From ‘cheats’ to ‘great friendship’: How Trump’s rhetoric on China changed

When Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday evening, United States President Donald Trump rolled out a warm and unusually lavish welcome for his Chinese counterpart. Trump went down to Joint Base Andrews near Washington to greet Xi on the tarmac – the first time a US president has greeted a foreign leader in such a way since 1962, when John F Kennedy welcomed UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Though the Xi-Trump meeting delivered little significant shift in relations beyond extending a fragile trade war truce for another two months , Washington laid on hours of pageantry, more pomp and lavish tours for Xi’s entourage, and praise for the Chinese president and his wife.