President Trump is set to wrap up a week’s worth of meetings with world leaders by undergoing what will arguably the most crucial diplomatic test of his presidency so far.
The president will host Chinese President Xi Jinping at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, for a two-day summit. The agenda will include urgent items such as North Korea’s rising aggression and nuclear capabilities and China’s controversial trade practices.
Trump built a reputation not just through his candidacy, but over decades in business by talking tough on China, calling for firm action on trade and lampooning multiple U.S. presidents for showing weakness in their interactions.
In an interview this past week with Financial Times, Trump suggested he would use trade as a negotiation point in pressuring China to directly engage with North Korea on curbing its nuclear program.
"I think trade is the incentive," Trump said. "It is all about trade."
But in terms of what tangible action Trump himself will actually achieve with Jinping in their first face-to-face meeting, several experts caution against setting the bar too high.
"I think U.S. trade policy is not yet in place, it’s still being hotly debated internally," Dr. Nicholas Lardy said in a Wednesday briefing to reporters at the Center for National Interest, a public policy think tank in Washington, D.C. "I don’t think a great deal is going to change."
Absent a significant commitment from Jinping on dealing with North Korea, Trump warned in his Financial Times interview that it’s possible the U.S. would elect to "solve" the problem.
"The North Korean threat is no longer business as usual," said Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson (Ret.), the senior director for China and the Pacific at the Center for National Interest. His message aligns with the Trump Administration’s position that "all options" should be on the table.
"They’re bad and they’re bold and they’re going to achieve nuclear capability," he said. "We need to take them at their word on that.”
Other significant issues expected to come up in the meetings include cyber warfare, China's continued incursion into the South China Sea, and whether President Trump will reiterate the U.S. commitment to the 'One China' policy following his call with Taiwan's president during his transition.
That the meeting will be held on the Mar-a-Lago compound presents some uncertainty as to how much the press will be briefed on the negotiations. The White House hasn’t yet said whether there will be the traditional "bilateral" press conference that is commonly held when U.S. presidents welcome world leaders.
But absent a major diplomatic snafu, experts said President Trump and the White House are likely to promote this as a major opportunity for some much-needed course correction away from the negative headlines consuming Washington.
"I would not be at all surprised if we did something that would be very dramatic and good for both countries," Trump said last week.
from ABC News: Politics http://ift.tt/2nGVAhf
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