How Trump Will Cave on the Biggest Stage: Rothkopf

The Daily Beast Podcast

The Daily Beast

News

4.6 • 8.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Go to https://zbiotics.com/DAILYBEAST and use code DAILYBEAST at checkout for 15% off your first order of ZBiotics probiotics. #ad David Rothkopf and Joanna Coles break down Donald Trump’s high-stakes China trip as the White House scrambles to escape the political fallout from Iran, plunging poll numbers, and growing global instability. Rothkopf explains why Chinese officials jokingly call Trump “Comrade Nation Builder” because, in their view, every chaotic move he makes strengthens Beijing’s hand while weakening America’s standing in the world. The conversation tears into Trump’s obsession with strongmen, fears that he could privately bargain away leverage on Taiwan in exchange for help with Iran, and the increasingly awkward roles being played by Marco Rubio and JD Vance inside an administration that looks more fractured by the week. From Xi Jinping preparing an imperial-style welcome to questions about whether Trump is setting Rubio up to absorb the blame for the Iran crisis, the episode pulls apart the spectacle, the strategy, and the dangerous consequences behind one of the most consequential foreign trips of Trump’s presidency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	We have our wannabe king going to their successor to the emperor.
0:05.0	What's going to happen is that they're going to do just what has happened throughout, you know, history.
0:11.0	There's something called the Great Kowtow, which is when these leaders come in and they have to bow to the emperor of China.
0:20.0	And Trump's going to do a bunch of that. In private meetings,
0:23.6	this is what really worries people. Is he going to give a wink and a nod and say, well, I don't
0:28.2	really care so much about Taiwan or, you know, help me out a little bit on Iran and I'll help you
0:34.6	out a little bit on Taiwan? Everybody knows Trump doesn't actually believe
0:38.3	in anything that, you know, doesn't put money in his bank account or make him look better. And
0:44.9	those are the things I'd watch for coming out of any trip of Trump anywhere.
0:52.0	I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast and it's an enormous week for the leader of the free world by whom I mean Donald Trump because he's going on a trip to China.
1:03.8	Who better to discuss this with than a man who talks to, well, all sorts of connections in China himself, David Rothkopf. He can explain why
1:13.6	the Chinese call Trump behind his back Comrade Nation builder, and he's not building the nation
1:20.2	he should be building, and why J.D. Vance is the equivalent of political hanta virus.
1:28.5	Just before we get into it, please smash the subscription button wherever you get this podcast.
1:34.2	We are independent media and we love your support and we appreciate your support.
1:39.4	All right, no time to waste.
1:41.1	Big trip to China this week.
1:43.3	David Rothkopf. Let's get into it.
1:48.0	David Rothkopf. Joanna Coles. If it's Monday, it must be Rothkopf. And on Wednesday this week,
1:57.2	our leader, the great leader of the free world, Donald J. Trump, is going to China. He's
2:04.7	going to China. You've written an excellent column on this. What's going to happen when he gets there?
2:11.2	What are the Chinese planning for him? Well, I think he's going for two things. One is he's going to change the subject.
	...

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