BIG_BREAKING: Trump Employee FOUND DEAD and TRUMP is being BLAMED for the DEATH?!!

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]President Trump and China's President Xi are attending a state banquet in Beijing after the first day of their bilateral talks. Now, a White House official described it as a good meeting and said the two discussed Iran trade and energy.

[00:00:13]But beyond the pomp and circumstance, tensions are growing over Taiwan.

[00:00:17]Chinese state media reporting that Xi warned Trump that Taiwan, the democratic self-governing island that Beijing views as part of its territory is quote the most important issue in China US relations and could create a very dangerous situation if mishandled. Some observers viewing that as a threat.

[00:00:35]CNN's Will Ripley is live this morning in Taipei, Taiwan. It it seems like this island wina has threatened to take by force is really emerging for China as as a key issue here of the summit.

[00:00:48]Meanwhile, the tale of two straits.

[00:00:50]Meanwhile, you've got the straight of hormuz also lingering there with the president wanting China to help get that open.

[00:01:00]Yeah, you know, it's interesting Sarah because the officials here in Taipei were sort of expecting this kind of language from Xiinping. didn't come as a surprise that it was the first thing that Chinese state media reported. This comment basically saying that if the US and China mishandled the issue of Taiwan, it could lead to a military conflict. We've heard that sort of thing from Beijing repeatedly over the years.

[00:01:20]It is noteworthy but not surprising that that was the first line of information that they chose to leak to the Shinwa news agency. I want to read you a little bit more of the quote that was reported by Chinese state media from Xiinping. He said, quote, "Taiwan independence and crossstraight peace are as irreconcilable as fire and water.

[00:01:39]Safeguarding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the biggest common denominator between China and the US."

[00:01:45]And because they were expecting that kind of language here in Taipei, there was a response very quickly from the Taiwan cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee. I'll read you that as well, Sarah.

[00:01:54]said, "China's military threat is the sole source of insecurity in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-acific region. Continuous enhancement of defense and effective joint deterrence are the most critical factors to ensuring regional security. The reason why they talked about enhancement of defense is because one big concern they have here in Taipei is that behind closed doors, Xiinping could ask President Trump to either delay or stall or flatout deny a $14 billion arm sales package that Taiwan's parliament has approved, but has yet to be approved by President Trump in Washington. It's still in limbo. That would be a major setback for Taiwan if President Trump didn't approve that package quickly because it would basically indicate that he's willing to negotiate Taiwan security in exchange for some sort of grand bargain. That was of course the big concern that Taiwanese officials expressed in the days and weeks leading up to this meeting. We heard from the Taiwan foreign minister who said that he hoped the summit would bring no surprises. The deputy foreign minister said he was afraid that Taiwan could be on the menu. So even though they knew here in Taipei that she was going to press this claim that Beijing has had for 75 years that Taiwan belongs to China even though Taiwan has had its own government and its own military the entire time and also by the way happens to have the production of all of the world's nearly all of the world's most advanced chips that are crucial to the United States uh deep investment in AI.

[00:03:21]Without Taiwan uh the entire tech economy would essentially collapse if the supply chain were disrupted. So Taiwan knows that they have that leverage. They're hoping that President Trump keeps that in mind when he's in talks with Xiinping and doesn't send the message that Taiwan security is up for negotiation.

[00:03:37]>> While President Trump praised President Xi, the Chinese president warned President Trump today that the US and China could clash over Taiwan if the issue wasn't handled properly. Are both leaders further apart on the issues that Trump would like to acknowledge?

[00:03:56]Certainly on that one, Wolf, there there's no question, at least historically, on the US posture. We have not heard President Trump say much about what he thinks of what could happen with China and Taiwan and the US's role going forward. And so it's interesting that President Xi, you know, made this quite clear at the outset the prospect of a of a clash of China uh uh taking over Taiwan or attempting to take over Taiwan and then what does the US do and it has all kinds of implications uh in terms of semiconductors, in terms of uh chips manufacturing and so forth that we don't quite know what this looks like in in a Trump 2.0. I will be interested to see if President Trump discusses much of what he actually thinks on that front publicly. As as much as President Trump often seems unable to help himself from blurting certain things out, there are areas where he tends to keep his own views a little more closely held and I suspect this is going to be one of them, but we'll see.

[00:04:54]>> With us now is Congressman Mark Alford, a Republican from Missouri. Congressman, always great to see you. Let me read you part of that statement from China again.

[00:05:03]quote, "If it is not handled properly," and this is he's talking about the Taiwan issue here. If it is not handled properly, the two countries may clash or even come into conflict, pushing the entire China US relationship into a very dangerous situation. So, some see that as a warning or a threat from President Xi.

[00:05:23]>> Joining us live from Beijing is MS Now White House reporter Laura Baron Lopez.

[00:05:28]Laura, good morning. Uh, thanks so much for joining us today from Beijing. The president seems to be using his flattery to build his relationship with Shei, even going so far to call him a friend.

[00:05:39]This is a a fairly stark departure from the contentious trade war that was going on last year. What is the reaction to that tactic in Beijing so far?

