Trump in China: Pageantry and high-stakes meetings

The Playbook Podcast

POLITICO

News, Daily News, Politics, Government

3.9 • 699 Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

POLITICO White House reporter Alex Gangitano joins the Playbook Podcast from Beijing, where she’s traveling with Donald Trump during his first state visit to China in nearly a decade. With host Jack Blanchard and China correspondent Phelim Kine, the team unpacks a day of closed-door meetings, carefully choreographed optics and mounting tension between the world’s two biggest powers. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spent more than two hours discussing Taiwan, trade, Iran, fentanyl and the broader future of US-China relations. The team digs into the very different messages coming out of Washington and Beijing, the business heavyweights brought into the talks — including Elon Musk and Tim Cook — and what Trump needs to bring home politically from one of the most closely watched summits of his presidency.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today on the Playbook podcast, Donald Trump is in Beijing this morning for his first
0:10.1	state visit to China in almost 10 years.
0:13.4	He's headed into a state banquet shortly after more than two hours of talks with
0:16.7	Xi Jinping.
0:18.1	On the menu, Taiwan, Iran and so much more. Hello, I'm Jack Blanchard.
0:23.4	And I'm Philem Kine. It's Thursday, May 14th.
0:28.6	It is indeed, Feeling Kind, our China correspondent joining the podcast today for a special edition,
0:33.9	recording whilst Donald Trump is in Beijing. feeling you've been following it overnight.
0:39.1	This is the Feel I'm Kind Super Bowl, right, with a state visit to China?
0:42.3	It's a big week.
0:43.6	Also joining us, I'm very happy to say we've got Alex Gangesana coming from Beijing.
0:49.0	Hello, Alex.
0:50.2	Hi, guys. Yep, I'm here in my hotel room in Beijing, calling in.
0:55.0	You've been with the president overnight, Alex. Just give us a sense of what he's been doing.
0:59.1	Just talk us through what his day has looked like over there.
1:01.9	Yeah, so this morning for us, he arrived at the Great Hall, which is an official government building they have here.
1:09.2	It's across from Tiananmen Square.
1:12.3	Phelham can speak to some of the optics there, but really grand aesthetics for him. And a bunch of us reporters were waiting
1:18.1	for him there. Meanwhile, the whole U.S. delegation came down the steps. That included Secretary
1:24.1	of Rubio, Hegst, Bessent, Laura and Eric Trump, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, those business leaders you heard were joining him.
1:33.2	And then the president's car pulled up.
1:35.2	Xi Jinping met him at the bottom of the steps to the Great Hall.
	...

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