{"id":225446,"date":"2026-09-25T06:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T06:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-swoons-over-strongman-soulmate-xi-are-you-feeling-jealous-vladimir-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T06:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T06:56:19","slug":"trump-swoons-over-strongman-soulmate-xi-are-you-feeling-jealous-vladimir-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-swoons-over-strongman-soulmate-xi-are-you-feeling-jealous-vladimir-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump swoons over strongman soulmate Xi \u2013 are you feeling jealous, Vladimir? – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deference was deafening as US president rolled out red carpet for world\u2019s biggest jailer of journalists \u2013 perhaps he was seeking tips
One is an authoritarian who represses the media and has a strong allergy to democratic elections. The other is head of the Chinese Communist party.
Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to the White House on Thursday, setting the stage for a scene quite unlike anything the august old building has seen over more than two centuries.
\u201cRemarkably,\u201d observed the US president, \u201cthis is our first time meeting together here at the White House, and as President Xi has already seen, a lot has changed since he was last here.\u201d
While Xi remained poker-faced, only a brief look around a grand foyer bedecked with American and Chinese flags would have verified Trump\u2019s statement. On one wall, where an official portrait of Barack Obama once hung, was the dramatic image of a bloodied Trump with fist raised urging his supporters to \u201cfight!\u201d after a failed assassination attempt.
And while Chinese state media had been welcomed onto the White House grounds, many US journalists had not, thanks to Trump\u2019s ban on CNN, MS Now and Politico. Michael McFaul, a former US diplomat, described the vivid contrast<\/a> as \u201cwrong and embarrassing\u201d.
That was hard to deny, given that China<\/a> ranks 178th in Reporters Without Borders\u2019 press freedom index, ahead of only North Korea and Eritrea (the US, for the record, is down to 64th). But it also made perfect sense because, whereas past presidents sought to make China more like the US, Trump evidently aspires to make the US more like China.
The deference was deafening. On Wednesday night he and his wife, Melania, travelled to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to greet Xi off his plane \u2013 a schlep that US presidents rarely make for foreign leaders \u2013 and rolled out a literal red carpet for his strongman soulmate.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, observed on X<\/a>: \u201cIf you\u2019re a foreign authoritarian, Trump won\u2019t just invite you to visit America, he\u2019ll roll out the red carpet for you\u2026\u201d
Vladimir, are you feeling jealous yet?
\u201cI met President Xi at the plane (Airport!) yesterday and he looks strong, vibrant, and fit \u2014 Better than ever,\u201d a gooey-eyed Trump gushed on his Truth Social patform. \u201cMadam Xi, of course, BEAUTIFUL!\u201d
Protocol error! Protocol error! When the president wrote \u201cMadam Xi\u201d, referring to Xi\u2019s wife Peng Liyuan, he should have said \u201cMadame Peng\u201d, which is how she is recognised.
Xi is such a star that he got two welcomes. On Thursday morning, there were more flags, more trumpet blasts, and another red carpet as the Trumps emerged from the White House south portico to greet Xi and Peng.
Then it was on to the grand foyer for statements \u2013 with no reporter questions allowed, of course \u2013 before the two delegations, including Vice-President JD Vance and wife Usha, sitting in neat rows. Trump went first. You can tell when he\u2019s on his best behaviour because he (mostly) sticks to the teleprompter. The interpreter must have been relieved that he did not have to match Trump, weave for weave.
Trump touted his \u201ctruly \u2060great friendship\u201d with Xi and claimed the two countries \u2060had made strides on trade since his trip \u200bto China in May. \u201cDuring this visit, we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and \u2018super intelligence,\u2019\u201d he said, using his alternative name for artificial intelligence. If Xi felt like rolling his eyes at that, he managed to resist.
The president, ever nostalgic for the 20th century, suggested that the second world war offers a lesson on how the competitors can work together. \u201cBrave American pilots volunteered to come to China and fight for the very survival of the legendary country,\u201d he said, referring to the Flying Tigers air corps that helped defend China against Japanese invasion. \u201cThey were just unbelievable.\u201d
He added that it was US marines\u2019 interactions with Chinese citizens that inspired them \u201cto adopt a Chinese phrase that they still use today: gung ho\u201d.
Rarely does Trump appear at an event and not end up behind the microphone for longer than any other speaker on the bill.
But it was Xi, speaking more substantially, who looked like he owned the place. Trump, sitting behind with hands clasped together, had the appearance of junior partner. Xi said he was ready to work with the president to \u201csteer the giant ship of the China-US relationship on a steady course toward the future\u201d.
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!
Xi had a charm offensive of his own. \u201cPresident Trump and I have respect for each other,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have built personal rapport and stayed in touch.\u201d
He announced Thursday that 100,000 young American students would be invited to study in China over the next five years. Better still, he revealed China will sent two giant pandas \u2013 Ping Ping and Fuchuan \u2013 to a zoo in Atlanta.
Then he got to the meat in the sandwich, insisting that the countries can \u201cco-exist in peace\u201d and their competition \u201cshould be a healthy one\u201d. \u201cThe Thucydides trap can be overcome,\u201d Xi declared, in a tacit acknowledgement that China is threatening to displace the US as the world\u2019s superpower.
But with more flattery, he added: \u201cAchieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.\u201d
Next up was a military ceremony including a flyover at the Rose Garden, with Chinese flags waving from the Oval Office roof alongside US flags. A marching band dressed in the garb of the Revolutionary War era \u2013 tricorn hats, white wigs, red tunics \u2013 paraded in the paved over Rose Garden (another change since Xi\u2019s last visit).
None of this was covered by the usual cable news networks because they were boycotting shared coverage, in solidarity with the banned outlets. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a democracy falls and no one is around to film it, does it make a yelp?
Trump then sat down with the world\u2019s biggest jailer of journalists for bilateral talks. Perhaps he was seeking tips.
When they met face to face, was this a Reagan-Gorbachev style summit of great historical import, discussing guardrails on AI and other ways not to destroy the world? Maybe not.
Showing off the Marine One helicopter and his new helipad on the south lawn, Trump reported<\/a>: \u201cWe had a great meeting – and he has a great interest in granite. He likes granite. He\u2019s an expert on stone, aside from many other things, and he loves good granite.\u201d
Not even Xi had been spared the dreaded tour of Trump\u2019s architectural follies.
By the afternoon, some of the banned reporters had been allowed back on to the White House campus after a judge found Trump\u2019s action to be unconstitutional. It must have been a tricky one to explain to Xi. He remains the master of repression; Trump is merely The Apprentice.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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