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Trump Wanted a Victory. Xi Came With a Warning. | Silk and Steel · UK Column Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It is September 24th, 2026, and it's just before 7 p.m.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: local time here in Texas. And Chinese President Xi Jinping
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: is in Washington, D.C. He's meeting with President Trump. We
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: all saw his official arrival. We saw Trump greeting him.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: By the plane.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: He was ready to welcome the Chinese president. But when
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: it comes down to the talks that they're having, what
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: was said in the Oval Office, there are a range
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: of different topics right now that the U.S. is desperately
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: bringing up with China, while at the same time trying
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: to keep in mind the demands coming from Beijing when
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: it comes to the U.S. and its arming of Taiwan,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: when it comes to ongoing war against Iran, which notably
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: is also aimed at trying to hurt China and its
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: energy supply, and so on and so forth, just beginning
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: to get into trade and tariffs. And rare earth minerals.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: There are so many different places in which China has
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the leverage. But we see the Chinese president over here
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: kind of carefully dealing with Donald Trump, giving him the
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: photo op that he wants, while at the same time
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: delivering a very stern warning about the fact that Beijing
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: is not going to give in to Washington's demands. So
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: what does that mean for this summit and what should
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: we be keeping an eye on? Well, we got into
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: all of that and more with a special guest earlier.
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: So let's take a listen to that conversation now. Joining
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: me now to discuss is Carl Zah, a geopolitical analyst
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: and host of the Silk and Steel podcast. Carl, thanks
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to join me.
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: Thank you, Rachel. Thank you for inviting me.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: It's always great to have you on the show. And
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: I'm glad I get a chance to get your take
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: on the latest because, of course, Chinese President Xi Jinping
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: and his wife are in Washington, D.C. this week for
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: an in-person summit with President Trump. And Their arrival went
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: a bit viral on social media as Xi became the
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: first foreign leader that Trump greeted on the tarmac as
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: soon as he stepped off the plane. Now, notably, Trump
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: did not get that kind of greeting from Xi when
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: he visited China back in May of this year. But
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: in addition to boasting on social media about how great
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: this reunion was, Trump has also been called out for
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: his reaction when B-2 Spirit bombers and four F-22 Raptors
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: flew over the meeting and he looked a bit rattled
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: while she didn't even flinch. How do you see the
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: significance of this summit and the power structure here as
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Trump seems to be really playing it up.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: For this visit?
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: Right. Trump needed this visit because Trump's administration right now
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: is beset by Epstein files, the Iran war. and his
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: upcoming November election, which, you know, the prospect didn't look good.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: That's why Trump is promising crazy stuff like, you know,
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: handing out $ 5, 000 to people who vote for his party.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: He needed this to show he is a world leader
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: to be taken seriously. Look, all these world leaders, Putin,
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: Xi Jinping, they're all here to come to see me.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: And he actually did roll out red carpet for Putin
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: back in the meeting in Anchorage. But this time he's
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: rolling out the red carpet for Xi Jinping in Washington
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: and meet him personally at the airport. Now, the normal
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: diplomatic protocol is the leaders will meet when they, you know,
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: not at the airport. This is a protocol that China follow.
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: But Trump went up and beyond for both Putin and
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: Xi Jinping, because he wanted to show, hey, we're buddies,
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: we're good. And with me in charge, I'm going to
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: make everything okay. This was his moment for oil farming,
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: for Trump. Because being the reality TV show host he is,
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: he's all about making spectacle. And this is why he
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: arranged for the B-2 bomber and F-22 during the flyby,
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: maybe to intimidate or impress Xi Jinping. But then he
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: himself couldn't hold it together and wimps in front of
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: the camera when everybody was watching. So, you know, as
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: the youngins say, he got mugged on camera. Zero for Trump.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Watching this take place, I'm like, oh, that backfired a
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: little bit.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: I get why he was so quick to get on
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: True Social and go, everything's great, everyone looks great, blah, blah, blah.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: It's like, please don't watch that video that we're all
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: going to watch again and again. And, you know, when
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: it comes to the issues that they're talking about, it
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: kind of.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Seems like the same old, same old at this point.
