Trump Rolls Out Red Carpet for Xi as China Has NEVER Been Stronger
Raging Moderates with Scott Galloway and Jessica TarlovShow Notes
Scott Galloway is joined today by Alice Han for a deep dive into one of the most consequential diplomatic events of Trump's second term: Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the United States in nearly a decade.
Trump personally welcomed Xi at Andrews Air Force Base — the first U.S. president since JFK to receive a foreign counterpart there — rolling out the full diplomatic spectacle of a state dinner and red carpet welcome. Ahead of Xi's arrival, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the U.S. and China have extended their trade truce until January.But underneath the pageantry are much more consequential questions. Alice gives her high-level read on the summit: what Xi actually came to Washington to get, what Trump was looking for, and how much the balance of power between the two countries has shifted since Trump's first term — when China has since become a major player in AI, EVs, robotics, chips, and space. They also talk through international relations and the balance of power not just between the two superpowers, but how Taiwan, Iran, and Ukraine are impacting their relationship.
On AI: Bernie Sanders introduced a bill this week to ban artificial superintelligence and establish a Cabinet-level agency to regulate it. The U.S. and China are competing intensely to lead the technology, but both governments are also increasingly alarmed by what these systems can do. Can the two countries cooperate on AI safety while remaining fierce competitors everywhere else?
On trade: the two-month truce extension buys time — but what does each country actually need from a longer-term deal, and what are the real sticking points?
Trump’s press ban fallout also reached the summit itself: a federal judge ordered the White House to restore access for CNN, MSNOW, and Politico, calling the ban likely unconstitutional. Major TV networks also declined to film Xi's arrival. Alice breaks down how that dynamic — an American president fighting his own press at a state visit — lands in Beijing.
And with AOC teasing a 2028 run, JB Pritzker sharing his weight loss journey, and Kamala Harris campaigning with Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, Alice also weighs in on how China is thinking about the 2028 elections and what a new political era in America might mean for the relationship.
Finally: looking five to ten years out, is the U.S.-China relationship heading toward a managed rivalry with agreed rules of the road — or into a period of much more intense competition?
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