American media outlets criticize Trump for the pompous welcome to Xi. Criticism also comes from Republicans. "His guest is a cruel, unelected and repressive dictator (...), whose vast military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States."
When Donald Trump first won the US presidential election 10 years ago, he pointed to China as his main competitor and adversary. Today, all this seems to have been forgotten, various American publications note. Xi Jinping was welcomed in Washington with fanfare and military honors, and Trump did not fail to emphasize their "great friendship".
Taiwan, artificial intelligence, Iran and Russia
Trump is not expected to press Xi on key issues such as the development of artificial intelligence (AI), the defense of Taiwan and China's support for Iran, writes Jonathan Lemire for "The Atlantic".
In fact, back in the spring, Trump said that he would use arms supplies to Taiwan as a bargaining chip with China, "Foreign Affairs" recalls. In doing so, he violated a line that the White House has followed for decades - not to negotiate arms supplies to the island nation, which is under constant threat of Chinese invasion, and not to discuss the topic officially with Beijing. The US president subsequently delayed the release of a $14 billion arms package for Taipei.
In Washington, Xi spoke of cooperation with Washington. "China remains open to American companies that want to invest and engage. At the same time, I hope that Chinese companies in the US will be treated fairly," he said. But for years, Beijing has been trying to weaken American influence around the world, pursuing its "Belt and Road" project and advocating for a world order without US dominance. It is debatable how much Trump is willing to oppose this.
In his speech to the UN General Assembly and statements with Xi, the US president declared himself in favor of the uncontrolled development of artificial intelligence, although a number of representatives of the sector have warned that it could become an existential threat. In front of Xi Jinping, he confirmed his position on the "superintelligence", as he calls it.
The trade war with China - a goal that Trump and his team set for themselves 10 years ago - for now seems to be rather frozen. The two sides extended the "temporary truce" until January 2027 to give their economic teams time to negotiate a larger deal. Secretary of State Mark Rubio stressed that it is important to keep communication channels with the main competitor China open. And when it comes to China's support for Iran and Russia, it seems that Washington is ready to turn a blind eye in the name of economic pragmatism. In other words: economic interests once again dominate principles.
American media are expelled, Chinese are welcomed
Xi Jinping's pompous welcome to the White House comes in a surreal week for Washington, writes Peter Baker of the "New York Times". The American president has blocked access to journalists he defines as a threat to national security, while allowing access to Chinese media outlets that answer to the communist dictatorship in China.
"This is the same president who airs government-paid television ads promising to prevent the United States from becoming a socialist or communist state, and in the same week holds a friendly meeting with the mayor of New York - a democratic socialist - and rolls out the red carpet for the communist president of China," Baker also writes. "The same president who is waging economic war against the Canadian prime minister while inviting the Russian president to visit his golf club in Florida," the journalist added.
The invitation to Russia to participate in the next G20 meeting actually comes at a time when Trump has again attacked the world order and "globalism" in his speech to the UN General Assembly. The American president has already demonstrated his attitude towards international institutions after meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska last year, despite the fact that the Russian president has an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court.
"A dictator who is directing his military arsenal against the United States"
The signals being sent by the Trump administration are clearly worrying some in his own party. "I would not recommend that the president give Xi Jinping such a grand welcome," said Republican Roger Wicker. "Our commander in chief must keep in mind at every moment of the conversation that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and repressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose vast military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America," added the longtime Mississippi senator.
Most observers are skeptical that the American president will keep that in mind when meeting with Xi Jinping.