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: I know that they've got AI regulation thrown in there
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: as a big topic, but Other than that, you've got Taiwan,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: you've got trade, you've got rare earth minerals, you of
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: course have all the wars that Trump has started. So
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: I feel like every time he has a new meeting,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: it's like, oh yeah, you've got this other war. And
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: so now he has the catastrophe for the US and Iran.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: But when it comes to Taiwan specifically, because of course
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: Trump and Xi had this Oval Office meeting, well, the
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Chinese president is said to have stressed Beijing's position on Taiwan.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: urging Trump to carefully consider the United States position and
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: oppose Taiwan independence. Nothing really new there, but what I
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: did think was notable was that you have Secretary of
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: State Marco Rubio kind.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: Of admitting that the U.S.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Isn't sending weapons to Taiwan right now because they don't
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: have weapons and ammunition to send. So how do you
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: see the importance still for China when it comes to
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: emphasizing their red line on Taiwan? And making sure it
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: stays in the conversation.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: China always repeatedly stress what their red line is. Their
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: red line is Taiwan. Don't cross it. This is the
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: same as Russia stressing that Ukraine should not be NATO.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Of course, in that case, U.S. and NATO didn't listen,
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: and they repeatedly crossed the U.S. military-industrial complex because Taiwan
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: paid the money up front. And when they get the weapons,
• 6:20
  Speaker 3: whenever the US military industrial complex can produce it. Right now,
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: they're having a huge issue with the actual supply because
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: US weaponry has been depleted during the Iran war. And
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: they have a huge problem with replenishment because there's a
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: huge amount of rare earth that goes into those weapons.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: And those rare earths, where do they come from? Well,
• 6:43
  Speaker 3: they come from China. And China has been saying, there's
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: no way we're going to provide you Rare earth just
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: in order for you to put into weapons that's going
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: to be used against us. And ever since Trump administration
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: started the trade war against China, China have put export
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: control on rare earth export to the US military industrial complex.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: So this is a quandary that Trump administration finds itself in.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: On one hand, you want to wage war on Iran.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: a specimen, like to say the war is really about clips,
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: not only eclipsing Iran, but also eclipsing China economically. So
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: China doesn't get access to the Iranian oil. Well, guess what?
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: Then there's more incentive for China not to sell you
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: the rare earth, which then you can be using weapons
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: against Iran and then generate more weapon sales to Taiwan.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: So this is a critical issue for the Trump administration,
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: which I do not think China will likely do. Again,
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: the Taiwan weapons sale is a big issue for China.
• 7:47
  Speaker 3: China wished to see that stopped. But there's strong incentive
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: on the part of U.S. administration, because I say it's
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: one of the biggest lucrative deal for the U.S. military
• 7:58
  Speaker 3: industrial complex, to keep that going. This is why the
• 8:03
  Speaker 3: two sides had impasse. And this is why the summit
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: is happening right now. Because these issues in the U.S.-China relationship. Now,
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: a lot of this issue is self-created by the Trump administration.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: You know, if they didn't start the trade war, China
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: wouldn't have weaponized the rare earth issue. And they wouldn't
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: have been in this country that now where they, you know,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: don't have the weapons to continue to persecute the war
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: against Iran, and they don't have weapons to sell to Taiwan.
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: And For China, the important part is to continue the U.S.-China
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: detente that has started with Trump's visit back to Beijing.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: There is also the issue of November, the tariff, the
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: current tariff choose, you know, that each side plays about
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: 20% tariff on each other's goods. And there is... Strong
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: incentive for both sides to see that continue and not
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: get reversed when the November deadline comes. So that's one
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: issue they're going to talk about. And then there's AI
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: because the United States right now is in one giant
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: AI bubble. If you take away all the AI investment
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: into data centers, the US economy is not growing. And
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: so Trump administration's goal is to keep pumping up that
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: AI bubble. And China's catching up in the United States
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: in terms of AI, especially handing out open source AI
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: model for people to use for free. That seriously threatened
• 9:46
  Speaker 3: the U.S. company like open AI and anthropics business model,
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: which is to monopolize the AI space so they can
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: click a toe on the world economy. And this is
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: why when the Chinese model come online with DeepSeq, with Quinn,
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: with Kimmy, it seriously threatened to deflate the giant AI bubble.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: So this is why they're talking about AI right now. Again,
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: I don't see them making too much progress on that
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: front because For China, they're not even trying to compete
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: with US on the AGI, on the super intelligence. They're
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: just trying to use AI in their everyday application manufacturing.
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: Whereas United States have put all their eggs in one basket.
