This is John Batchel, a conversation with colleague Brendan Wykert about the intention of the Trump administration with some qualifications to now permit, now to permit a sale of very high-end chips by NVIDIA, H-200, it's called, to China.

After lengthy, lengthy reservations going on for months, what does this mean

about the Trump administration and the Chinese regime? What's ahead? Not just in chips, but in

everything, in trade, and food, in arrangements with the geography of the first island chain.

Here's Brandon to describe a future that is unattractive.

Brandon Wechard, much more later.

The Trump administration is probably going to give China whatever they want unless Congress stops it, which I don't think Congress will,

because I think Congress, both parties have been compromised thoroughly by China.

They're going to favor business interests over the military interest.

And in fact, I'm sensing, and I got a lot of flack when I said this in January and my column

at the national interest.

But I'm sensing that with this national security strategy memo, that the Trump administration

is quietly getting ready to basically abandon the first island chain.

And so I think they're going to be favoring more deals for soybeans and for access to rare earth

minerals in the near term, rather than thinking of the long-term strategic benefits of standing up to China.

And so I think that ultimately China knows this.

They're going to stand their ground, and they're probably going to get what they want from Trump.