The folks at Promethean Action PAC outline their perspective on what President Trump’s trip to Beijing means against the backdrop of a substantial geopolitical reset that seems to diminish the role of Europe.

“Susan Kokinda analyzes President Trump’s May 14 post responding to Xi Jinping’s remarks about the “Thucydides Trap,” arguing media coverage framed the U.S. as declining while Trump asserted America’s renewed strength. She says the summit’s real significance was Trump bringing an unprecedented delegation of top U.S. CEOs into the bilateral meeting and including the Defense Secretary, breaking a post-1972 pattern.

Kokinda highlights Trump raising denuclearization directly with Xi and rejecting war-driven “geopolitical trigger points,” including on Taiwan, emphasizing avoiding a distant war. She contends the Thucydides Trap concept popularized by Graham Allison is British-influenced “fake history” that obscures imperial manipulation, and claims Trump is dismantling that paradigm by reviving the American System—tariffs, manufacturing, and energy independence.”

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It was reported yesterday that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President Donald Trump had a cordial conversation about ongoing trade and security discussions. {link} The phone call likely took place as President Trump was aboard Airforce One returning from China.

Previous to this phone call, “Gerardo Mérida, a retired Mexican army general who served as public-security secretary in northwestern Sinaloa state, was detained on Monday in Tucson, Ariz., court records show. Mérida is one of 10 current and former Sinaloa officials, including Gov. Rubén Rocha, indicted last month in the U.S. for allegedly taking bribes from Sinaloa cartel leaders to protect their billion-dollar drug empire. U.S. prosecutors say that the Sinaloa cartel is one of the world’s top producers and smugglers of fentanyl into the U.S.” {link}

The Trump administration is not slowing down on the intention to remove Mexican drug and human smuggling cartels, despite the reported domestic protestations from within the Mexican government.  There appears to be a rather unusual dynamic at play.

Inside Mexico the federal government is publicly criticizing the U.S. position; however, simultaneously Mexican President Sheinbaum is promoting a working relationship with President Trump and the U.S. position.

According to the New York Times, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has now shifted the prosecutorial focus to charge the designated Mexican cartel targets as terrorists.

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The Christian people of Nigeria have been brutalized by Boko Haram and regional elements of the Islamic State (ISIS).  In February a small group of around 200 U.S. military technical and training personnel were sent to Nigeria.

Last night President Trump announced a joint U.S-Nigeria taskforce has eliminated ISIS #2 leader, Abu Bilal al-Minuki, who ran the Islamic State of West Africa Province.

“Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield. Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing. He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans. With his removal, ISIS’s global operation is greatly diminished. Thank you to the Government of Nigeria for your partnership on this operation. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

~ President DONALD J. TRUMP

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer gives a broad overview of the current status of U.S. trade relations with China on the heels of the Beijing Summit.  Greer notes that China has agreed to fulfill all previous purchase agreements and the future of trade between the U.S. and China looks very stable.

Additionally, China has made major purchases for 200 Boeing aircraft and up to 500 jet engines that are worth multi-billions in benefit within the manufacturing sector for the United States.  Following the conflict points between the U.S. and Europe, specifically as it relates to outcomes from the military engagement in Iran and the weakening of selfishly motivated NATO alliance members, China does appear to be more open in their trade relations with the USA.  Perhaps this is driven by the new paradigm of energy dependency that Beijing is not familiar with.

The most interesting aspect to the Beijing trip was not and is not the trade success stories that surfaced during the trip {USTR Greer}. While President Trump brought titans of industry, tech and finance with him to Beijing, the emphasis was on relationships.

Perhaps President Trump was teaching those influential peers something akin to needing a perspective change.  Perhaps the nature of trade relations is so structurally under change, all those business interests within it need to look at things differently.

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Colorado Governor Jared Polis has commuted the sentence of Tina Peters who will now be released on parole June 01, 2026.

Peters was convicted in August of 2024 of three counts of attempting to influence a public official, conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, official misconduct, violation of duty, and failure to comply with an order of the Secretary of State.

