President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as “a Leader of extraordinary distinction” while en route to Beijing on Wednesday — a warm tone that contrasts sharply with warnings from some of his closest conservative policy allies, who say U.S. security and economic interests demand a tougher line.

Traveling with more than a dozen top American business leaders — including fellow billionaires Jensen Huang, Elon Musk and Tim Cook — Trump also described China as a “Great Country” in an online post during the trip.

Conservative Voices Urge Caution Back Home

Former Trump deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger, writing in the Hoover Institution platform Freedom Frequency with co-author Liza Tobin, on Tuesday advised Trump to “reject any ploys that would weaken America,” including investment in battery manufacturing in the U.S. by Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., increased purchases of American advanced semiconductors, and a “peace gesture” on Taiwan, the self-governing democracy of 23 million people over which Beijing claims sovereignty.

Project 2025 Architect Warns Trump To Be Tough

Another skeptic: Paul Dans, a prominent architect of Project 2025, a policy blueprint for a second Trump administration. Dans withdrew from a primary election battle against fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham for a U.S. Senate seat in April and now practices law in South Carolina. In an........

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