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: They think if they're going to get Skynet and Terminator first,
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: then everybody will be screwed. This is why Xi Jinping
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: has stressed that it's okay to be in a competition,
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: but it should be a healthy competition. You should be
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: the one we can play catch up with each other,
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: not the one we wrestle each other to the ground
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: to see who wins and who loses. He is directly
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: addressing the zero-sum mentality that have dominated over Washington. But
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure if that's going to fall into deaf
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: ears or not, because this is a Trump administration we're
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: talking about here.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that is fair. And A good explanation, too, because
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: you see China in this place where they want to
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: work together, right? They know that working with the U.S.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: is beneficial for their economy. They know that, obviously, working
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: with a number of different countries is beneficial, so they're
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: doing just that. And then they have the U.S. coming
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: in here trying to control everything. Well, what has that
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: got Washington? Now they're in this spot where they're desperate.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: They're desperate for a photo op to make Trump look good.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: They're desperate for some kind of deal that Trump can
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: tout to say, hey, look what I talked China into, blah, blah, blah. Meanwhile,
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: it's like them saying that they're buying soybeans again.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: You know, that sort of thing.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: Where for Beijing, they're just over here like, ah, okay,
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: if this is what you really want. but they're never
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: really getting to the heart of the matter. And going
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: back to what you were noting about, you know, the U.S.
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: obviously waging this war against Iran, wanting to hurt Iran
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: as a key pillar of the multipolar world, also putting
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: this blockade in places they know that the overwhelming majority
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: of Iranian oil is going straight to China and they're
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: trying to interfere with that because they want everyone else
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: to look at the US and go, oh, we've got
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to get our supply from the United States or whoever
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: their approved countries are. So When you look at Beijing's
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: approach here and President Xi's specifically going into this meeting,
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: he knows he can't trust Trump. But how do you
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: see kind of his goal and his initiative with even
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: agreeing to a meeting like this? Right.
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: Well, Chinese perspective is they always hold the door open.
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: They always hold the door open for negotiation. That's why
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: Xi Jinping has urged United States to return to the
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: talks with Iran, to return back to the nuclear deal,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: which Trump himself tore up when he came to office.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: Because right now, this whole impasse at the Persian Gulf
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: is really a big detriment to the world economy. It's
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: threatening 20% of the world's energy supply. And it's bad
• 13:19
  Speaker 3: for everyone around. And this is why China, despite they know,
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: you know, this is going to be a tough case
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: to convince Trump administration otherwise, but they will continue continually
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: to try to push for negotiation and push for diplomatic solutions.
• 13:37
  Speaker 3: You know, I think in Trump administration's case, they will
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: have to be they will have to continually bash their
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: head on the wall of reality until You know, they
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: have no other choice. Hopefully we're approaching that moment soon.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're like, something's got to give.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, you tried to, well, you tried to tear
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: up war against the entire world at this point, not
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: just China, but then you tried a very literal war
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: against Iran. All of these things have failed miserably. And yeah,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: I did think it was notable that you had, you know,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: media in China noting that Xi specifically called for Trump
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: to go back to the MOU that he signed back
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: in June of this year saying look like you've got
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: to work things out with Iran at the same time
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: we've also had reports that China's calling on Iran of
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: like hey let's let's work something out let's not dive
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: all in on this, whether it's going on the offensive
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: or carrying out some of the retaliatory strikes and that
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: sort of thing. So China's in this position of trying
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: to be a peacemaker here, but when you look at
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: the Trump administration and their handling of the war against Iran,
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: It feels like they're gearing up for the next round.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: So where does that leave us?
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Yeah, unfortunately, you know, it's really hard for the Washington
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: elite to give up on that zero-sum mentality, to give
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: up on the urge to dominate the world, to play
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: the global cup, to preserve U.S. supremacy at all costs.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I think they will keep they will double down on
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: it because they will never admit defeat, which is obvious
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: to everyone else. But they will just keep on double
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: down on the policy that doesn't work until eventually they
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: will be forced to, you know, come to the negotiation table.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: But at that time, they will spin it as some
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: great victory as you know. Trump already won Iran time
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: like 47 times. So, you know, this is going to
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: be his latest string of victory.
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: And you watch all of this play out.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: And I know that the United Nations General Assembly is
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: also ongoing this week in New York. And even just
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: Trump's speech that he gave, where he was talking about
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: Iran and just pondering the idea of whether to Annihilate
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: an entire civilization.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: I guess that's his.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Latest word that he's learned that he's applying to his
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: quest for genocide over here But I mean I look
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: at that and I go the US they look so
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: weak right you you compare it to and I know
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Netanyahu did a version of that earlier where he gets
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: up there and he got his little pager prop and
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: he's bragging about the terror attack that Israel carried out
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: just two years ago, I mean When you're China and
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: you're watching that, how do you think that they view it?
