The White House News

President Donald Trump will face the greatest challenge of his presidency so far when he meets next week with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his 12-day trip to Asia. Discussion of North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling may make headlines, but it is the economic talks between Trump and Xi that will reveal who holds the power in the room. Trump’s comments on China have run the gamut. He has vowed to “get tough” with Beijing in the past but has also praised Xi, saying the two have the greatest “president-president” relationship ever. With his trip to Asia, Trump has an opportunity to show the world whether that relationship can survive Trump’s tough stance on trade with China. Xi’s aggressive version of realpolitik and ability to consolidate power and unite the party behind a much more outward-looking policy for China, including the increasing modernization of the nation’s military, should give Trump pause. In his marathon speech last week before China’s Communist Party (CCP) National Congress, President Xi laid out his vision for a “strong China” that is a rising superpower with the ability to influence geopolitics in Southeast Asia and beyond. While the speech clearly established Xi as China’s strongest leader since Mao