Goldie Ghamari - May 18, 2026


Trump's China Visit Was NOT Appeasement - Here's Why

Hosted by
Goldie Ghamari
Mentioned
Trump Marco Rubio Pete Hegseth Goldie Unfiltered Scott Besson Marco Liu Elon Musk Putin
IRAN REVOLUTION LIVE： DAY 141 The Calm Before The Storm - USA vs Iran

Episode Stats


Length

15 minutes

Words per minute

138.71

Word count

2,092

Sentence count

159

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Hate speech

10

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Trump's trip to China was about leverage, not peace through strength. It was about deterrence, psychology, and global positioning. And it was also about Iran. In short, it was about America still being the superpower.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 So I've been following the fallout from President Trump's trip to China for the better part of this entire weekend.
00:00:07.820 And if you ask me, most people are reading it all wrong.
00:00:12.220 You can't miss the prevailing story in the mainstream media.
00:00:15.980 Trump is softening, he's appeasing China or Americans backing down to put Beijing at ease.
00:00:23.100 I would argue that kind of analysis is actually missing the point entirely.
00:00:28.540 I mean, take a good look at the whole of it, the messaging, the optics, who Trump took with him, the timing, and the geopolitical reality of it.
00:00:39.780 Factor in President Trump's own brand of foreign policy and what was supposed to be an act of appeasement looks far more like a deliberate show of American muscle.
00:00:50.280 And tonight, I'm going to explain why.
00:00:53.120 This wasn't merely a matter of trade or tariffs or some routine diplomatic meeting.
00:00:59.200 This trip by President Trump to Beijing was about leverage.
00:01:05.120 It was about deterrence, psychology, and global positioning.
00:01:09.460 It was also about Iran.
00:01:12.520 In short, President Trump went to China to make one thing plain to the world and to Beijing.
00:01:20.100 America is still the superpower. I'm Goldie Gamari and you're watching Goldie Unfiltered.
00:01:36.660 So let's start with the media narrative. Commentators constantly make the error of
00:01:42.860 putting President Trump in the same box as your run-of-the-mill politician. And as a former
00:01:48.580 politician myself, let me tell you, President Trump is not a traditional politician. He never
00:01:55.780 has been. President Trump is first and foremost a businessman who thinks in terms of pressure,
00:02:03.140 branding, and strength. It's all about the art of the deal. And you will never get a proper read
00:02:10.000 on President Trump unless you accept that he is first and foremost a businessman and then
00:02:16.700 he's a politician. Then there's President Trump's mantra of peace through strength. A lot of people
00:02:23.940 think that that means President Trump is a warmonger and he wants war. However, it's the
00:02:29.720 complete opposite. Peace through strength is not about war. It's about making sure your adversaries
00:02:36.200 know that the price of challenging you is too steep. Essentially, peace through strength is
00:02:42.960 all about deterrence, and it's a psychological game. Strong nations like the United States
00:02:49.260 project enough military and economic might that others think twice before they escalate.
00:02:56.220 Weakness only invites war. So I don't see the United States on its knees asking China for
00:03:04.860 stability. Instead, I see President Trump strolling into Beijing with every asset of
00:03:11.960 American Power in Tote.
00:03:41.960 Which brings us to Marco Rubio. Now this is where it gets interesting. Marco Rubio is about as far
00:04:10.920 from a soft touch as you can get in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party. They have sanctioned 0.98
00:04:17.480 him and view him as one of the most vocal hawks in American politics on everything from Uyghur
00:04:24.500 persecution to Taiwan to human rights abuses to espionage. He's kind of a celebrity in China.
00:04:31.840 Rubio, not so much. He was banned from the country. Trump had to order Xi to let him in,
00:04:37.780 So China changed his name so we could bypass sanctions.
