The Week: Trump’s Primary Revenge Tour

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• We look forward to the Democrats’ anti-anti-weaponization fund.

• President Donald Trump concluded his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping amicably, though they made little progress reconciling their nations’ strategic interests. China remains America’s chief adversary across several domains. Yet Trump treated Xi more like a troublesome friend than an enemy. Tariffs were discussed, but not revised. Trump reportedly raised the issue of Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment but failed to make headway. The technology executives who accompanied Trump retained their access to Chinese markets. Most alarmingly, Trump indicated that he had spoken with Xi about whether he would approve arms sales to Taiwan, calling his decision on the matter a “negotiating chip.” To give Beijing any say on security assistance to Taiwan would be a dangerous departure from long-standing U.S. policy. On the bright side, Trump refused to promise not to defend Taiwan when Xi asked, upholding strategic ambiguity. Unsurprisingly, just four days later, Russian President Vladimir Putin enjoyed an even warmer reception when he arrived in Beijing to meet with Xi. One friendly summit with each autocrat is enough for us.

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