Peter Hartcher, writing in The Sydney Morning Herald:
“These last few summits” between Trump and Xi “underscore China’s and Xi’s dramatic arrival on the international stage in a way that highlights China’s growing influence and America’s growing alienation in the world,” Kurt Campbell, US deputy secretary of state under Joe Biden tells me. “It’s hard not to be deeply troubled.”
Trump, like an overexcited adolescent, went to Andrews Air Base to welcome Xi to Washington at the foot of the aircraft stairs. This is customarily assigned to a protocol officer.
The last time a US president did this was in 2015, when Barack Obama welcomed the Pope. Before that, it was John F. Kennedy welcoming Britain’s Harold McMillan in 1962. So it’s an extremely rare honour previously accorded a great religious leader and a key US ally. Now extended to a dictator leading an enemy state.
“We should have gotten something for that,” says Randy Schriver, a Republican appointed by Trump to be assistant defence secretary in Trump’s first term. “And I’m not sure we did.”
Peter Hartcher’s opinion piece in The Sydney Morning Herald 🔒 is also archived.
Last Updated on October 1, 2026 08:21 EDT