Get Ready for a ‘Very Difficult’ Trump-Xi Summit

Does the administration have a strategy for this vital meeting with the Chinese president or does Trump just want to tweet about it?

On this episode of The E.R., Max Boot joins us to discuss his new book "The Road Not Taken."
On this episode of The E.R., Max Boot joins us to discuss his new book "The Road Not Taken."
On this episode of The E.R., Max Boot joins us to discuss his new book "The Road Not Taken."

On this week’s first episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf, Kori Schake, Colin Kahl, and FP’s chief diplomatic correspondent Colum Lynch, discuss President Trump’s latest meetings with foreign leaders. Trump and Egypt’s autocratic President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi showed their mutual admiration for one another, and the administration is gearing up for a crucial meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Is Trump finally showing his flair for diplomatic realpolitik? Not so fast.

On this week’s first episode of The E.R., David Rothkopf, Kori Schake, Colin Kahl, and FP’s chief diplomatic correspondent Colum Lynch, discuss President Trump’s latest meetings with foreign leaders. Trump and Egypt’s autocratic President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi showed their mutual admiration for one another, and the administration is gearing up for a crucial meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Is Trump finally showing his flair for diplomatic realpolitik? Not so fast.

The panel argues that Trump and the administration are diving into this summit way too fast and should have bargained for more out of the meeting. But is Trump just vying for another statesmanlike photo op?

The team also discusses the secretary of everything, aka Jared Kushner. Right now, it seems that he is heading the charge on China, Israel, Iraq, Mexico, Middle East peace, health care … oh, and bringing business innovation to government. That’s a pretty full plate. But is it so bad if Kushner is at the helm? On the one hand, he’s young and can learn and thus grow into these positions. Or is his inexperience a real problem?

Colin Kahl is a contributing editor to FP’s Shadow Government blog. He’s currently a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in the security studies program, and was previously the deputy assistant to President Barack Obama and national security advisor to Vice President Joe Biden. Follow him on Twitter at: @ColinKahl.

Kori Schake is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, where she focuses on military history, and a former foreign-policy advisor to Sen. John McCain. Follow her on Twitter at: @KoriSchake.

Colum Lynch in FP’s chief diplomatic correspondent. Follow him on Twitter at: @columlynch.

David Rothkopf is the CEO and editor of the FP Group. Follow him on Twitter at: @djrothkopf.

Tune in, now twice a week, to FP’s The E.R.

Subscribe to The E.R. and Global Thinkers podcasts on iTunes.

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.