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<\/p>\nHONG KONG\u00a0\u2014\u00a0As President Trump left Beijing on Friday, Chinese social media resurfaced a familiar nickname for the president \u2014 flattering at first glance \u2014 declaring that Chuan Jianguo, the \u201cNation Builder,\u201d had returned.<\/p>\n
It was not meant as a compliment. The nation he is building, according to the Chinese, is not the United States but their own, through a series of inadvertent yet costly mistakes inflicted by Trump at home and abroad.<\/p>\n
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If the Chinese government was self-assured entering Trump\u2019s summit with Xi Jinping, then the results of the state visit, in which Beijing refused to offer Trump any meaningful deals<\/a> or concessions, signal their unmistakable confidence in American decline.<\/p>\n Chinese government statements in local media stating as much made their way back to Trump as he was departing, aggravating the president, a U.S. official said. But the White House secured a clarification from the Chinese that seemed to placate Trump. America was only declining under President Biden, they said \u2014 not anymore.<\/p>\n President Trump and President Xi Jinping tour Zhongnanhai Garden on Friday in Beijing.<\/p>\n (Evan Vucci \/ Pool via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The Trump administration argues the trip was a success, having secured the display of conciliation and partnership the president had sought after years of increasingly dangerous acrimony. <\/p>\n Foreign policy hawks on China will be displeased with his new direction of friendship and cooperation with a government they view as openly hostile to the United States. But Trump seems to have reached a similar conclusion as past administrations, that China might require a relationship in pursuit of, as Xi put it, \u201cconstructive strategic stability.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump was notably out of character throughout his stay here, deferential to his host, marveling at displays of Chinese power and reticent to speak with the press.<\/p>\n Five times over two days, Trump referred to Xi as his friend, taking every public opportunity to offer his compliments and pats on the back. None of it was reciprocated. The Chinese leader, Trump told Fox News in an interview, was \u201call business\u201d in private, as well, apparently uninterested in his overtures of personal goodwill.<\/p>\n Presidents Xi and Trump tour Zhongnanhai Garden on Friday.<\/p>\n (Evan Vucci\u2014Pool\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n The summit may ultimately be remembered as the moment when Trump recognized a shifting power dynamic, where an American president had the rare and uncomfortable experience of entering a meeting clearly overmatched.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the most important thing is relationship,\u201d Trump said in the interview, describing the summit as \u201chistoric.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about relationship,\u201d he added. \u201cI have a very good relationship with President Xi.\u201d<\/p>\n Taiwan was discussed \u2018the whole night\u2019<\/p>\n Little of substance was accomplished over two days of talks. But Chinese officials expected no less after warning Trump\u2019s team before the summit that its minimal preparation had failed to lay the groundwork for diplomatic agreements.<\/p>\n Still, the lack of breakthroughs may come as a relief to some in Washington. Trump appears to have held to a long-standing U.S. line on Taiwan<\/a>, for now, refusing to provide Xi with clarity on whether the United States would defend the self-ruled island if China tries to reclaim it by force.<\/p>\n The two men discussed the matter \u201cthe whole night,\u201d Trump told Fox.<\/p>\n If China attacked, \u201cthey would be met harshly, and bad things will happen,\u201d Trump said. Yet within the same answer, he questioned Taiwan\u2019s \u201codds\u201d against China if war were to break out, even with U.S. help, noting its proximity to the Chinese mainland and its vast distance away from the United States.<\/p>\n Whether Trump will proceed with arms sales to Taiwan \u2014 passed by Congress and obligated by law under the Taiwan Relations Act \u2014 is still an open question.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you kept it the way it is, I think China is going to be OK with that,\u201d Trump said, referencing an ambiguous status quo around Taiwan\u2019s status, \u201cbut we\u2019re not looking to have somebody say, \u2018Let\u2019s go independent because the United States is backing us.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTaiwan would be very smart to cool it a little bit,\u201d he added. \u201cChina would be smart to cool it a little bit. They ought to both cool it.\u201d<\/p>\n President Trump departs as President Xi looks on after a visit to Zhongnanhai Garden on Friday.<\/p>\n (Evan Vucci\/ Pool via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Curious company<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s choice of company in the U.S. delegation left the Chinese with questions over the purpose of the trip.<\/p>\n Lara Trump, a Fox News host and the president\u2019s daughter-in-law, attended alongside her husband, Eric Trump, whose presence as a private citizen running the Trump Organization was a direct appeal to Beijing to treat the administration like a family business. Brett Ratner, director of the \u201cRush Hour\u201d series and a documentary on the first lady<\/a> that bombed at the box office, was given prime placement along with America\u2019s top business leaders.<\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779024610_546_.jpeg\")
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