Strong Leadership: Trump Spent Xi’s Entire Taiwan Warning With His Eyes Closed To Better Visualize The Deal
Officials say the president was simply receiving Xi's Taiwan warning in a very interior way.
BEIJING — High-level diplomacy requires focus, stamina, and the courage to sit extremely still while a translator describes one of the most sensitive flashpoints in the world.
According to officials present for Thursday’s talks at the Great Hall of the People, President Donald Trump adopted what aides later described as “an advanced listening posture” during Xi Jinping’s warning that Taiwan remained the most important issue in China-U.S. relations.
Wow. Locked in.
Witnesses said Trump lowered his chin, folded his hands, and appeared to enter a state of total geopolitical concentration for roughly seven minutes as Xi warned that mishandling Taiwan could lead to clashes between the world’s two largest powers. The president then reopened his eyes immediately after a translator said China may purchase 200 Boeing jets, reportedly asking, “Are we talking real planes or the little ones?”
“The president was receiving the room in a very interior way,” said White House deputy communications director Brenda Sallis, speaking slowly and with the confidence of someone whose job had become impossible at 3:14 p.m. local time. “He was actively visualizing American strength, American exports, and, frankly, the number 200, which is a very strong number.”
Damn. That’s diplomacy.
The moment came during a packed Beijing itinerary that also included a welcome ceremony, a state banquet, and Trump asking several American business leaders traveling with him to introduce themselves to Xi, an exercise one diplomat described as “Shark Tank, but everyone already has $80 billion and the prize is market access.”
Witnesses said Trump appeared especially engaged during the corporate portion of the visit, nodding approvingly as executives from Apple, Tesla, Nvidia, Boeing, Wall Street, and other industries explained who they were and what they wanted from China. He later praised the group as “the best representatives of American businesses,” before briefly referring to one defense contractor as “the missile Costco guy.”
One senior administration official said the president was especially clear-eyed about the aircraft discussion. “He loves peace,” the official said. “But he really loves when peace has an order form.”
One thing is for certain: Taiwan remains a delicate flashpoint in U.S.-China relations. But for about seven beautiful minutes in Beijing, America had a president brave enough to face that complexity with his eyes fully, powerfully, patriotically closed.