President Donald Trump holds the upper hand over Chinese President Xi Jinping following Xi’s recent visit to the United States, according to Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute and author of “The Invisible Coup.”
Schweizer made the case Friday on Fox News Channel’s “The Ingraham Angle,” pushing back on what he described as a left-wing narrative that Trump is “cozying up” to Xi and other authoritarian leaders ahead of the midterms.
“Well, I think you nailed it, Laura. Trump is the one here with the upper hand,” Schweizer told host Laura Ingraham.
Schweizer pointed to turmoil inside China’s military leadership as evidence that Xi is negotiating from a position of weakness. He noted that when Xi traveled to the United States for the meeting with Trump, he had signed orders to detain and arrest two members of China’s Central Military Commission — a body Schweizer called more important in Chinese governance than either leading the Communist Party or serving as president.
“He’s purged six of the eight members. Why? Because he said they’re politically unreliable,” Schweizer said.
Schweizer added that 45 Chinese military generals have disappeared over the past several years after being judged politically unreliable, and that China’s economy is struggling, with the government releasing less economic data than it once did.
“So yes, Trump has the upper hand, and I think he handled it well,” Schweizer said. “You want to be respectful. You want to communicate. You want to maintain lines of communication. You don’t want to give anything away.”
Schweizer singled out one moment from the meeting for praise: Trump showing Xi a copy of the U.S. Constitution before Xi departed.
“I thought it was a master stroke before Xi left to say, ‘Look, I’m going to show you our Constitution. This is what the First Amendment says. This is what the Second Amendment says.’ It sends a message about the battle of ideas, which I think was a great way to kind of end this meeting,” Schweizer said.
