US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have "candid" and "positive" talks in Florida https://t.co/jOZR931xkf pic.twitter.com/U8VmpBTQ5a
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) April 9, 2017
You can just tell from their photos together these two men had excellent chemistry. pic.twitter.com/7wNeCbWCjl
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) April 9, 2017
(If by ‘chemistry’ you mean ‘they’re both thinking about the really strong hand sanitizer’)
The Washington Post:
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The United States and China wrapped up a two-day presidential summit here by announcing a 100-day plan to improve strained trade ties and boost cooperation between the rival nations…
Trump aides who participated in the talks described a productive first meeting between the leaders, saying they exhibited “positive” chemistry. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the two sides agreed to speed up trade talks to help close a lopsided imbalance in China’s favor, a common campaign-trail complaint of Trump’s.
Trump advisers said the goal, at least from the U.S. side, was to increase American exports to China. But they offered no details about how they planned to achieve that.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said there was “acknowledgment” from the Chinese side “that we do need to get to a more balanced trade environment.”
But the surprise U.S. military response to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s apparent chemical weapons attack on civilians threw a wild card into the summit…
Serious readers only: “Trump had his first big foreign policy challenge. So what did we learn?”
Trump ordered Syrian air strike before dinner with Xi https://t.co/kBPRRnzTV8 pic.twitter.com/GYLs1G7Hmu
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 8, 2017
"Guess what I just did. Come on, guess. It's tremendous. Brian Williams will go insane for this." https://t.co/6NNtfb5HVc
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 8, 2017
Evan Osnos, in the New Yorker:
… Trump always promised to behave this way—“We’re so predictable. We’re like bad checker players,” he said during the campaign—but, for China, handling the new President just got more complicated.
There are many reasons for China to be unhappy. In terms of politics, the attack upstaged a carefully choreographed political pageant, intended for a Chinese audience, portraying Xi as the most important item on the American agenda this week. In terms of strategy, China gets hives whenever the U.S. unilaterally attacks another country—Beijing half-wonders if someday that country will be China—and, in this case, China has repeatedly rejected United Nations Security Council resolutions against Syria’s leader, Bashar al-Assad. Trump’s snap decision to attack will force Chinese officials to reappraise a figure whom they had come to see as clownish and manageable.
In the short term, the big question is whether Trump’s timing will encourage the Chinese to be more aggressive in pressuring North Korea to curb its nuclear program… In the medium and long term, China now has a larger concern: if the emerging Trump doctrine permits him to attack at will—even between the appetizer and dessert—putting some pressure on North Korea might be Beijing’s more desirable option. But it must now also prepare for four years of an American President whose strategy and doctrine can change from one week to the next. In the field of national security, unpredictability is usually the favored tactic of small powers, not large ones. “A superpower should want to convey reasonableness but implacability when your interests are crossed,” a Bush-era White House official told me. “Trump constantly emphasizes unpredictability. Well, unpredictability makes sense if you’re Kim Jong-un, because you’re so weak.”…
First Ladies Melania Trump & Peng Liyuan visit a middle school, are “treated” to a musical performance. pic.twitter.com/s27EtiHGQn
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) April 8, 2017
@IvankaTrump @realDonaldTrump Parading kids for the cameras can't cover up the fact Kushner is chasing billions from Chinese investors https://t.co/xRqx3m79IN
— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) April 8, 2017
Left: Obama/Xi 2015 meeting dinner menu
Right: Tonight's Trump/Xi meeting menu (latter ht @w7voa) pic.twitter.com/LYdK6jYqBk
— Hayes Brown (@HayesBrown) April 6, 2017
Steeplejack
Okay, that’s funny.
Mnemosyne
That look on Xi’s face in the top picture says, You can’t fool me with that stupid handshake trick of yours, asshole.
And Ms. Peng’s wince in the music room is pretty priceless, too.
Steeplejack
@Mnemosyne:
Melania’s not exactly selling it either.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
Meh. That’s the usual expression from the Melania-bot when her battery pack is being recharged.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: Melania looks bored with it all.
@Mnemosyne: True.
Fred Wertham, Jr.
To be fair, the First Ladies aren’t covering their ears and running from the room.
patrick II
I might have missed it, but has Trump ever had a meeting with a foreign leader that went well? Unless we confuse boorishness with charm, I don’t think so.
Villago Delenda Est
Short fingered vulgarian will never change. Crass to the max.
terben
Moving the Carl Vinson Strike Group closer to the Korea peninsula is a bold move. Especially when you have an unpredictable, insane leader with nuclear weapons …and the North Koreans!
Darkrose
@Mnemosyne: You know Michelle would have looked genuinely delighted with the kids, and she’d have at least tried to project warmth toward Madam Peng instead of looking like she’d rather be anywhere else. When I think of the racist fuckwit who said that Melania would “bring class back to the White House” and called Michelle Obama an ape, I want to throw things.
Kay
This has literally been “the goal” of every President in my lifetime. It is the most boring, boilerplate thing a President can say about trade. It means absolutely nothing.
For his next bold move, Trump will announce that education is important.
If you thought the complete failure on healthcare was bad, wait until you see trade. He couldn’t even handle “The Freedom Caucus”.
