For a summit low on expectations but high on optics, Xi delivered a carefully crafted spectacle designed to project China’s status as the foremost peer to the US.
Former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig, who spent more than 1000 days detained by China, says middle powers will be anxious to avoid an ambiguous summit that leaves them uncertain about what Trump has actually promised.
The US president also called two female journalists “stupid” and “dumb” – one asked about surging inflation and Iran, the other pressed him on the rising costs of his White House ballroom project.
In some of his first public remarks since leaving his post as ambassador to the US, former PM Kevin Rudd recounted a telling interaction with his Chinese counterpart in 2024.
Asked whether he believed the US should still sell weapons to Taiwan, the US president said: “Well, I’m going to have that discussion with President Xi. President Xi would like us not to, and I’ll have that discussion.”
The US president lashed out at Iran’s “stupid” leaders and said their counter-proposal to end the war was a “piece of garbage” that he didn’t bother to fully read.
Many of the images are murky black-and-white photos or video clips in which the purported flying object is unclear, but others show a more defined object.
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