(L–R) U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, President Donald Trump, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attend talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (not shown) at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30, 2025. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The room is warmer than the headlines. Two leaders trade polite phrases while their staffs count ships and sanctions like poker chips. We were here 40 years ago. In 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev met in Geneva to learn how not to stumble into disaster. Today, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping perform a similar dance in a busier, more entangled world. If the messages feel mixed, that is the point: Cool the temperature while keeping the pressure.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is not a trust fall; it is a thermostat. Reagan’s team used set‑piece summits to lower the risk of misread moves, while a defense buildup ensured talks were grounded in reality—think Reykjavik, which led to the INF Treaty. With China, the same principle applies. A friendlier Trump tone toward Xi, when it appears, is a tool to reduce miscalculation and pry open narrow deals—military hotlines, counternarcotics cooperation, farm purchases—without pretending the rivalry has vanished.
Charles Davis
Author
Charles Davis is a military veteran and lecturer with an intelligence background. His military awards include: two Bronze Star Service Medals, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals, NATO Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Saudi Arabia Liberation Medal, and Kuwait Liberation Medal.