“You have your imports, and you have your exports, if you increase the exports then there’s a BALANCE…”
It’s like Trade 101 for the last 50 years.
Major Major Major Major
@Kay:
Considering who he appointed to be in charge of it, such an announcement would actually be a pretty big bold change.
opiejeanne
The Trump menu isn’t bad but those offerings are a bit old hat and not special; they’re ok if you’re trying to entertain your boss for the first time. The “fancy” restaurant with the heavy oak door near our cabin died because that is as creative as they were, but also because they had devolved to serving meatloaf and not very good meatloaf.
The Obama’s menu was sophisticated and interesting. I saw a menu like that at a restaurant in Ireland, kind of in the middle of nowhere (Edgeworthtown); the place was packed on a weeknight, and people dressed up for it. I was so glad we opted to eat there instead of the local pub that evening.
Ian
All this talk about dinner menus and the 2014 dinner talk and musical performances are complete and utter distraction. No serious mention of US-China trade policy, US-China military relations, US-China co-operation on foreign affairs, US-China policy of patent protections, US-China policy on North Korea, US-China policy on the environment…
Point being, article is as buttkiss as the coverage of this event.
hellslittlestangel
So Trump didn’t serve chop suey with eggrolls. I think in that moment he became presidential.
clay
Well, they’re half-right.
@patrick II: His meeting with the dictator of Egypt went swimmingly. Trump gave him everything he wanted — legitimacy and carte blanche to act however he wants at home.
NobodySpecial
The Trump menu doesn’t surprise me, he’s a creature of habit. His personal menu is probably limited to a few favorites done in an exact style, and probably not a lot of foreign dishes. It’s basically a Happy Meal for rich folks. Xi probably disliked it with a plastic smile to cover.
hellslittlestangel
@NobodySpecial: Steak, mashed potatoes, Caesar salad, chocolate cake.What you might get at the fanciest diner in town.
Gvg
That Trump menu has got to be parody.
OzarkHillbilly
What???? No Taco salad?
Betty Cracker
While I have a deep and abiding contempt for the Trumps due to their constant lies and cons, I keep finding trivial things to hate about them. Trump’s stupid, long-ass ties. The comb-marks in Eric’s hair. The elaborately constructed hair-wings that buttress Trump’s eleventy-dimensional combover. Ivanka’s simpering voice. Trump Jr.’s Chiclet-like teeth. Melania’s runway duck-lip poses. Ugh. I wish they’d all go away. I don’t care how or where. I just want them out of my life. It’s like waking up one day to find the Honey Boo-Boo clan installed in your home with no way to evict them or move away yourself. Intolerable!
geg6
@Betty Cracker:
Yup.
geg6
@opiejeanne:
That Trump menu is what a 1950s-60s era “fancy” restaurant would offer when Don Draper would take clients out. It’s so old hat that it’s almost a parody. To serve that to people who are used to the sophisticated cuisine of China is just what you’d expect from an old rich guy who has never tried anything new in the last fifty years. The Chinese are laughing at him. And us, for electing such a rube.
Aimai
@opiejeanne: lots of dairy in the obama menu though. Aren’t many chinese adults lactose intolerant?
Dog Mom
Remember when some people got all excited (and not in a good way) about Michelle Obama’s bare arms . . .
greennotGreen
@geg6: Yes, but Trump’s menu is kosher! Maybe menu selection is one of Jared’s many jobs.
Chat Noir
@Betty Cracker: Me too.
Rico
From those expressions it looked like the First Ladies were at a concert of the Egyptian Army band.
Who can’t forget this performance in front of Putin?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yHbAhFnfrA
OMG, apparently the Syrian army band is no better. HAHAHAHAHA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Apo-AMTetbU
D58826
I don’t remember Obama meeting with this many world leaders in the first hundred days of his first term. Maybe he was to busy saving the world economy. Any way, I just wonder what Der Fuhrer and these leaders talk about. Normally there is a lot of inter agency prep work, position papers, etc. ahead of the meeting. Given the rather sparse staffing at the relevant genies, Jared’s busy schedule and Ivanka’s concern for some Syrian children is Trump really prepared to talk to these leaders on equal terms? Or is it, as I suspect, just a different form of the Apprentice.
gratutious
Oooh, pan-seared dover sole! Ordinarily, one has to be a judge on “Chopped” to enjoy such a delicacy.
wuzzat
I’m surprised Trump didn’t serve ortolan.
Emily68
@Mnemosyne: Yes. Did Trump yank Xi’s hand?
opiejeanne
@geg6: That’s a good description of the “fancy” restaurant in the SoCal mountain town of Blue Jay, the one I mentioned. We ate there once and were disappointed by the menu. The coffee shop next door serves similar food that tastes better and costs less than half what they were asking. I think only old people ate there and we’re 67 and 70 so I mean older than we are.
The coffee shop is still there, the restaurant folded several years ago but we are relieved to see that someone is working on the place and has applied for a liquor license.
sukabi
@OzarkHillbilly: for the Drumpf was probably talked out of serving Chung King Chop Suey as a main dish for the Chinese President.
psychobroad
@Betty Cracker: Thank you for that ,Betty. The waking up with Honey BooBoo clan hit the perfect note–it’s exactly who they are!