Trump Just Gave China's President Exactly What He Wanted

"Going into the much-ballyhooed session between the world's two most powerful men, many Asian and European leaders worried that Trump would relax America's security commitments to Taiwan in exchange for great trade deals that might boost the U.S. economy and his sagging poll ratings back home."

"Apprehensions were heightened in the days leading up to the summit because Trump had put off signing a $14 billion arms sales package to Taiwan, explicitly to avoid angering Xi-and possibly to use the package as leverage for some U.S. advantage."

"In the end, Trump made no concessions on Taiwan-though neither did Xi offer any lavish trade deals, at least as far as we now know. Trump boasted to reporters after the summit that he and Xi had made "fantastic" deals, but the only example he cited-Xi's agreement to buy 200 jet planes from Boeing-was less than impressive."

"The American president brought along a bevy of high-tech executives from not only Boeing but Apple, Nvidia, Blackstone, Citibank, GE Aerospace, Meta, Goldman Sachs, and Visa, as well as his on-again, off-again political comrade, Elon Musk. If any of these corporate chiefs signed a deal with anyone, nobody has revealed it. (Not even the claim of a much-reduced Boeing sale has been confirmed by either Boeing or the Chinese.)"

The U.S.-China summit in Beijing avoided the fears held by many Asian and European leaders that American security commitments to Taiwan would be relaxed for trade benefits. Trump did not secure the concessions he hoped for, while Xi pursued and achieved foundational objectives. Concerns intensified because Trump delayed signing a $14 billion arms sales package to Taiwan to avoid angering Xi and potentially use it as leverage. After the summit, Trump claimed “fantastic” deals, but the cited example—Xi’s agreement to buy 200 Boeing jet planes—fell short of expectations. Trump brought executives from major technology, finance, and aerospace companies, but no confirmed corporate deals were publicly revealed. Xi did not offer lavish trade deals either, at least based on available information.

Read at Slate Magazine