.So I don't see where the $10 billion in damages comes from.But it gets worse.The statute of limitations says that Trump's lawsuit had to be filed within two years of him discovering the infringement.And he says he only found out about the unauthorised disclosure in January 2024 when the leaker was sentenced to prison time.So therefore he could still file the lawsuit two years later in January 2026.

But the unauthorized disclosure was published in the New York Times in 2020.It was a huge story.That's why he's suing.He posted about the story relentlessly on social media at the time in 2020.So he clearly knew about the infringement six years before he filed the lawsuit.It should be dismissed.

And then there's the small matter that the personultimately responsible for the IRS back in 2020, when the leak happened, was him.Trump was president at the time, so he's now suing his own IRS for his own negligence back in 2020.And now, since he's their boss, he can order them to pay him off.Even though his lawsuit makes no legal sense at all.The judge has asked the parties to submit briefs by Wednesday explaining why there isn't a massive conflict of interest here.

Yes there is.So she's clearly preparing to disappear.dismissed a lawsuit.And that's why we all expect Trump to order a settlement in the next day or two, John, before she has a chance to spoil his fun.Now that there!That's grift.

Yeah, nice work if you can get it.This week, Trump's transportation secretary, who is also a former reality TV star like him, Sean Duffy, unveiled a new TV series to mark America's impending 250th birthday.

So I want to lean into America's 250th birthday.Rachel and I actually met on a road trip on a reality TV show.We're going to drop episodes in June.And our motto is to love America is to see America.

And how much easier is it to love America when your family runs Roadtrip is funded by some of the world's biggest oil and transportation companies, including companies you're supposed to be regulating.Now look, we've seen the original trailer for Duffy's new Roadtrip reality TV series and it's wonderful, but I thought maybe it was time it got the full Hollywood treatment.

With sky -high gas prices pushing family budgets to breaking point, America's thinking one thing.

Roadtrip!

Welcome to Montana.The Rocky Mountains.The Grand Canyon.Route 66.It's the Great American Adventure.I would love to go to a dude ranch.

In the Grand Canyon.sponsors car.Someone has to pay for this operation.Because without corporate funding, none of you would be here.Starring Donald Trump.It's a little trip all over.

Doug Burgum.They were willing to give their life.And Mitch McConnell.America's going down the tubes.And so is Sean Duffy.It's National Lampoon's ethically questionable corporate sponsored vacation.