At China Summit, Trump Has CEOs, But Xi Has Leverage
The Iran war pulls US attention away from the key agenda of trade, tech and Taiwan.
In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s long-awaited meeting between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, the Chinese and US presidents have been working hard to improve their negotiating positions on trade, tech, Taiwan, Iran and other pressing issues on the table. But the two leaders appear to have very different ideas about how to create the leverage they need to get the results they want.
The voluble American president, who recently conceded he’s easily “seduced” by people who are nice to him — “Even if they’re bad people, I couldn’t care less” — has taken to heaping praise on his Chinese counterpart. “I have a great relationship with President Xi,” he said on Monday in the Oval Office. “I respect him a lot.” Trump has said China is being “very nice” in its approach to the Iran war. In a bit of showmanship that highlights both Trump’s own influence and the power of US business relationships with China, he will arrive with an entourage of 16 A-list executives whose companies have extensive business there. Among them: Apple’s Tim Cook, Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon and Tesla’s Elon Musk.