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U.S. Policy Towards Taiwan; CIA Director Visits Cuba; Nicholas Burns is Interviewed about the China Summit. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired May 15, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:32:17]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.
The Supreme Court allowing continued access to the abortion pill, Mifepristone, at least for now. This comes amid back and forth over telehealth and mail access to the medication. While Louisiana pushes to limit availability in lower courts. Now, the court did not explain its reasoning, nor did it reveal the final vote count.
Tomorrow, voters head to the polls in Louisiana. The Republican Senate primary will be a test of President Trump's power within the party. So, Senator Bill Cassidy, who actually voted to impeach Trump, is running for re-election. And he faces a challenge from Representative Julia Letlow, who Trump has endorsed, and the state treasurer, John Fleming.
One ship is sunk, another taken in the Strait of Hormuz Thursday, while President Trump was trying to get China to convince Iran to reopen this vital waterway. The U.K. Maritime Center says a ship anchored off the coast of the UAE was seized and taken toward Iran. Another ship, an Indian flagged cargo vessel, was attacked and that one sank off the coast of Oman. All the crew members on that ship were rescued.
And it's unclear this morning if U.S. policy towards Taiwan will change after President Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping in China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Did you talk about Taiwan, Mr. President?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, Trump did not respond to questions from reporters from reporters about whether he and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan during their meeting. Xi has called Taiwan the most important issue in China-U.S. relations and warned it could create a very dangerous situation if mishandled. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the issue of future U.S. arms sales to the island has been discussed in the past, but, quote, "did not feature prominently in these discussions." He also added that U.S. policy on Taiwan has not changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: And they always raise that issue. And we understand they raise that issue. From our perspective, any forced change in the status quo and the situation that's there now would be bad for both countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, group chat is back, but this time we're having Alex Plitsas join us. He's a CNN national security analyst.
I'm glad you're here, because this is one of those conversations where what is unsaid is as interesting as what is said. So, what did you take from the way Xi was so forward in talking about Taiwan and Trump's silence?
ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think the president won't address it because it is a very sensitive topic. So, it's a confusing policy for anybody who's watching in the -- in the U.S. So, for those of you at home, there's what we call the One China Policy, right, which is where China believes it's one China, including Taiwan.
[06:35:02]
It's a breakaway province. And the U.S. says that we believe in that, but for years we've been selling about a half a billion dollars a year in average on arms sales to Taiwan.
CORNISH: And let me just, while you're talking, I'm going to show the audience here.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: In 2025, U.S. arms deals ran to $11 billion and in 2026, $14 billion.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: It's significant because Taiwan was trying to basically remind people of this relationship heading into the conversation.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: And Xi was reminding the U.S. it stands.
PLITSAS: Absolutely. And that's the problem. It's the -- I believe it's the 13th largest economy in the world, if I'm not mistaken. I mean the massive amount of chips are produced there. There's all kinds of economic issues at play. There's about 100 miles between the Chinese coast and Taiwan. And so, the South China Sea contingency has been problematic for a few reasons. One, you know, is this something that's going to happen by force?
We've seen China basically, after Nancy Pelosi visited, that, for them, was a big political watershed moment. And then the exercises began to increase in frequency in which the Chinese navy would literally surround the island or practice it basically for a future blockade. And then this year we actually saw, I think it was something like 2,000 commercial boats got together in the middle of the Pacific forming basically a line, hundreds of miles long. And that was meant to serve as a practice disruption for ships coming across. So, it's clear the exercises.
CORNISH: And you told me yesterday that they had bumped up their sort of timeline for when they would draw closer to Taiwan, so to speak, to 2027.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: So I think maybe that's why you've got this bipartisan group of senators coming out to say, hey, Rubio, please publicly reaffirm this commitment. In a way he did do that.
PLITSAS: Yes. Yes. And he didn't do so. I mean, he made it clear that there was no change to the U.S. policy there. I think, for that moment, it was an -- it would have been an awkward moment for the president with President Xi Jinping to have to answer that question. I think he chose just not to do that. And they'll deal with it on the back end.
