Trump-Xi summit: Mar-a-Lago makes good sense for both presidents, analysts say
- Trump wants trade deal ‘victory’ to be announced on home soil to offset domestic problems, observers say
- But Xi will also be happy to send good news home to vindicate his tactics during tariff dispute
Using Mar-a-Lago as the venue for his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping next month will be a boost for US President Donald Trump’s domestic ambitions and vindicate his hawkish approach towards China, analysts said.
The assessment came after Beijing accepted Washington’s choice of Trump’s private resort in Florida for the two leaders to seal a trade deal.
Preliminary preparations are now under way, but a specific date for the meeting has yet to be announced.
An earlier proposal by Beijing to hold the summit on the south China island of Hainan was rejected by the United States.
Wu Xinbo, director of the Centre for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said Trump needed a trade agreement to be reached in the US to help him stave off domestic challenges.
“Trump needs an agreement which benefits him domestically,” he said. “He no longer has an upper hand in the trade talks as time is not on his side.”
Wu said Trump’s challenges included slowing economic growth, a Russia investigation in which he is implicated and the 2020 presidential campaign.