The anti-China blaze of hostility Donald Trump started may sink trade talks

That meeting looks doubtful since the latest round of trade talks in Washington broke down, a development that surely weighs on Trump despite outward appearances. No one can deny that the US leader feels a certain kinship with the world’s most autocratic leaders. To see him interact with the likes of Xi, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un is to see minds meld over the art of political order.

Even as trade negotiations broke down, the US leader had kinder words for Xi than he will ever have for any American leader – Democrat or Republican – who won’t put Trump’s priorities above all else. Spinning the outcome of the Washington talks as a step forward, Trump asserted that his relationship with Xi is “a very strong one”.

Beijing engaged in a bit of its own spin, largely aligning with Trump’s assertion that the two sides are making progress, even though Beijing appears to have rejected several key demands, including an inventory of laws and regulations that it must revise. The Chinese Communist Party is about as likely to concede to that demand as Pyongyang is to host the next Burning Man.

Under the current circumstances, we should expect more confrontation like the tweets Trump sent over the weekend, accusing China of making a play to the Democrats in the hope that such a move would ensure an end to the current trade conflict after the 2020 presidential election.