Because the focus of this trip, he didn't want it to be necessarily geopolitical.
CORNISH: Yes.
PLITSAS: We -- you know, Iran, obviously, we rejected the last proposal they sent. We rejected specifically five out of the 14 points. But we haven't seen renewed military strikes yet, which could have been ordered, I don't think the president wanted that, or any other geopolitical issues to overshadow a trip based on economics.
CORNISH: So, one of the things I've been thinking about is how China, you know, has -- gives so much support to Iran in so many ways. And they are the customer for Iran's oil.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: Their oil -- that oil is passing through the Strait.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: China does not appear to have any incentive whatsoever to help Trump with this situation. Are they pushing the Iranians towards the table to talk more? Like, what are they doing?
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: And do you -- what would you be looking for in the coming days to show that Trump had made a difference there?
PLITSAS: Sure. So, for some of the interlocutors in the region and some of the folks that have been acting as intermediaries, I've been told that the Iranian foreign minister has been almost in daily contact with the Chinese foreign minister. I don't think there's been a desire to get involved at this point for a few reasons.
CORNISH: Wait, they're in daily contact, but they're not going to help.
PLITSAS: I mean not to the extent where they're going to step in and sort of mediate. They, you know, they don't believe that this war should have started in the first place. That was the president's statement that came out from China. It was that the -- this was, you know, the Straits need to be opened up for freedom of passage, of movement, et cetera. But it came with a very stern back comment on that, which was that this war should have never happened in the first place, which was sort of a backhanded slap at the U.S. for initiating the conflict in Iran. So, that's pretty much where the -- where the Chinese are coming from.
Long story short, they are, like we just said, 2027, Xi Jinping told the PLA to be prepared to take Taiwan at the earliest. 2049 is their master plan for them to become an economic global power at that point, or actually across the entire paradigm of diplomatic information, military and economic. We call it the dime (ph) paradigm.
So, in the interim, as long as we're tied up in the Middle East and we're not pivoting towards the Pacific, which is what they want, it's a benefit. But there's a tradeoff. There will come a point where if there's going to be a global recession or anything that could impact China off the back end of it, they'll step in, but they're going to kind of let this go as long as necessary.
CORNISH: Well, it's already hitting many of the folks in the Asia Pacific region.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: So, we're going to see how that affects things long term.
I want to ask about one other issue while you're here --
PLITSAS: Sure.
CORNISH: Which is Cuba.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: Because that's taken a turn. You had the CIA director --
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: John Ratcliffe, visiting that island on Thursday --
PLITSAS: Yes. CORNISH: To meet with intelligence officials. Raul Guillermo Rodrguez Castro (ph), who's the grandson of the former leader, Raul Castro --
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: And a CIA official told "Axios" that Ratcliffe's message was to take a lesson from the January operation that toppled Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
So, for the average person in Cuba, like, they are literally in the dark, because the power these sanctions have had a real effect.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICENTE DE LA O LEVY, CUBAN MINISTER OF ENERGY AND MINING (through translator): Crude oil, fuel oil, of which we have absolutely none. Diesel, of which we have absolutely none. I'm being repetitive. The only thing we have is gas from our wells.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, group chat is back.
There is some humanitarian aid that the U.S. is offering to Cuba.
JEANETTE HOFFMAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST : Yes.
CORNISH: That's not supposed to go to the government. It's supposed to go to non-government charities and things like that.
[06:40:02]
But at what point does maximum pressure become maximum pain for people there? Like, at what point does this become a humanitarian crisis that the U.S. will have to answer for?
MAX ROSE, FORMER NEW YORK REPRESENTATIVE: It -- you know, I -- Donald Trump has said that Cuba's next in line. And in light of what occurred in Venezuela and Iran just this year, I don't think anyone should be taking for granted the extent to which this administration are jingoistic war mongers committed to producing more forever wars, not less. Exactly the opposite of what they campaigned on.