Colorado Governor Polis has commuted her sentence.

COLORADO – […] Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett was preparing to resentence Peters as directed by the Colorado Court of Appeals, which found in April that the nine-year sentence he issued “was based in part on improper consideration of her exercise of her right to free speech.”

“Her offense was not her belief, however misguided the trial court deemed it to be, in the existence of such election fraud,” the appellate judges wrote. “It was her deceitful actions in her attempt to gather evidence of such fraud.”  A date for her resentencing hasn’t been set.

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White House official photographer Daniel Torok just announced that all of the Beijing trip photographs have been uploaded to the White House Flickr Account.  I was hoping Torok captured this moment, and indeed he did.

[View All Here]

China blacklisted him, sanctioned him, blocked him, and then Chairman Xi ended up having to shake his hand.  Because Donald J Trump.

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President Trump gives quick comments to the assembled Press Pool at the White House upon return from China.  WATCH:

The most interesting aspect to the Beijing trip was not and is not the trade success stories that surfaced during the trip {USTR Greer}.  While President Trump brought titans of industry, tech and finance with him to Beijing, the emphasis is on relationships.

Stay elevated. Note the emphasis by Secretary Rubio was on geopolitical relations against the background of current events.  Note how much narrative energy is spent on the ‘relationship’ aspect to President Trump and Chairman Xi, from both leaders and also on direct questions to all pertinent current events.

When questioned about issues, Trump, Rubio and Xi spoke of relations – not details of policy or current events.  The venues within China were specific to something more akin to understanding motives behind policy, personal motives, historic motives from a personal perspective.  It wasn’t a trip of transactions; the vibe, the frequency of it all, was seemingly dominated by something more important to the moment than dollars and yuan.

It seemed critical for both leaders to convey their mutual alignment, ensuring and emphasizing the importance of no conflict between their nations, even if policy differences are present.  Both Rubio and Trump emphasized this overall tone.

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The noticing of things continues….

[SOURCE]

RUSSIA – “Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in Beijing for a one-day visit on May 20, just days after the conclusion of President Xi Jinping’s landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Sources told the South China Morning Post the visit was part of Moscow’s routine dealings with Beijing, with little expectation that there would be an elaborate parade or welcome.

It will be the first time that China has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month outside a multilateral setting, a reflection of Beijing’s efforts to manage ties with both and position itself as a pivotal power amid an increasingly fractured world order. (read more)

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President Trump holds an impromptu press conference aboard Air Force One as he returns from Beijing, China and a historic visit with Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping.  WATCH: 

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China/Taiwan is a sensitive issue, particularly when we consider the current U.S/Cuba dynamic.

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President Trump sits down with Fox News Sean Hannity for an interview immediately following the fast-paced visit in Beijing, China.

Hannity asks President Trump for his sense of the greeting and pageantry put on by Chairman Xi at the formal greeting, as well as some general discussion on the topics of a very lengthy talk between Trump administration officials and their Chinese counterparts.

President Trump and Chairman Xi discussed Iran and the current conflict which has impacted the global supply of oil. ¹{BACKSTORY HERE} It should be noted that closure of the Strait of Hormuz in combination with the U.S. control over Venezuela oil production has reversed the dependency dynamic between Russia and China.

Prior to oil/gas shortages (skyrocketing prices), and due to Western U.S/EU sanctions, Russia was very dependent on China for supplies and component goods.  After oil/gas shortages were triggered by the Iran conflict, China became dependent on Russia for their energy demands. A rather unusual dynamic sitting like an 800lb Gorilla in the corner of the meeting between President Trump and Chairman Xi.

¹(1) Upon reelection President Trump told all U.S. energy providers to “drill baby drill” and maximize energy production. Trump then deregulated the industry for maximum efficiency: Secretaries Burgum (Interior), Wright (Energy) and Zeldin (EPA).

(2) Trump then meets with Putin in Alaska Aug 15, 2025.  Three days later, Aug 18, 2025, Putin restarts Russia’s flagship Arctic project, the LNG export facility via the Northern Route to Asia.

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