[00:05:51]>> That's right. Well, uh, right now, look, Chinese President Xiinping gave the president, President Trump, uh, a a big welcome, a ceremonial welcome with a military band, uh, which the Chinese know that President Trump likes. He loves to see the pageantry in the ceremony. Uh, they had, uh, a 21 gun salute as well. And this was something that, as you just played, President Trump reacted fondly to, calling Xihinping a friend. And as you noted, Jackie, it's a stark departure from last year when there was the trade war and the tariff battles which uh ended in a truce of sorts last fall. And the two sides are trying to keep that truce going. It's also a departure from Trump's first administration when he and his administration that first time around talked about China as a big geopolitical geopolitical foe uh and someone that they needed to confront and challenge and now they view it more as a potential economic partner. And you're seeing that with the president bringing these US businesses alongside him. And in some of the readouts we just got from a White House official on the meeting, they did mention that those those US executives CEOs took part in some of the meeting, the bilateral meeting between the two leaders today. But ultimately what overshadowed uh this this meeting was essentially the tale of two straits.

[00:07:20]For China, the Taiwan straight, for the US, the straight of Hormuz, Jackie.

[00:07:26]Yeah, Laura, actually, let let's stay a little bit on the Taiwan of it all.

[00:07:30]Trump has been notably less strong on the US Taiwan relationship than previous presidents. I'm not even sure if he's outright supported Taiwanese independence. Are there any concerns that he sees this issue as the negotiating chip when it comes to getting China to ultimately put more leverage and and more pressure onto Iran to come to the negotiating table and reopen the straight of Hormuz and and what do those concessions sort of look like?

[00:07:58]>> Well, that's the big question which is is the president going to concede anything on Taiwan and Taiwan's independence? Now, we know that China wants the US to change its position from one that officially says that the US does not support uh Taiwanese independence to outright opposing it.

[00:08:16]Now, we haven't received any indication other than the president's public statements leading into the trip saying that he was knew that Xiinping was going to bring it up. But when the president was asked about it uh earlier today when he was at the a cultural event at the temple of heaven, he was briefly asked by the poll multiple times whether or not he talked about Taiwan with Xiinping and the president ignored those questions. And then when you see the two readouts from both sides, you highlighted that uh the Chinese government mentioned Taiwan multiple times uh in what they said the discussions in the discussions that were had between the two leaders issuing a warning essentially saying that if the US doesn't change its position, if it doesn't approach this properly, then the relationship between China and the US will be in quote great jeopardy. But there was no mention of Taiwan in the uh readout from the White House official that we received. instead it was all focused on um Iran and the straight of Hormuz. So again, you know, look, I was talking to former national security officials leading into this and currently am still talking to them and they are concerned about what the president may concede when it comes to Taiwan to extract uh some help with Iran. Jackie and Laura, stick with me for just a sec because I want to talk more about this. But MS Now is citing three US officials with knowledge of the matter who say there is now concern amongst US officials that private Chinese military companies are considering selling shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. This is via third-party countries. The officials add that it isn't clear whether any Chinese-made missiles have been delivered to Iran or the extent to which the Chinese government has approved the sales, but US intelligence a agencies are monitoring possible shipments, including countries in Africa. The Chinese government has repeatedly denied arm sales to Tehran, but one US official is telling MS Now's David RH, quote, "We're tracking a number of deals. There is definitely some activity." The officials emphasized that any sales are being conducted by private Chinese companies, but some express skepticism that the Chinese government would be unaware of such sales, saying, quote, "China is at a minimum helping Iran stay afloat in this war and blockade."

[00:10:35]Laura, do you think that the president is expected to ask China for assistance with this issue in particular, especially considering this new reporting and how that could affect ongoing negotiations? I mean, the president in the past when asked about um the sort of invisible levers that China is pulling on right now with regards to replenishing their military capabilities, has simply said that China is being a great actor. But it seems like that might not be the case.

[00:11:06]Yeah, I mean what we do what what is >> is winning this and again you could take whatever position you want, right? I'm not a a supporter of American jingoism.

[00:11:17]Yes, even in Taiwan, this idea that like the United States gets to dictate the entire global map. We can we can have these debates, right, about how the United States still when convenient sees itself as world police and yet when convenient the other way will let its friends run ramshot over liberties and democracy and human rights, right? They are like they're warning China to respect Taiwan. They'll never warn Israel to respect Palestine, right? Like we understand this, right? the but the broader point is China isn't afraid of Donald Trump and I just don't think Trump won this. Like just from an objective point of view, whatever your position is on China, Taiwan, the United States, I kind of feel like Trump got played here. He got played uh he got played on all of this.

[00:12:08]And I think that in many ways he didn't really get any commitments, right? I understand that you you don't always get things on paper, but it really feels like here he didn't get anything. I don't know if he gave that much up to be fair either, but it's like there's an a like noted there, there's an asymmetry in the sense that like Trump seems to be like much more laudiatory than the other way around and that could be a sign that he's going in as a stoogge and not understanding that he's being played.

[00:12:45]People assume, again, a lot of Americans assume this was the dealmaker. And a lot of Americans assume, even Americans that aren't Trump supporters, that other countries, you know, can't be hard-nosed bargainers.

[00:13:01]And so, love or hate China, they have their position, they have their interests, they have their perspective, and they're going to go and try to achieve it uh regardless of who's president. But the difference is when Trump is president, it's a lot easier to win an argument against a dum dum, right? And I think China is winning this argument. And so is China with these new laws they've always passed to try and build their version of a world