How Xi Jinping's China Is Taming Donald Trump

Mallen Baker: Faultlines · Sep 22, 2026 · 17m

Today was a helter skelter of foreign policy set pieces for President Trump, with the United Nations General Assembly in full swing. But tomorrow is when the real action begins, when China's Xi Jinping arrives for his state visit to the US. Relations between the two competing giants are fraught, but also the Trump team have been almost uniquely restrained. And that's because - for now, at least, President Xi is playing Trump with a degree of skill, backed by strength, that no other leader has yet managed. Let's discuss.