Two days, two leaders, two readouts of the same meeting that emphasized completely different things.
① Beijing produced a Boeing deal smaller than expected, agricultural purchases, rose seeds, and a diplomatic framework. It produced no Iran breakthrough, no Taiwan concession, no rare earth deal. Boeing’s stock fell on the announcement. The market’s read and the White House’s read are not the same.
② Trump woke up in Beijing on his last morning there and posted that the Iran war is “to be continued!” He had just spent two days asking Xi to help end it. There is a third possibility the diplomatic framing tends to exclude.
③ Lebanon-Israel talks Day 2 is underway in Washington. BRICS Day 2 is underway in New Delhi. Israel has killed 512 Lebanese since the “ceasefire” began. The ceasefire expires Sunday. Both rooms produce results today. The Evening Edition will have them.
“Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1789
