Trump's Lavish Treatment of Xi Jinping Reflects a Naive, Substance-Free Approach to China Policy
Source: Fred Kaplan. "Trump is being oddly cozy with Xi Jinping.." September 25, 2026. slate.com
The Gist
Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi Jinping and called him a 'great friend,' but got almost nothing concrete in return—just two pandas and a short trade truce extension. The author argues this shows Trump doesn't understand that Xi is playing a calculated game based on national interest, not friendship, and that Trump's eagerness to please him is letting China off the hook on serious issues like Iran, Taiwan, and A.I. safety.
Conclusion
Trump's excessive personal deference toward Xi Jinping at their summit, unmatched by any substantive progress on key issues, reveals that Trump misunderstands the transactional nature of Xi's leadership and is squandering diplomatic leverage in favor of superficial personal flattery.
Premises
- The summit produced no concrete outcomes—no agreements, agendas, working groups, or resolutions on major issues like Taiwan, Iran, nuclear weapons, or A.I.
- Trump gave Xi extraordinary ceremonial honors (red carpet, military flyover, state dinner, White House tour) rarely extended to foreign leaders, while receiving only minor concessions in return (two pandas, a two-month trade truce extension)
- Unlike typical presidential summits, there is no evidence of advance planning or substantive preparation by aides on either side
- Trump publicly calls Xi a 'friend' and 'truly great friend,' while Xi responds only in terms of shared 'interests,' revealing an asymmetry in how each leader views the relationship
- Trump did not criticize or confront Xi over reports that China supplied Iran with weapons and intelligence used against U.S. forces, despite harshly criticizing allied nations for lesser transgressions
- Trump treated a trivial rhetorical concession (Xi agreeing to rename 'A.I.' to 'super intelligence') as a major achievement, illustrating how easily he is satisfied without extracting real concessions
- Neither leader showed genuine interest in cooperating on A.I. safety guardrails, despite Xi's rhetorical opening about keeping A.I. under human control
Assumptions
- Personal warmth and friendship rhetoric from a U.S. president should ideally be reciprocal or matched by substantive diplomatic gains
- Xi Jinping operates purely on calculated national interest rather than personal relationships, unlike how Trump perceives him
- The absence of visible summit preparation and outcomes is a reliable indicator that the meeting was poorly conceived or unproductive
- Trump's past pattern with authoritarian leaders (e.g., Putin) is a valid basis for interpreting his behavior toward Xi
- A president's job is to extract concrete concessions from adversarial powers, and ceremonial goodwill without such concessions represents a failure or vulnerability