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Trump Speaks at State Dinner in China; President Trump's Visit to China. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 14, 2026 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[06:30:00]

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Across the centuries, this mutual esteem grew into a relationship that reflected the tremendous talent and potential of our two people. Chinese workers helped lay the railroad tracks that connected our Atlantic coast to the Pacific. American travelers to China helped spread literacy and modern medicine and, at the request of China's ambassador, it was President Theodore Roosevelt who provided the funds to establish President Xi's alma mater, Tsinghua University.

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

TRUMP: As allies in World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt's mentions of the brave people of China, that's what they were, drew loud cheers in his speeches in the United States and everybody loved what he had to say. Just as many Chinese now love basketball and blue jeans, Chinese restaurants in America today outnumber the five largest fast food chains in the United States all combined. That's a pretty big statement.

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

TRUMP: This bond of commerce and respect that stretches back 250 years is the foundation for a future that benefits both of our nations. The American and Chinese people share much in common. We value hard work. We value courage and achievement. We love our families and we love our countries. Together, we have the chance to draw on these values to create a future of greater prosperity, cooperation and happiness and peace for our children. We love our children. This region in the world, it's a special world with the two of us united and together.

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

TRUMP: Thank you again, President Xi, for this beautiful welcome. And tonight it is my honor to extend an invitation to you and Madam Peng to visit us at the White House this September 24th, and we look forward to it.

And I'd now like to raise a glass and propose a toast to the rich and enduring ties between the American and Chinese people. It's a very special relationship. And I want to thank you again. This has been an amazing period of time. Thank you, President Xi.

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

[06:35:34]

TRUMP: Thank you, everybody.

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

TRUMP: Thank you, everybody.

TRANSLATOR: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: So, you were just listening there to the toasts from Chinese President Xi Jinping and, of course, American President Donald Trump. Both of them referencing a bit what had happened earlier in the day. Of course, this is the state banquet in honor of the president's visit. You see the two shaking hands there. They are seated next to each other at this dinner, which is attended by, of course, a number of administration officials who made the trip with President Trump, as well as dozens of tech CEOs.

We also saw, just before the leaders entered the room, we saw the president's son, Eric Trump, as well as his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who were walking in as well.

We have David Sanger with us now. David, our CNN political and national security analyst.

David, as we walk through what we heard, it was interesting, from President Trump, he called this a great honor, a fantastic day, thanking his friend for a welcome like no other, and called their discussions extremely positive and productive. We heard a little bit more, I would say, going into -- coming out of, rather, President Xi's comments, talking a little bit more about the relationship than we did from President Trump.

Based on what we have seen publicly, where do you think things stand at the end of day one for this visit?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Erica, it's a little too early to tell because we haven't had time to get details about much of the discussions themselves. Certainly the ceremonial parts have gone off flawlessly, and that's not always been the case. We've had moments, particularly when Chinese leaders have come to the United States, where some of the welcome ceremonies and so forth had plenty of hitches to it, even at one point a wrong national anthem. That didn't happen this time. The Chinese had this down just right.

What did strike me, however, was that during the day, and in their discussions -- their public comments, just as they sat down in the great hall of the people, President Trump focused on his relationship with President Xi, and President Xi focused on the structural nature of the relationship between China and the United States, and drew some pretty hard red lines about topics they have to get right so that it doesn't blow up the rest of the relationship. And he started with Taiwan on that issue. So, we've heard a lot more substance from President Xi so far than we've heard from President Trump.

Now, they spent the day in meetings with all of their aides. Tomorrow will be more one on one. And my guess is, that's what the president really is holding out for, because that's the format he likes the most.

HILL: In terms of formats the president likes, the -- you know, Kristen Holmes, my colleague there, who was just speaking with us earlier, who's also in Beijing, along with you, was noting, and I have to say this stood out to me as well, President Trump seems much more muted. We already know he hasn't been taking questions from the press in the way that he normally does. He does like talking to reporters. More deferential in some ways than we see him with other world leaders.

Read into that a little bit for us, if you could, David.

SANGER: Sure.

HILL: And what this says about where the president places this visit in this moment.

