Ciekawa obserwacja: czołówki NYT, WSJ i WaPo zajął zakaz dla prasy, a nie szczyt Trumpa z Xi. Raczej nie przypadkiem. Biały Dom nie chce eksponować spotkania, na którym Trump chce utrzymać status quo, a Xi liczy na zmiany, zwłaszcza w sprawie Tajwanu.
Some thoughts on the Trump-Xi summit:
--“A big day with President Xi of China. Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is," Trump posted. "I want to leave it exactly where it is" accurately describes what Trump wants out of the US-China relationship: he wants stasis to focus on other priorities. Xi wants more changes -- especially around Taiwan.
--There are intense rumors circulating about Xi Jinping's health. Right now, they are just rumors -- indeed, Trump just posted that Xi looks "strong, vibrant, and fit" -- but expect the media and commentators to closely scrutinize Xi for how healthy he seems: if he shows signs of frailty, those will be noticed.
--The press ban effectively moved the summit off the top of the news feed, as the NYT, WSJ, and WaPo all featured that as the top story on their websites. One assumes Trump intentionally did that, to distract attention from a summit that the White House doesn't want to feature prominently.
--On trade deals, AI safety, and other business barriers, I would be stunned if the U.S.-China relationship looks different next week than it did the week before. Yes, on individual company levels there will be benefits and penalties, but from a macro perspective, I'm expecting little change