Politics chat: Takeaways from Trump's trip to China

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Politics Politics chat: Takeaways from Trump's trip to China May 17, 20268:02 AM ET Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday By Ayesha Rascoe , Franco Ordoñez Politics chat: Takeaways from Trump's trip to China Listen &middot; 4:40 4:40 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5821029/nx-s1-9773668" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript What are the big takeaways from President Trump's trip to China? Meanwhile, Trump answers blow-back over a comment he made last week about American's financial situations. Sponsor Message AYESHA RASCOE, HOST: There was pomp, red carpets, schoolchildren waving Chinese and American flags. But were there real promises made in Beijing last week when President Trump met with China's leader, Xi Jinping, a trip that was delayed because of the war with Iran? There are certainly problems for Trump on the home front, given inflation and the price of gas. Joining me now to talk about all this is NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Good morning, Franco. FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Ayesha. RASCOE: So dust has settled on this trip to China. The president has gotten some rest and had a big interview and posted some things on Truth Social. What's he saying that he achieved? ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. Trump's calling it an incredible visit on his way home. He actually touted what he said were fantastic trade deals to sell American-made airplanes through Boeing and billions worth of agriculture products. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The farmers are going to be very happy. They're going to be buying billions of dollars of soybeans. Yeah. ORDOÑEZ: I mean, Ayesha, this was a lot riding on this trip for Trump - a meeting between the two superpowers when tensions were still very high after last year's trade war. But also because of the war in Iran, the U.S. has been pressing China to help deal with Iran and, of course, Taiwan. RASCOE: And Trump may be saying that he's advanced U.S. interests, but there are a lot of concerns now about Taiwan. Tell us about that. ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, a big headline out of the summit was Trump would not commit to moving forward with a multibillion-dollar arms package for Taiwan. It was really interesting because Xi made clear right from the start that Taiwan was his biggest priority, even warning Trump that the U.S. must handle the issue with utmost caution or risk jeopardizing relations. I mean, Trump said he'd make a decision shortly, but all the uncertainty is generating big, big concern about U.S. support for Taiwan, which is really a critical economic partner for the U.S. RASCOE: On Iran, Xi did not offer Trump the lifeline that he was hoping for, right? ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. At least not publicly, no. China did not say it was going to help put pressure on Iran. Trump said he discussed Iran with Xi and that Xi privately offered to help, but he did not say how. And Trump returns to Washington facing some big decisions on what to do on Iran. I mean, Trump is saying he won't have much more patience with Iran, and he emphasized on Air Force One that Iran's last peace offer was just unacceptable. So you can really bet there will be a lot of questions this week about the potential for military operations beginning again. RASCOE: Before he left for Beijing, the president was asked to weigh in on - or to what extent Americans' financial situations were motivating him to make a deal on Iran. Here's what he said. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) TRUMP: I don't think about Americans' financial situation. I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing - we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. RASCOE: That answer got a bit of blowback, and he was asked about it on Fox News. What did he say? ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, that answer got a lot of blowback. You know, Trump's never one to back down, and he said it was, quote, "a perfect statement," and that he'd say it again. I mean, he continues to insist that this is short-term pain and that Americans are fine paying more for gas and other things in order to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) TRUMP: And that question was a fake question, and they didn't put my full answer. I totally care. Look, I inherited high prices. RASCOE: Finally, Senator Bill Cassidy lost Louisiana's GOP primary yesterday, something Trump was celebrating on Truth Social last night. What does this tell us about the president's attention to the midterms? ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, I think it just shows that despite Trump's challenges with the economy, with frustrations over the war, that he still holds tremendous control over the Republican Party. I mean, Trump never forgot, nor did he ever forgive Cassidy for voting to convict him after the January 6 riots. And Cassidy was much more of a traditional Republican, a veteran of the Senate, who would sometimes go against Trump. So this is only likely to make other Republicans hesitant to criticize Trump and go against him. And it really puts another big spotlight on another GOP primary, that of Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who Trump has been aggressively targeting - very aggressively. Massie's primary is Tuesday. So that's going to be another big, big test of Trump's grip on the Republican Party. So this week is a big week for the GOP. RASCOE: That's NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Thank you so much. ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Ayesha. Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. 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