SANGER: So, the president tends to be a bit more deferential and a bit more admiring of two leaders in the world, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin. Both of whom he calls strong leaders at various moments. He tends to sort of brush aside their more authoritarian natures of those governments. He clearly admires their ability to go up, be decisive, get things done, and not be challenged. And he's made, you know, jokes about this at various moments in the first term.

[06:40:03]

But clearly, if you just read his national security strategy, if you hear him talk about Russia and China, he is much more admiring of the strength of their leaders and clearly would like a good deal of that to rub off on his own position as well.

Now, I think that what you may have heard today in the more subdued nature is that he wanted to sort of soak in the pomp and circumstance. He said he really wanted to have the best and biggest greeting that China has ever given. I'm not sure he got that, but he certainly got one along those lines.

He has not spoken to the press for the past 20 or 30 hours. That will probably change tomorrow. My guess is that he'll feel it necessary to sort of characterize where this is, either in public on the ground or on his plane on the way home. He flies back Friday afternoon, China time.

HILL: It's such a good point in terms of what could happen in the one on one tomorrow. And also, David, as you pointed out, the way the president, President Trump, was characterizing this as a more of a relationship between two leaders and the emphasis -- not that there wasn't an emphasis on the two countries, but we certainly heard that emphasis, versus what we heard from Xi Jinping talking about this relationship between the two countries, notably bringing in the "make America great again" slogan, as he also -- and I just want to make sure that I'm -- I'm quoting this accurately, as he also brought in a well-known communist party slogan, saying in his toast there, "the people of China and the United States are both great peoples. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand."

You know, to your point about the red carpets that have been rolled out, both literally and figuratively for the president, for President Trump, what he hopes to get out of this. China also understands very well what President Trump wants out of this and ways that they can potentially feed into that with the pomp and circumstance of it all that President Trump is drinking it.

SANGER: That's exactly right, Erica. You know, during the Biden administration, what really annoyed the Chinese was the constant use of the phrase that it was a competitive relationship, which, if anything, understates it. In military terms, economic terms, technological terms for sure. We are competing with China on A.I., on our military buildups, in our economic interactions. And you see that in the way the two countries sanction each other, in the way the two countries go after each others individual industries, cut off critical minerals on the Chinese side, or semiconductors in the Americans going in the other direction toward China.

But President Xi wants to talk about partnership. And he sees with President Trump the moment to go do that. And I think that's what this was all about. It was the, you can make America great again while also making China great again, rather than making the argument that this is a dog-eat-dog struggle along the way.

HILL: Yes, he talked about --

SANGER: And this is a difference between whether or not you view this as a new Cold War underway, or whether or not you view this as a partnership.

HILL: Yes, and he talked about a -- about a win-win for the two countries.

I do want to play a little bit of what we heard from both leaders just moments ago. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XI JINPING, CHINESE PRESIDENT (through translator): Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand. We can help each other succeed and advance the well-being of the whole world.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Two and a half centuries later, that first connection has grown into one of the most consequential relationships in world history.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: So, some of those moments, David, that you and I were just talking about.

You know, hanging over all of this, we do know from a White House official, we're told from their meetings earlier today that both countries agree the Strait of Hormuz should remain open. Not a lot of other detail, of course, when it comes to Iran. To your point, that's likely some more of what will be discussed in those more one-on-one meetings.

But just how much is the war with Iran hanging over this visit and whatever could potentially come out of it in terms of agreements?

SANGER: It is hanging over in a really large way, Erica. And we know that China gets more than 30 percent of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz. It needs that Strait to be opened. But it also views the United States as having gotten into this conflict.

[06:45:03]

And President Xi is not in a big hurry to bail the U.S. out of what he views as its own mistake. So, there are conflicting views in China about how to go handle this. You've not seen the Chinese step in and put very much pressure on Iran.

And also, I think, President Xi is waiting to see what happens in their discussions about Taiwan and other issues, because if he does intercede with the Iranians, he wants to do it in return for some other set of concessions. And it's not clear what that will be. I think he would like to see President Trump walk back some of the U.S. commitments to Taiwan, or at least create some doubt about whether the U.S. would come to the -- to Taiwan's aid if it did get into a direct confrontation with China in coming years.

