From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams and this is the Daily.
For the first time in nearly a decade, President Trump will meet with China's President Xi in Beijing.
The meeting comes as Trump struggles to extract himself from the war with Iran
and must now face off against China, the biggest threat to the U.S.'s dominance
on everything from technology to trade.
Today, my colleague David Sanger explains what's likely to come of this meeting and, more pressingly, what will not.
It's Wednesday, May 13th.
Hey guys, can you hear me?
David, we can hear you. Where are you right now?
Good, good, good. I'm in my hotel in Beijing.
I just arrived with several of my Washington bureau colleagues,
and we are all preparing for the president arriving for his first trip to China in the second term.
He'll get in on Wednesday night and meet chinese Leader the next morning
and part of Friday before he just turns around and goes right back home.
Okay, so now that you're in Beijing, can you set the scene for us a little bit, David?
Like, what is the significance of this meeting between President Trump and chinese Leader?
Well, as initially conceived, Rachel, this was going to be the first of a series of meetings this year
in an effort by the president to have something of a rapprochement with the Chinese
after many, many years of tension.
Last time the president was here was 2017, and it was a very different situation.