CORNISH: But would Cuba be a forever war? I mean it's a decimated economy. What are you thinking about?
HOFFMAN: Yes, I mean, I would disagree (ph). I don't think it's a forever war. I think Cuba needs America's help right now. They have no power. They're completely in the dark. As you said, they're out of fuel. People are literally eating garbage from the streets according to Marco Rubio.
They're being offered $100 million in humanitarian aid, which they desperately need right now in exchange for their cooperation with the CIA, with the intelligence community. I think that's a pretty good deal for Cuba right now. And there's reports that Raul Castro is about to be indicted.
PLITSAS: I think there's actually shades of Venezuela. It's funny, I call it Caracas.
CORNISH: It's not just shades, right?
PLITSAS: I mean, I call it shades, literally in sense I call it Caracas goggles that the president's looking through when he sees it.
CORNISH: Oh.
PLITSAS: The same thing with Iran. It was --
CORNISH: Did you say Caracas goggles?
PLITSAS: Caracas goggles.
CORNISH: I'm going to use that from now on.
PLITSAS: I call it, when everybody looks at it --
CORNISH: Yes.
PLITSAS: Because now you had that amazing raid that came in. Maduro was out, as they'll call it now. Not much has changed on the ground if you talk to folks in Venezuela from a policy perspective.
CORNISH: Sure.
PLITSAS: But militarily, it was done. You got Delcy Rodriguez and supposedly cooperating with the U.S. They tried the same approach in Iran with the decapitation strikes. We're still in the middle of this issue now. And the theory here is the same thing, that if we can change the government out with enough pressure that we can get policy changed.
So, my understanding is that the president's frustrated that this hasn't collapsed yet, and that Ratcliffe was there yesterday to deliver an ultimatum with a timeline that basically you need to get onboard or gone. And where --
CORNISH: Yes. But it's interesting. It's not a diplomat. It's the CIA. You know what I mean?
PLITSAS: It's the CIA.
CORNISH: Just -- some of the senator's response here.
ROSE: The third time's the charm.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: It's Tim Kaine saying, "I don't think we should assume he's bluffing." PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: You've got Elizabeth Warren saying, "he should not attack another country and that definitely includes Cuba."
And then you had 52 Democrats write a letter to the president, and they said this, "doubling down on failed strategies by restricting access to energy and health care is contrary to American values and needlessly exacerbating humanitarian crisis. The reason why I wanted to bring this up is because it's one thing to do what we did in Venezuela, right?
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: For the U.S. to all of -- to go in, pull something out, and, frankly, leave a lot of it alone, right?
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: The same government is in place. This is really destructive, you know, and this is right off the coast of Florida. Like, there feels like the aftermath of this will not be what happened in Venezuela.
PLITSAS: No, I mean, in this case, 90 miles off the coast of Florida. I mean Cuba has been hostile in terms of intelligence service and hosting a number of our adversaries and helping to sponsor issues throughout the region. So, there's been, you know, there's a reason we've had sanctions in place for sort of a long time. And so, there's a bit of politics that goes back with the complaints about the sanctions. We have sanctions against a number of countries. And unfortunately, after 50 years in many other countries, they find workarounds for a lot of stuff, which is where the relationship with Cuba and Venezuela was a problem.
What I found particularly interesting yesterday was on the back end of the trip, what leaked out was that the U.S. is allegedly looking to indict Raul Castro for downing aircraft back in the 90s. If we were --
CORNISH: So, just to be clear, there is someone somewhere may be preparing a formal indictment.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: Just like there was an indictment of Maduro.
PLITSAS: Exactly.
CORNISH: And this was leaked out of this CIA meeting. Not that I think CIA people would leak a thing.
PLITSAS: No, no.
CORNISH: But --
PLITSAS: It came from -- it came from elsewhere and got (INAUDIBLE). CORNISH: Let's say one might. And they're letting people know that, hey, this mechanism is there and we are willing to use it again.
