President Trump & Chinese President Xi Meeting

And seeing Chinese President Xi Jinping welcoming President Trump and other administration officials to Beijing as part of the state visit. The two leaders will be holding a bilateral meeting shortly and will return with live coverage of their meeting here on C-SPAN. Welcome back to Washington Journal. We're joined now by Representative Johnny Olszewski. He is a Democrat from Maryland and serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Small Business Committee. Welcome to the program. Thanks for having me again. OK, so let's start with foreign affairs. We just saw the president has arrived in China for his meeting with President Xi Jinping. Can you first characterize for us what you think the relationship now between the United States and China is at this present moment? For me, this is a relationship where the United States has gotten very soft on China. We see it with a president who is very comfortable letting China have some of our most advanced chip programs, selling those advanced chips to China. A president who I think could do a better job of standing up for our partner, Taiwan. And more importantly, and I led floor debate on this yesterday, you think about the human rights abuses in China, you think about the Uyghurs, you think about some of the political prisoners that are happening and being held there and the human rights abuses in China. I really want to see President Trump use this opportunity to stand up against those abuses and to really be a voice of moral clarity during his trip. And this, you mentioned the chips first. Did you see that Jensen Wang was on the plane with, he's joining the president on this trip. He's the CEO of Nvidia and it's those Nvidia chips that are being now sold to China. I had not seen that reporting yet, but what I can tell you is, I mean, I think that speaks to the concern. When we are giving the most advanced chips to one of our adversaries, someone who we've gotten reports that at least indirectly they're helping Iran in this fight. It's deeply concerning when some of the most advanced technology that is available is being facilitated by this president and by this country. This meeting between the two leaders has been rescheduled, was rescheduled from earlier. Do you think that the president is in a stronger position with China now or a weaker position as a result of the conflict in Iran? I think unequivocally the president is in a much weaker position as a result of the conflict in the war in Iran. Iran now has a new tool and asset in this trade and poor moves. They didn't even realize they had in terms of an economic and military tool that they are happy to deploy against not just the United States, but the world. And so you think about what's happening with gas prices and the ways in which Americans are being pinched at the pump. You think about the costs going up, the inflationary rates that people are experiencing. America is in a weaker position generally, but specifically as it relates to our interactions with China. And I'm sure that will influence the conversations while he's over there. And regarding the relationship with Taiwan and U.S. policy vis-a-vis that island nation, the policy has always been strategic ambiguity when it comes to Taiwan. Do you think that that should still be the policy? What do you think the president should do on Taiwan specifically? I think the policy is the right one. But we have to make sure that the president doesn't soften on that position. And what I've seen, at least in my short tenure on the Foreign Affairs Committee, is that Chinese aggression is real. It's happening all over the world. And we have an administration and a president who, rather than meet that aggression, both domestically and internationally, it is someone who's almost embracing the fact that China is doing that and taking this soft approach again, whether it's with the advanced chips, fighting a tariff war that no one actually wins, and not having that moral clarity and those voices on those human rights abuses and those political prisoners. The Associated Press is reporting that President Trump has authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan. That was in December, but has not moved forward with delivery of those weapons. Yeah, I mean, the defense of Taiwan is a really important strategic action, not just for Taiwan, but for the international community. And so I think it's really important that the president move forward. If Taiwan were to fall in some of the manufacturing there of the products that they produce, that would have devastating impacts, not just for Americans, but for the international community as well. Sorry, Representative Johnny Olszewski is with us. He is a Democrat from Maryland. And if you'd like to talk to him, you can call now. Democrats are on 202-748-8000, Republicans 202-748-8001, and Independents 202-748-8002. Yesterday, Defense Secretary Hegseth was on the Hill. He told a House Appropriations Committee that the plan is to escalate the war if necessary. And the Pentagon has raised that overall cost so far to $29 billion. That's nine weeks into the conflict. First, do you believe that figure? Do you believe it's been $29 billion? It's hard to believe anything this administration says. They lie about so much. They've lied about the cost of the ballroom. They've lied about whether or not this was an imminent threat in terms of our war with Iran. The president has lied about lowering costs on day one. He's lied about releasing the Epstein files. So I find it hard, without any sort of verifiable proof, to trust anything this administration is putting forward, including that number. So what can Democrats do? You are not in power in either House. If you're opposed to the war, which I assume that you are, what can you do about it? Well, I hope that my Republican colleagues will join us in saying we are now beyond that flexibility that the president and that many of them had said that the administration needs in conducting operations were well beyond the 60-day war powers. Well, President Xi, I want to thank you very much. First of all, that was an honor like few I've ever seen before. And I think I was particularly impressed by those children. They were happy. They were beautiful. The military is obvious. It couldn't be better. But those children were amazing and they represent so much. And I know they represent so much to you. You and I have known each other now for a long time. In fact, the longest relationship of our two countries that any president and president has had. And it's to me an honor. We've had a fantastic relationship. We've gotten along when there were difficulties. We worked it out. I would call you and you would call me. And whenever we had a problem, people don't know whenever we had a problem, we worked it out very quickly and we're going to have a fantastic future together. Such respect for China. The job you've done. You're a great leader. I say it to everybody. You're a great leader. Sometimes people don't like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it's true. I only say the truth. And I just want to say behalf of all of the great delegation that we have, we have the greatest businessmen, the biggest and I guess the best in the world of amazing people. And they're all with me. They every single one of them. We asked the top 30 in the world, every single one of them said yes. And I didn't want the second or the third in the company. I wanted only the top. And they're here today to pay respects to you and to China. And they look forward to trade and doing business. And it's going to be totally reciprocal on our behalf. So I really look very much forward to our discussions, a big discussion. There are those that say this is maybe the biggest summit ever. They can never remember anything like it. I can say in the United States, it's people aren't talking about anything else. But it's an honor to be with you. It's an honor to be your friend. And the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you. Watching C-SPAN. Democracy unfiltered. As they happen. No commentary. No spin. No agenda. Just the democratic process presented in full.