Trump and Xi conclude 'very successful' talks with Xi in Beijing
Newshour
BBC
4.2 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 May 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
US President Donald Trump left Beijing after a two-day summit saying he had struck "fantastic trade deals, great for both countries", but few details have emerged on what the two superpowers agreed. President Trump, who's flying back from a summit in Beijing, says he doesn't think there's a risk of conflict between the US and China over Taiwan.
Also on the programme: US media reports say Washington is preparing criminal charges against the ninety-four-year-old former Cuban leader, Raul Castro; and archaeologists and preservation groups have appealed to a court in the US to prevent the company - RMS Titanic Inc - from selling 100 of the ship's artefacts to private collectors. We hear from Professor Mike Williams, a member of the group asking the court to stop the auction.
(Photo: Trump said the meeting was "very successful, world-renowned, and unforgettable", while Xi called it a "historic and landmark" visit, according to Chinese state media. Credit: Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:09.8 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour. It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service Studios in London. |
| 0:15.1 | I'm Tim Franks. |
| 0:16.5 | And as we come on air, Donald Trump is almost back in the United States, or at least a refueling stop in Alaska, after his much-anticipated visit to China, which means it's time for us to try to work out what, if anything, has been achieved and whether we can say anything meaningful about the relationship now between the world's two greatest powers, with all its huge implications, |
| 0:38.5 | not just for China and the US, but for much of the world. The language has certainly been very |
| 0:43.3 | positive. On Donald Trump's side, effusively so, about a fantastic future together. On Xi Jinping's side, |
| 0:50.1 | slightly more cool and polite language about a strategic and stable relationship. |
| 0:56.0 | There's an enormous amount potentially on the line here over the huge tensions between the |
| 1:00.3 | world's two biggest economies, over the future of the self-governing island of Taiwan, over |
| 1:05.2 | China's role in Iran, and also perhaps about whether this is, we're seeing now, a transformational shift in power |
| 1:13.6 | away from Washington and towards Beijing. |
| 1:17.6 | This is what Donald Trump had to say towards the end of his time in Beijing when it came to |
| 1:21.7 | his discussions with Xi Jinping over the U.S.'s conflict with Iran. |
| 1:26.1 | We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar with Iran. We did discuss Iran. |
| 1:28.1 | We feel very similar in Iran. |
| 1:30.5 | We want that to end. |
| 1:32.4 | We don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. |
| 1:35.1 | We want the straits open. |
| 1:37.4 | We're closing it now. |
| 1:38.5 | They closed it, then we close it on top of it. |
| 1:41.2 | But we want the streets open. |
| 1:44.2 | And we want them to get it ended because it's a crazy thing there, a little bit crazy. |
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