I'm Charlie Sykes. Welcome back to the To the Contrary podcast. Donald Trump returned from China and immediately turned to his favorite passions.

I mean, the things that he really, really cares about, like his big billion dollar ballroom, reflecting ponds, golf courses, his golden statues and golden arches, and his new garden of heroes, and his awesome numbers on TikTok. But the biggest story of the week really

was, of course, the China Summit, including his trillion-dollar entourage. And here's Stephen Colbert.

Trump's not making this trip alone. He brought Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and a dozen other CEOs.

It is so satisfying to realize that no matter how rich or powerful you may be, there's a chance

you might get stuck on a plane with Elon Musk.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this is fun.

This is fun, like, does anybody want my sperm?

So, why are all the big money holes attending?

Well, according to Trump, I will be asking President Xi to open up China so that these brilliant

people can work their magic.

Oh yes, these people can work magic.

They've already made their taxes disappear.

I am going to miss that guy.

So joining us to work through all of this is our good friend Tim O'Brien,

senior executive editor of Bloomberg opinion and author

of the book Trump Nation, The Art of Being Donald. You've been a Trumpologist for 30 years now, right?

30 years? Unfortunately true, Charlie. I know. So let's just start with that little monologue there.

What do you make of the optics and the substance of Donald Trump jetting off to Beijing with all of the titans of American industry?

And coming back with, it certainly looks like, kind of me business deals.

Your thoughts on that? Well, well i mean this is a desperate man

desperate to show a confident nation china led by a confident leader she that he's not mired

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