September 28: The Fallout of the Trump/Xi Meeting

The DSR Daily

The episode examines a series of controversial executive actions by the Trump administration, focusing on diplomatic shifts with China and u

Key takeaways

• The U.S. and China agreed to reciprocal tariff cuts on $60 billion worth of non-sensitive goods.
• President Trump is withholding $810 million in congressionally allocated funding, targeting climate research and programs for non-citizens.

Main topics

• US-China Trade Relations
• Taiwan Arms Sales

Notable quotes

He's Mr. Reckless. He's President Reckless T. Reckless.

Conclusion

The episode presents a critical view of recent executive maneuvers, su

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:10) Hello and welcome to the DSR Daily. I am David Rothkopf and I am joined by Riley Fessler and it's our job today to walk you through some of the stories that will help you get the week started, understand the context. Usually, of course, we're joined by our friend Minna Stein, but she's, I don't know, where is she, Riley? Some fabulous around the world cruise or something like that? Speaker 1 (0:32) Minna's out at a wedding. Not hers, but just taking part. Speaker 2 (0:36) Well, that's nice. And for all of you out there who think Minna's too young to attend a wedding, she's not. She'll be sitting at the children's table, but that's... Speaker 1 (0:44) I'm kidding. It's Speaker 2 (0:46) just a joke, Minna, listening to this wherever you are. Speaker 1 (0:50) All right, Riley, what Speaker 2 (0:52) do you got? Speaker 1 (0:54) Well, to get things started, following a recent summit between President Trump and President Xi Jinping, the U.S. and China agreed to reciprocal tariff cuts on $60 billion worth of non-sensitive goods spanning products like U.S. agricultural exports and Chinese appliances. The agreement includes a two-month trade truce extension through January 10th to allow further negotiations. alongside new commitments regarding coal imports, AI communication channels, and financial market access. Despite these diplomatic steps, Chinese stock markets dropped sharply as investors reacted to a lack of concrete details and persistent underlying tensions. Speaker 2 (1:36) Did they really? Was that it? Is that why it happened? I mean, look, from the Chinese point of view, and if you look at the Chinese press, you'll see this, the meeting was a big success. Xi was treated as the leader of the world. Trump was supplicant throughout the whole thing. Xi walked away with a few things. He didn't have to give up much, a couple of pandas. And at the end of the day, China looks stronger, the United States looks weaker. On all areas of tensions, the tensions were swept aside, downplayed, or ignored altogether. In fact, it's quite a striking contrast to Trump when he was running in 2015, saying he would never host a state dinner for the Chinese and saying how tough he would be. Turns out, He is just a sweetie pie when it comes to Xi Jinping. And indeed, I would say he gave the most successful, warm, positive visit that any Chinese leader has ever had in the United States by far. And, you know, these things like, oh, we're cutting tariffs and stuff. The tariffs aren't supposed to be there anyway. You know, this is the Kabuki theater. But we want to make it look positive, and the Chinese undoubtedly ask for it. And everything they ask for, they're getting. Speaker 1 (3:06) Well, I've actually got another Speaker 2 (3:08) China story. I'm vexed. You're vexing me. Well, Speaker 1 (3:14) prepare to be more vexed because in addition to what you were saying, during those White House talks, President Trump downplayed pending U.S. arms sales to Taiwan to the Chinese president by framing them as routine global transactions, even asking Xi if China itself would be interested in purchasing U.S. weapons. According to U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, Trump remains strong on supporting Taiwan's defense, though critics note that U.S. arms sales have previously been paused or used as leverage in trade negotiations.