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Because there has to be a little bit of concern that, oh,
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: we've got these madmen over here, and they could just
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: go completely off their rockers and jump straight headfirst into
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: World War III, and then China and Russia and Iran
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: are going to be forced to respond like they never
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: have before.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: China is playing the responsible adult in the room right now,
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: because- certainly not the US. The US started this illegal
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: war against Iran that plunged the world at the precipice
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: of a worldwide economic depression. China is trying to do
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: damage control, just calm down the situation. Now, whether that
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: will succeed, that remains to be seen, but at least
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: somebody is acting as adult.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you look at the situation and you're like, okay,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: somebody has to be the person in the room to
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: call out reality here. And especially when you have Iran
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: over here, I mean, I know that they've really been
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: emphasizing that they have new weapons that the world has
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: never seen before, right? That they are going to increase
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: the geography of the war if the U.S. attacks again.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: I mean, I can imagine from China's standpoint, they're looking
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: at the U.S. going, hey, you don't want to get
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: into another round of it. But it makes it even
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: more embarrassing for the U.S. because they don't have new weapons, right?
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: They don't have air defenses. They don't have radar systems.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: I mean, when you look at the U.S. and kind
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: of the point of desperation that they're in, they're not
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: able to fully wage and continue another phase of war
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: against Iran, let alone even dream about war against China.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: And Just a few years ago, that was the thing
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: that the U.S. establishment was so excited about, right? They
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: were like, by 2027, we're going to have some sort
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: of a proxy war against China. And it's like, wait,
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: where did that go?
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: And let's not forget, the so-called centrists in the United States,
• 18:37
  Speaker 3: they were full on to support a U.S.-China confrontation because
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: they thought that would be the one cause to unite
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: Americans from both sides of the aisle. But that failed
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: as well, because, you know, fundamentally, I think majority of
• 18:54
  Speaker 3: Americans don't care about having a war with China. Most
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: of the Americans care about the economy, care about jobs,
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: care about educational opportunity for their children, which this administration
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: is not providing at the moment.
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you look over here at the Trump administration, and
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: even just I know that comparison has been made to
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: how the Bush administration handled the war against Iraq, right?
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Where they laid out this, this narrative of weapons of
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: mass destruction. They did everything they could to sell the
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: country on it. And not only is the Trump administration
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: not really doing a version of that with Iran, or
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: I guess their version changes every week. but on top
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: of that you also have countries like Russia and China
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: and Iran that are.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Like we we don't want to fight with you right.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: We're not your enemy we don't want to attack you
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: we are doing everything we possibly can to avoid direct
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: conflict with you do you think that the U.S. establishment
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: fully realizes what they're dealing with here? Or is it
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: just a level of frustration of realizing that they don't
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: really have a quote unquote bad guy that they can
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: sell to the American public and say, okay, we need
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: to be the superhero.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: We have to go after this villain.
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: Well, they need to distract the public from the dire
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: economics prospect they're facing back at home. But at some point,
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: you know, like you can fool some people some of
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: the time. You can't fool all the people all the time.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: And the poll has shown that the American perception of
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: China has been actually trending positively lately, especially among the
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: younger Americans, because the youth today, they don't tune into
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: legacy media like CNN or Wall Street journals, which just
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: sprout propaganda all day. Instead, they get their news from
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: social media, from TikTok. where they just see videos, viral
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: videos of Chinese cities. They're like, oh, that looks nice.
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: We like to have them back in the U.S.
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: Too.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: And this is a question that Trump administration have to answer.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're going into it hoping for a viral moment,
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: hoping for a photo op, hoping that this will be
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: something to make Trump look strong. And it's enough of
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: a reminder to the American people that, hey, maybe you
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: should do some research online and see what life is
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: like in China and why the Chinese president is over
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: here and Trump is practically kneeling before him begging for
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: some sort of legitimacy. It'll be Interesting to see what
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: else comes out of this meeting, but I always appreciate
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: you taking the time to join me to break down
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: all of the latest here. Carl Zaw, a geopolitical analyst
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: and host of the Silk and Steel podcast. Thank you
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: so much for your time and insight.
• 21:41
  Speaker 3: Thank you very much, Rachel. Thank you for inviting me again.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: If anything in this video resonated with you, be sure
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: to like it, share it with your friends, leave a comment.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: And as always, don't forget to subscribe, And if you
• 21:53
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• 21:56
  Speaker 1: sure that you're subscribed to my page on Substack. That's rachelblevins.substack.com.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: That's where you'll find ad-free videos and new weekly episodes
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: of my exclusive series for paid subscribers called Sanctioned. You
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: can also check out Sanctioned over on my page on Patreon.
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: That's patreon.com slash rachelblevins. As always, thank you all so
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: much for all of your support, and I'll see you
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: next time.