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At the end of the meeting, the nominal author of the ghostwritten The Art of the Deal had no major deals to announce. Yes, China "promised" to buy some more Boeing airplanes and U.S. soybeans, but nothing that would slow China's advance in the South China Sea or anywhere else. Not even a trade deal of "AI chips for rare earths." Trump seemed to think he was the U.S. Trade Representative and his job was making business deals. Actually, that is Jamieson Greer's job.
Trump talked about a "G-2" - the two great nations, America and China, leaving out the rest of the G-7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K.). Xi, a much better diplomat than Trump, did not use the term because he is hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month and doesn't want to rub it in Putin's face that Russia's GDP puts it between Italy and Brazil, barely in the top ten worldwide.
Here are the "G-2" leaders at the little negotiating table. Quick quiz: Which one looks confident and in charge and which one looks dejected and hopeless (answer below)?
What Xi did talk about is the Thucydides Trap, in which a rising power threatens an established power, which leads to war.
Trump didn't appear to understand that Xi knows Western history better than he does.
After Trump arrived home, he headed directly to a safe space: Fox. There he said he and Xi "settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn't have been able to solve." However, he didn't mention any solutions or even points of agreement. Among topics where there weren't any agreements are Iran, Taiwan, trade, rare earths and human rights. In short, Trump is a classic bully. He is tough when confronting much weaker opponents, like Venezuela and Cuba (and also Bill Cassidy), but when faced with an opponent roughly equal in power, like China, he cowers under the table like a frightened child. The message to the world should be that if you stand up to Trump, you get a free TACO.
Answer to the quiz above. The one on the left is dejected. The one on the right is confident. He knows he is the boss. (V)