PLITSAS: Well, because that's the legal justification that was used. Because in order to take military action, you have to have legal pretext for doing so. So, the Maduro raid, at least from a legal explanation, was that the Department of Defense was supporting the Department of Justice in enforcing a warrant to extradite Maduro out of Venezuela with enough firepower to retake most of the country. That's besides the point. Same thing --
CORNISH: Just helping. Just escorting, yes.
PLITSAS: But, as I said, I see shades of Venezuela here. You put those goggles on. All of a sudden we've got indictments and a potential military extradition down the road if they don't cooperate. I think that was the clear message to the Cubans yesterday.
ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, SPECTRUM NEWS: I mean the big -- the big difference, of course, is that there's going to be a potent and vocal response by Cuban Americans. The politics will play out very differently. There are elected officials. There are organizations. The humanitarian crisis will come to the fore. There are a lot of people who still have family there and who are not going to simply watch them starve in pursuit of a political (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: Well, as we saw with both Iranian Americans, as well as Venezuelan Americans, it does get complicated, right, when you both want to see change in your home country, but it comes at what could be a humanitarian cost. So, I'm glad you're bringing that point up, Errol.
Alex, as always, thank you for being here.
PLITSAS: Yes.
CORNISH: Next on CNN THIS MORNING, now that the president is heading home from China, we're going to look at the scorecard, so to speak. Who's the real winner of the summit?
Plus, this.
[06:45:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: What I'm thinking is, got to get the street taco. I need maybe like a holy moly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, nothing wrong with that taco order. But did the Senate hopeful Obama was supporting make a food faux pas that could tank his campaign?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This has been an incredible visit. I think a lot of -- a lot of good has come of it. We've made some fantastic trade deals great for both countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK, President Trump heading back to the U.S. after a two-day summit in China with what he claims are fantastic deals. The deals include an agreement to buy 200 Boeing aircraft and also billions of agricultural products and even U.S. oil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, what has happened, and one thing I think that we -- we're going to make a deal on, he's -- they've agreed they want to buy oil from the United States.
[06:50:05]
They're going to go to Texas. We're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska. And I think that was another thing that was agreed to. That's a big thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, which side is claiming victory out of this summit? Joining us now is Nick Burns, former U.S. ambassador to China.
Good morning, Ambassador. Thank you for being here.
I want to talk about the idea of the deals. It's not the first time the president has kind of claimed a deal out of China. Leah Fahy, the senior China economist of Capital Economics, pointed this out today. They were writing back in 2017 there were agreements worth more than $250 billion. And they mentioned more, LNG facilities, but that they didn't materialize.
Can you talk about what we should be looking for, to know whether or not we're actually looking at real, actionable deals?
NICHOLAS BURNS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: Well, Audie, I think that is the major point here, which of these deals announced are actually going to be consummated? Will they produce anything of value? I hope so. It's been seven or eight years since the Chinese made a purchase of Boeing aircraft. You know, we had a very complicated relationship during the Biden and Trump first term. And so, the Chinese took it out on us by not buying Boeing. So, let's hope that that goes forward for 200 planes. Although I think, you know, we had certainly hoped for more.
Agricultural sales is really important. It's a major, major issue for our farm and ranch economy. And so, let's hope that that goes forward. Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade rep, said that it would be $10 billion of sales. Let's hope so. But again, there were no numbers attached to these deals.
What's also interesting is what didn't happen. There was no agreement, as was expected, that the two countries would keep their tariff levels and their supply chain levels equal and balanced so that we wouldn't see the kind of trade wars that developed, you remember, in the spring and summer of 2025. And Jamieson Greer said that remains to be negotiated.
So, I think there was a lot of posturing in this summit. It's good that they met. In China's top-down system, Xi Jinping makes all the decisions. So, our president has to be -- have an effective relationship with him. But on Taiwan, on Iran, a lot of outstanding questions.
CORNISH: You were, of course, the ambassador to China for almost four years. And I want to get your insight on this, because I think that China and Russia are very public about their closeness, right, and how they deal with each other. How did this compare? What did you see in the way that Xi Jinping treated Trump?