HILL: David Sanger, always appreciate the insight, joining us there from Beijing.

Stay with us. We're going to continue to follow, of course, the developments as we -- you see the president there, just moments ago, toasting those in the room at the state banquet being held in his honor on the occasion of his visit to China. Our coverage continues on the other side of this quick break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:39]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you again, President Xi, for this beautiful welcome. And tonight it is my honor to extend an invitation to you and Madam Peng to visit us at the White House this September 24th. And we look forward to it. And I'd now like to raise a glass and propose a toast to the rich and

enduring ties between the American and Chinese people. It's a very special relationship. And I want to thank you again. This has been an amazing period of time. Thank you, President Xi. Thank you, everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: President Trump there just moments ago in his toast at the state banquet being held in his honor. Toasting to a rich and enduring relationship with China.

Joining us here, Ron Brownstein, CNN's senior political analyst, Mike Dubke, former Trump White House communications director, and Meghan Hays, former Biden White House director of message planning.

Nice to see all of you this morning.

Ron, you know, as I was just talking about with our good friend David Sanger, not a ton of information coming out so far about day one. A little bit more from the Chinese side. But the White House a bit more reserved, a bit more tight lipped. The president as well. How much is riding on this visit for President Trump?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you know, the speech was kind of unremarkable, which was remarkable in itself from where he started. I mean, you got to remember, I mean, Trump, going back -- President Trump, going back to his first term, talked about decoupling from China. He attacked Biden for four years, saying that he was weak on China. He said he would force China to transform its economy with these punishing tariffs. And, you know, and here we are.

When China punched back with threatening, you know, to withhold the rare earth minerals that are so critical to different elements of our economy and the world economy, his goals have shifted to kind of the conventional, go to a country and get them to announce a bunch of agreements to buy American stuff. So, I mean, to me this is -- this event so far is just a measure of how much his goals on China have kind of contracted and that he is looking for something very different than what he set out in the campaign, or indeed even toward the end of his -- parts of his first term.

HILL: Mike, how much is this about, frankly, maintaining a relationship, as opposed to moving it forward in this moment?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, what really struck me from both of the speeches was that President Trump focused on the U.S.-Chinese relations, and President Xi is focused more on the U.S. and China together and world relations. That's what really struck me as part of this.

But I think to getting to your question and to address where Ron was going with this, in terms of trade agreements, I mean, they are going to talk about soybeans -- you know, exciting things like soybeans and LNG. But also the import -- potential import of Chinese cars into the United States, which I know frightens a lot of people in Detroit. But, frankly, one of the things that has come out and is different

than the first Trump administration to this in terms of relationships with China, is America has made some strides, especially on rare earths, in bringing the rest of the world together to find alternative minerals, in this case, to counter China. So, I think a lot of the moves that the president's already made is setting us up at this point to have this more mundane bilat and conversations today in -- or tomorrow in China.

HILL: More mundane. I mean I will say that is sort of the reaction we've seen initially is this all feels very low key. And not low key in the way the kids talk about things these days, but literally low key, Meghan.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: I mean, this pageantry, I don't think necessarily is low key. I think that's trying to play to Trump's ego here. But I also think this visit is not the visit of strength that Trump thought he would be going into China with. Like, he needs China to help him open the Strait of Hormuz. We are coming in with a negotiating power here that we didn't necessarily have when -- or we had before we entered Iran.

So, you know, and I also think, to Mike's point about the ag possibilities with soybeans and cars in Detroit, some of these negotiations have a lot of political implications for Trump and the Republican Party. So, he needs to make sure that this is sort of a nothing burger meeting and that this is maintaining relationships.

