Beijing Summit / Trump and Xi as allies, rivals and frenemies
Sources & Methods
NPR
4.9 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with NPR White House Correspondent Franco Ordoñez and NPR China Correspondent Jennifer Pak about Trump's big summit with Chinese leaders in Beijing and how the U.S.-China relationship has evolved since their last meeting.
Email the show at sourcesandmethods@npr.org
NPR+ supporters hear every episode without sponsor messages and unlock access to our complete archive. Sign up at plus.npr.org.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | President Trump is trying to kind of manage this rivalry instead of escalating it. |
| 0:08.5 | This administration is certainly very focused on trying to have a more positive relationship |
| 0:13.7 | with Xi, you know, a respectful relationship as opposed to more of a competitive one. |
| 0:20.0 | President Trump visits China for the first time since 2017. |
| 0:24.8 | What's changed? And what does each man want from this meeting? |
| 0:28.7 | This is sources and methods from NPR. |
| 0:33.3 | I'm Mary Louise Kelly every Thursday. |
| 0:35.8 | I dive deep into the week's biggest national security stories with the NPR reporters covering them. |
| 0:42.6 | Today, here in the studio with me, NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Franco, welcome back. |
| 0:47.6 | Hi there. |
| 0:48.3 | Hi. And welcome back to NPR's Jennifer Pack, who is in Beijing tracking all the action as our China correspondent. |
| 0:57.4 | Jennifer, welcome back. |
| 0:58.5 | Thanks for having me. |
| 0:59.8 | Let's timestamp. |
| 1:01.1 | It is Thursday. |
| 1:02.6 | It is about 20 past noon here in D.C., which means it's about 20 past midnight for you, Jennifer. |
| 1:10.4 | So first of all, thank you so much |
| 1:12.1 | for staying up late. No problem. I'm in the future. You are. You are. Happy tomorrow. Happy Friday to you. |
| 1:19.3 | I know it's been a crazy long day for you there and everybody, all the reporters, trying to cover |
| 1:24.6 | the Xi Trump summit. So Jennifer, give us the 30-second readout. |
| 1:29.6 | Big headlines, big takeaways, catch us up. |
| 1:32.3 | Okay. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.