Now, for the first of two views on the Trump Xi meeting, we turned to former U.S. ambassador to China,

Nicholas Burns, a diplomat with decades of experience. Under Republican and Democratic administrations,

Burns served as envoy during the Biden administration and left his post earlier this year.

Mr. Ambassador, welcome back to the News Hour.

Thank you, Jeff. So this new Trump-She

truce, what's really being gained here and what's still unresolved beneath the surface?

Well, you know, you might picture President Trump and President Xi as two boxers in a ring,

and they're circling each other, and they're punching and counterpunching. That's the last

six months. They don't entirely trust each other. In fact, there's not much trust at all. And,

you know, the match didn't end today. I think you're right, Jeff, to call this a truce in a long-running

trade war. And I think this trade war is going to continue well into 2026 because there are

fundamental differences on both sides

of the competition.

Well, let's talk about Xi because inside China, Xi has consolidated extraordinary power,

as you well know, but what kind of pressure is he facing that might have pushed him to step

back from confrontation?

He's facing a slowing economy. His GDP growth rate is not what they want. It's single digits.

It's below 5%. Despite what the Chinese say, they say it's 5%. It's really not.

Massive youth unemployment. A property bust that has 80 million empty apartments, the entire population of Germany could fit

inside them. And so, and a lack of confidence, I think, in the direction of the economy.

He also needs access to the U.S. market because China has an export and manufactured-driven

economy. So, you know, the United States has some leverage

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