A golden statue of Trump draws mixed reactions at his golf course The Washington Post
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Trump Discussed U.S. Arms Sales With Xi ‘In Great Detail’ – The New York Times
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Xi warns Trump about the ‘Thucydides Trap.’ Here’s what it means – USA Today
May 15, 2026, 10:18 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump blamed his predecessor Joe Biden for making the United States “a nation in decline” after Chinese President Xi Jinping invoked the name of an ancient Greek general to discuss U.S.-Chinese relations.
Xi, speaking to Trump on May 14 during their high-stakes Beijing summit, warned of the “Thucydides Trap,” a political theory that war is the likely result when an emerging world power threatens to displace an existing power.
“Can China and the U.S. cross the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’ and forge a new paradigm of great power relations?” Xi said through a translator. “Can we work together to tackle global challenges and inject more stability into the world?”
The phrase, popularized by American political scientist Graham Allison, refers to an observation Thucydides made in his late-5th century book, “History of the Peloponnesian War, that “it was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in Sparta that made war inevitable.”
Allison, in his 2007 book, “Destined For War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?” wrote: “China and the United States are currently on a collision course for war — unless both parties take difficult and painful actions to avert it.”
Trump, in a post on Truth Social following his meeting, said when Xi “very elegantly referred to the United States as perhaps being a declining nation,” the Chinese leader was referring to the “tremendous damage we suffered” during the Biden presidency.
“And on that score, he was 100% correct,” Trump said, singling out immigration and border control, taxes, transgender policies, trade deals and crime under Biden.
“President Xi was not referring to the incredible rise that the United States has displayed to the world during the 16 spectacular months of the Trump Administration,” Trump added, touting the performance of the stock market even though gas prices are on the rise, his administration’s military operations in Venezuela and Iran, and his efforts to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
“Two years ago, we were, in fact, a Nation in decline. On that, I fully agree with President Xi! But now, the United States is the hottest Nation anywhere in the world, and hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and better than ever before!” the president said.
Trump left Beijing on May 15 to return back to Washington, concluding a two-day visit in China that was a U.S. president’s first trip to China since Trump’s 2017 visit. On his way back to the White House, Trump touted “fantastic trade deals” between the two countries, agreements from China to purchase Boeing planes and working with China on potential “guardrails” for artificial intelligence.
“We had an amazing time,” Trump said. “It was a very historic couple of days, I think.”
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.
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Trump says he ‘made no commitment either way’ to Xi on Taiwan – BBC
ReutersChina’s President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump discussed Taiwan during bilateral talks in Beijing US President Donald Trump has said he has “made no commitment either way” on Taiwan during talks with China’s President Xi Jinping.
On the flight back to Washington after the two-day summit in Beijing, Trump told reporters the pair had “talked a lot” about Taiwan – a self-governing island, which China claims as part of its territory and has not ruled out taking by force.
Trump said Xi had asked directly if the US would defend Taiwan, and he had responded: “I don’t talk about that.”
The US president also said he would “make a determination over a fairly short period” on whether to go ahead with previously US announced arms sales to Taiwan which China has condemned.
Taiwan is a long-standing US ally and Washington is bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.
Successive US administrations have walked a diplomatic tightrope by maintaining that relationship alongside building ties with Beijing.
But that balance has been increasingly tested in recent years as China has ramped up military drills around the island, raising tensions in the region, and rattling Washington.
However on Friday, Trump said he would be “making decisions” on the sale, adding that he would speak to Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te first.
“We discussed the Taiwan, you know, the whole thing with the arm sales in great detail,” he said, referring to talks with his Chinese host in Beijing.
Xi “feels very strongly” about the island and “doesn’t want to see a movement for independence”, Trump said.
“I made no commitment either way,” Trump added, without elaborating.
“The Taiwan question is the most important issue in China-US relations,” Xi warned during the talks, according to Chinese state media.
“If mishandled, the two nations could collide or even come into conflict,” he said.
Asked if he foresaw a conflict with China over Taiwan, Trump said: “No, I don’t think so. I think we’ll be fine. [Xi] doesn’t want to see a war.”
He added: “On Taiwan, [Xi] does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation, and I heard him out.
“I didn’t make a comment on it. I heard him out. I had a lot of respect for him.”
Reporters also asked Trump if the US would defend Taiwan should it come under attack.
“I don’t want to say that. I’m not going to say that,” Trump said. “There’s only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me.”
He continued: “That question was asked to me today by President Xi… He asked me if I’d defend them. I said, ‘I don’t talk about that’.”
Watch: What did we learn from Trump’s visit to China? Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said his team had been monitoring the US-China summit, and had maintained good communication with the US and other countries “to ensure the stable deepening of Taiwan-US relations and safeguard Taiwan’s interests”.
He said Taiwan had always been a “guardian of peace and stability” in the region and accused China of escalating risk with its “aggressive military actions and authoritarian oppression”.
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Five Takeaways From the Trump-Xi Summit – WSJ
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