BURNS: I think President Trump was treated very well. I mean, the Chinese have a highly defined sense of protocol. It goes back thousands of years. So, they literally roll out the red carpet. And I think they treated President Trump with a lot of respect.
You want that in this relationship. It's an enormously complicated relationship. And by the way, with -- for all the talk of friendship between the two countries, this is a competitive relationship.
So, I think that was a positive actually. You want President Trump and President Xi to be able to work together and work out problems. But the remaining issues, I think, Audie, that for me are most important are on Taiwan and Iran.
On Taiwan, Xi Jinping fired a shot across our bow. He meant to intimidate us yesterday by saying essentially, there could be a conflict between the U.S. and China should we cross their red lines. I really hope the Trump administration will go forward with the big arms package for Taiwan that they have held up in anticipation of this Beijing summit because we shouldn't be intimidated by the Chinese government.
And on Iran, let's hope the Chinese do the right thing and push Iran, use their influence to push Iran towards a ceasefire and opening up the Strait. I'm skeptical they'll do it. And so, you know, we might not be able to really assess how productive this summit was for a couple of months.
CORNISH: Yes.
BURNS: Will the Chinese meet -- you know, come forward and meet these commitments they made.
CORNISH: OK. Former U.S. ambassador to China, Nick Burns, thank you so much for your time.
BURNS: A pleasure. Thank you.
CORNISH: OK, now I want to turn to something else. It's also kind of about diplomacy, only it's about Texas politics and like tacos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I know your order.
JAMES TALARICO: Yes, breakfast tacos.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Potato, egg and cheese?
TALARICO: That's right.
I come here a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. So, this is James Talarico, Democratic Senate candidate. There he is with Barack Obama campaigning. And they go to this shop. And they order two -- and he orders two potato, egg and cheese tacos on Tuesday. Please keep this in mind, OK, this is the crux of the whole story.
But then, online, a bunch of Texans are like, no, this is bad.
[06:55:02]
Literally, where's the beef? The governor's office called Talarico a "secret vegetarian." Others compared his choice to ordering white bread with mayo, which is hilarious. And many questioned his timing. Why are you having a breakfast taco at 2 p.m.?
So, the group chat is back.
And I can only have this conversation in New York because y'all are so hard on people that mess up the food thing on the campaign trail.
We have some greatest hits here in case you bring them up. But I know you were fired up, Max.
ROSE: This is Bill de Blasio eating a slice of pizza with a fork and knife. Cynthia Nixon messing up the bagel order. I mean, this is -- I mean --
CORNISH: Let's go to that one because I think that's very similar to taco-gate.
Here she is at the time when she was running for mayor. The thing is, she ordered a cinnamon raisin bagel. Someone correct me. But, like, got the locks on the cinnamon raisin.
ROSE: Yes, you can't do it.
HOFFMAN: Ew.
ROSE: You should go to -- you should go to prison for it.
CORNISH: And capers. And people were like, what?
HOFFMAN: Ah.
CORNISH: No, my theory, which I said during the break, is that when you're on the campaign trail you are starving. And then when you go to this photo op, instead of treating it like a photo op, you actually order something you would eat.
LOUIS: Exactly.
CORNISH: And most people don't see you --
HOFFMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: Any person when they're in goblin mode.
HOFFMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: You just order the -- you're going to order and hope nobody knows.
LOUIS: Well, it's very true. And I -- you know, this idea of being a secret vegetarian, as if he would keep this a secret. I mean, I think the problem is, of course, that, you know, whether it's chorizo or chopped beef or whatever it is, that apparently is the standard order. James Talarico has got some kind of deviation going on.
CORNISH: Well, here's the other thing. This is not the first taco-gate of the month. Oh, wait. Sorry. Why are you showing that. Rick Perry, corn dog. By the way, there was actually nothing wrong with this corn dog, we're just showing the picture.
HOFFMAN: There's no good way to eat a corn dog.
