Opinion

LIZ PEEK: President Trump’s China trip sent an important message liberal media missed

Trump's surprise inclusion of 30 CEOs in the Xi meeting threw the Chinese off schedule and off guard

By Liz Peek Fox News

Published May 19, 2026 5:00am EDT

Facebook Twitter Threads Flipboard Comments Print Email Add Fox News on Google

close

Video

KT McFarland on Trump's China trade deals, Taiwan tensions

KT McFarland analyzes President Donald Trump's trip to China, detailing new trade deals. She discusses geopolitical implications, U.S.-China relations and escalating Taiwan tensions.

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

President Trump’s critics proclaim the recent trip to Beijing a failure. The New York Times, for instance, says the president "left China without any breakthroughs", meanwhile mocking Trump for calling President Xi "a friend."

The narrative is that the summit failed to meet expectations. Given the stock market’s plunge the day after the visit concluded, that assessment seems reasonable. Fortune wrote that the trade deals did not live up to investors’ hopes; probably more important was that there was no movement towards opening the Strait of Hormuz.

But consider the message Trump delivered to President Xi and to the people of China. Though it fell short of Trump shocking Xi by announcing he had just bombed Syria over a piece of "delicious chocolate cake" in 2017, surprising his hosts by including a veritable galaxy of America’s business stars in the summit sent an equally strong message.

BROADCAST BIAS: NETWORKS SPIN TRUMP’S XI MEETING AS WEAKNESS DESPITE STRATEGIC GAIN

Video

Trump’s extraordinary entourage of CEOs running globally dominant companies reminded the world:

1. The U.S. is winning in AI;

2. The U.S. is winning in energy;

3. The U.S. economy is second to none.

The Chinese like rigid schedules and scripts;........

© Fox News