Big Take Podcast

From Trade to Taiwan, What the Trump-Xi Summit Did (and Didn’t) Accomplish

On today’s Big Take podcast: President Trump’s summit with Xi Jinping offered good optics, but gave little indication of progress on major sticking points.

US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping visit Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15.Photographer: Evan Vucci/AFP/Getty Images

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By K Oanh Ha, Yang Yang, and Rachael Lewis-Krisky

May 15, 2026 at 9:26 PM UTC

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Tensions between the US and China have deepened since the last time a US president traveled to Beijing for a summit, in 2017. President Trump’s return to China, in a swirl of dinners and festivities, generated positive optics for host and guest alike, but brought less apparent progress on some of the biggest bilateral sticking points, from tariffs and trade to US arms sales to Taiwan.