Trump meets Xi - what's at stake?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Donald Trump is in Beijing for his much-anticipated trip to see President Xi - the leaders meet today. But with the US seemingly stuck in a frozen conflict in the Middle East, does Xi see Trump as a lame duck? Will he help Trump persuade Iran to end the war or could the conflict embolden Xi’s pursuit of Taiwan? And how could the trip affect the Asian pivot away from the USA and towards China?
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Guests:
- Professor Rana Mitter, S.T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard.
- Richard Spencer, China correspondent, The Times.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Olivia Case.
We want to hear from you - email: thestory@thetimes.com
Read more: Summit of the superpowers: what’s on the agenda for Trump and Xi?
Further listening: The end of the ceasefire in Iran…..or not
Clips: CNA, Fox, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Richard Nixon Foundation / YouTube.
Photo: Getty Images.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:06.0 | I'm Manvine Rana. |
| 0:08.9 | For Donald Trump, it's long been an obsession. |
| 0:13.2 | China. |
| 0:13.7 | President of China. |
| 0:15.6 | China. |
| 0:16.0 | The Chinese virus. |
| 0:18.3 | And when he returned to the White House in 2025, it was clear the obsession with China hadn't |
| 0:24.3 | gone away. |
| 0:25.1 | We import from China massive amounts, and maybe we'll have to stop doing that. |
| 0:29.6 | We have to charge them 200% tariff or something. |
| 0:32.9 | But what seemed to be the start of an apocalyptic trade war quickly ended in emergency talks |
| 0:39.7 | and surprisingly warm words. |
| 0:42.0 | I thought it was an amazing meeting. |
| 0:44.6 | He's a great leader, a leader of a very powerful, very strong country in China. |
| 0:50.7 | Although the ping pong between the two great powers isn't over. |
| 0:55.6 | It recently came to a head again over the war in Iran. |
| 1:00.7 | I hear news reports about China giving the shoulder missiles. |
| 1:04.2 | If we catch him doing that, they get a 50% tariff. |
| 1:07.1 | As Donald Trump and Xi Jinping prepare to meet in a much-anticipated summit, with the war in Iran |
| 1:14.3 | still paralyzing the Middle East, global energy markets on the brink, and Taiwan still casting |
| 1:21.4 | a shadow across the negotiating table, Donald Trump sounded remarkably chipper about the meeting. |
... |
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