[06:55:05]

So, Trump just doesn't have the strength that he thought he was going to have, you know, going into this first meeting with China.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HILL: Well, you know, I'm going to keep going back to this, but that's because it is so important, the Iran angle that is hanging over all of this and a desire for China to nudge, perhaps, Tehran a bit. That desire does not seem to exist in the same way on the part of the Chinese, Ron.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I think this is revealing of a -- of a kind of broader pattern that we see in -- particularly in this second Trump term. I mean his initial response to any challenge is coercion, is the assertion of U.S. economic or military power. But he often seems surprised when the target finds a way to push back. And it's not clear there's kind of a plan b.

I mean, what we're watching and the economic relationship with China, when the threat of tariffs did not have the desired effect and China found an effective way to push back by threatening the rare earth minerals is very similar to what we're watching in Iran when the bombing campaign did not have the initial effect. Certainly succeeded militarily, but did not change the behavior in the way that he expected. They found an asymmetric way to push back. And now the administration is kind of at sea, literally and, you know, pressuring China to try to -- to try to help them. It's just kind of -- to me, it's a consistent pattern that they seem to underestimate the ability of their targets. We could say the same thing about the people of Minneapolis, by the way, with ICE, to find a way to push back and then to have a counter response to that. And I think that's one of the reasons why this is so low key, because he has lost a lot of his stomach for the kind of confrontation with China that he promised when he was out of office.

HILL: Mike, there are questions about how Taiwan could potentially be used in these discussions and how it could be used by President Trump. What is your sense of where those around the president fall when it comes to that decision?

DUBKE: Well, look, I think Taiwan is maybe -- it is the most unspoken word during these -- during these meetings. And if we go back to what's happening in Iran, this is giving the Chinese government and President Xi a -- almost a lens into how the United States would react to an invasion by China in Taiwan. They're looking at how the U.S. reacted to Putin's actions in Ukraine. They're looking at what the United States and how they have dealt with the Iranians. And I think they take all of this into consideration when looking at Taiwan.

Now, from the American perspective, nothing has really changed. I think the president's been very careful with his language vis a vis Taiwan. And that will, I hope, continue tomorrow in their conversations. We just cut -- we just sold $11 billion worth of armaments to Taiwan. I think much to the chagrin of China. But this is going to overshadow, I think, most of tomorrow is this this push and pull over the Taiwan question.

HILL: And, of course, you had the comment from President Xi that we got in the -- in the Chinese state readout of those initial discussions today, Meghan, that Taiwan is, in fact, the most important issue for China. Not surprising. Also not surprising that there was a swift response from Taipei. But China very clearly setting the stage for that, Meghan.

HAYS: Yes. I think a lot of national security folks in the United States are worried that Trump is going to say something off the cuff that is not in line with our policy in Taiwan. And I think that China is banking on that and banking on putting him in a corner. And I think that this is part of the negotiations and part of the whole pageantry of this and why it is so low key. Trump is trying to stay under the radar on a lot of these issues and not say something that will impact our relations and will impact him greatly back in the United States. So, I think he's trying to walk a tightrope here of, you know, getting something for -- getting the Strait of Hormuz open without giving away Taiwan.

HILL: Ron, I'll give you, real quickly, last word. What specifically are you looking for to come out of tomorrow?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I think, like -- I think, as I said, I think this has become kind of a -- devolved into kind of the conventional presidential trip to a foreign country where you give a speech talking about your long, historic ties, working Ben Franklin, and try to negotiate a bunch of business deals, rather than the kind of fundamental reassessment of the relationship that he once promised or threatened, depending on your point of view. And as I said, I think that's indicative of the challenge they are facing on many fronts. When the targets of their pressure or coercion find a way to push back, it's not clear they have a plan b. It may be better for the world in the long run, but it's very different than what he kind of suggested when he was out of office.

HILL: We will be following all of those developments, of course, right here throughout the day.

Good to have all of you here this morning. Nice to see you. Thank you.

[07:00:00]

And, of course, if you're just joining us, we've been following, for the last hour plus or so, are these latest developments coming out of China? You see President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China making their way just a short time ago into the banquet, the state banquet there, that is being held in honor of President Trump's visit to China. This, of course, capping off their first day of discussions. A little more one-on-one time expected tomorrow between the two leaders. But a busy first day. A number of administration officials, tech CEOs there as well.

Our coverage continues next with the headlines.