CORNISH: Because everybody on the internet lost their minds when they saw it, which, fair.
But this is actually not the only taco-gate going on. In southern California, one of the Republican candidates running for governor got a taco at a chain, a well-known chain, and called it a street taco. And then everyone was like, that's not a street taco. That's not the street. That's like an actual restaurant.
HOFFMAN: That is not. No.
CORNISH: Is this actually about Latino voters?
HOFFMAN: It's about authenticity, right? I mean --
CORNISH: But authenticity with a very specific community that a lot of these candidates, Republicans feel like they got them after Trump. Democrats think they have a shot at them with Talarico. Moderate. All this nonsense. Is the taco a proxy for the voter?
HOFFMAN: Well, potato, eggs and cheese aren't going to get you any Latino voters.
CORNISH: Clearly not.
ROSE: Ah, yes.
CORNISH: Clearly not. You're missing the mex in the tex-mex. There's a lot of people wondering what happened there.
ROSE: This is progress for the Democrats. They used to attack us as radical socialists, and now we're just messing up our taco orders. I will take it any day -- any day of the week, all right.
HOFFMAN: I mean, Obama got it right. He figured out how to order a decent taco order.
CORNISH: Obama has been on the road for a log time.
HOFFMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: Maybe that's why he's so skinny.
ROSE: Obama has --
CORNISH: Because he knows not to really eat anything there.
I have to talk about what's in your group chats. And, Errol, I know you got the goss in the city, so what are you talking about?
LOUIS: Well, I mean, what I've been hearing about is these A.I. agents, which apparently have gotten smarter and smoother than anybody imagined.
CORNISH: Yes.
LOUIS: I have a coworker who thought he was chatting with somebody and looking for an apartment, and then went to the apartment to sort of meet with a broker and says, oh, yes, I was chatting with your colleague. And he says that's no colleague, you were chatting with some A.I. code.
CORNISH: First of all, messing with the New York real estate market in that way is dangerous. OK.
HOFFMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: That is going to give you backlash.
OK, Jeanette, what about you?
HOFFMAN: It's got to be Spencer Pratt again. I know you're sick of talking about him.
CORNISH: No, no, this is a good one.
HOFFMAN: But this Lego ad, everything is awful. As a mom who has too many Legos and has seen -- CORNISH: Yes. So, Spencer Pratt, he of the hills era --
HOFFMAN: Yes.
CORNISH: Millennial. Reality is now becoming a formidable, at least internet-based challenger.
HOFFMAN: He's putting out banger after banger in campaign ads. And, I mean, listen, he -- I think he's like -- he's really surging.
CORNISH: Yes.
HOFFMAN: He's probably number two in the race right now. I have no idea if he's going to be a competent mayor, right?
CORNISH: No, but --
HOFFMAN: I mean, but, elections are about choices. And people are taking a look at Karen Bass and what she's done to the city. He's putting out some really amazing ads.
CORNISH: And Bass has not kept up with this element of it.
HOFFMAN: Absolutely not.
CORNISH: But it's hard to know what, in the internet, is real. So, we'll know in a few weeks.
Last word to you.
ROSE: Sure. Everyone's talking about these tough guy postures that Stephen Miller and Pete Hegseth put forward when they met Xi Jinping on the line at -- in China. And it's been this huge divide between, you know, MAGA applauding them for it looks like they're flexing almost. And folks on the Democratic side acknowledging that this is very odd posturing in light of the entire Trump leadership team going to China to beg them to stop the Iran War that they themselves started.
[07:00:14]
CORNISH: I'm trying to figure out what's tough, but I'm going to have to go (INAUDIBLE).
ROSE: Well, look at him flexing there. You see it?
CORNISH: See, this is stuff only a vet would know. You're looking at that. I see a lineup of suits.
ROSE: The posture. There's no -- no eye contact.
CORNISH: OK. You guys, stay with us. We've got more on what came out of that summit.
I'm Audie Cornish, and the headlines are next.
