Trump-Xi ‘Placeholder’ Summit Yields Good Vibes: Supply Lines

May 18, 2026, 11:00 AM UTC

Good vibes matter in geopolitics and economics. They help avoid wars and recessions. Then again, if all you have to go on is good vibes that probably spells trouble.

If there was one big takeaway from last week’s Beijing summit between US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping, it was the calm atmospherics. From the moment he set off for China to his flight home Trump seemed determined to be a gracious guest. And Xi was an effusive host.

But what we’ve learned since is that there may not have been much more to come out of the two ...

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