00:04:41.360 So for the next 48 hours, Rubio's name's Liu.
00:04:45.180 Marco Liu.
00:04:47.180 If Trump wanted to put on a warm diplomatic face,
00:04:51.100 or if President Trump really wanted to go there to appease Beijing and soothe ruffled feathers,
00:04:57.680 Marco Rubio would be the last person you would put in the room.
00:05:02.360 What is your read on President Xi?
00:05:05.320 I mean, you read that their economy is struggling.
00:05:07.460 You read that he's isolated.
00:05:10.960 You read both Putin and President Xi have a pretty high degree of paranoia.
00:05:16.460 What is your read as you look at President Xi from a distance going into the meeting?
00:05:21.180 Yeah, I think my read has been what I think has been for a while, and that is China has a plan.
00:05:26.740 I mean, they clearly view themselves—they believe they will be the world's most powerful country.
00:05:30.460 They'll surpass the United States, and they have a plan to do it.
00:05:33.380 And they're executing on that plan, and I don't blame them.
00:05:35.440 If I were the Chinese government, I'd have the same plan.
00:05:39.120 We, on the other hand, don't view it that way. 0.99
00:05:41.380 And we don't want to see anything.
00:05:43.200 We're not trying to constrain China, but their rise cannot come at our expense.
00:05:47.500 Their rise cannot come at our fall.
00:05:49.460 So there's an area where we're just going to have a difference of opinion.
00:05:52.080 But my view of them and of the government in China is they're very confident.
00:05:55.860 They have a plan and they're trying to execute on that plan, which is fine.
00:05:59.840 I understand that from a nation state perspective.
00:06:01.740 But when that plan is in conflict with the national interest of the United States,
00:06:05.440 we need to do what's right for the United States. And that'll come up on this trip.
00:06:09.660 But more importantly, that'll be a feature of this relationship for a long time.
00:06:13.580 And yet, there he was. That's not by accident. That is deliberate. Symbolically, this is huge.
00:06:23.060 I mean, China could have refused to deal with President Trump and Marco Rubio, but they didn't.
00:06:28.400 Instead, the meeting with President Trump was too important.
00:06:33.040 And we even have footage of Xi Jinping shaking Marco Rubio's hand while President Trump looks on.
00:06:52.120 And that says something.
00:06:54.440 It tells you that for all of their nationalist prospering and propaganda, China still needs to be in the room with the United States. 0.53
00:07:05.800 And China still sees the United States as the global superpower.
00:07:11.380 Trump knows how to use that.
00:07:13.900 Trump knows geopolitics is theater.
00:07:17.200 Who stands next to the president is part of the message.
00:07:20.780 And with Marco Rubio by his side, President Trump is saying, we Americans are visiting Beijing on our terms, not yours.
00:07:30.960 Taiwan is also a big part of the equation. Rubio has been the voice of opposition to Chinese expansionism in the Indo-Pacific for years.
00:07:41.160 When Beijing looks at Marco Rubio, they don't just see a politician or a diplomat.
00:07:46.640 They see a reminder that the hawks are still here.
00:07:51.460 And that deterrence is very much in play.
00:07:54.440 Let's be clear on one thing.
00:07:56.800 I don't think Taiwan is going anywhere.
00:07:59.300 And that is hardly the optics of appeasement.
00:08:03.220 If President Trump was actually thinking of ending American support for Taiwan
00:08:09.260 and allowing the Chinese Communist Party to take control of Taiwan,
00:08:14.220 he wouldn't take Marco Rubio with him.
00:08:16.920 And yet he did.
00:08:18.540 Yeah, U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today
00:08:22.620 and as of the meeting that we had here today.
00:08:24.480 It was raised.
00:08:25.340 They always raise it on their side.
00:08:26.960 We always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics.
00:08:29.840 We know where they stand and I think they know where we stand.
00:08:32.280 Another example.
00:08:34.020 Take Pete Hegseth and you have another telling sign
00:08:38.460 that President Trump's trip to China was no display of weakness.
00:08:43.560 As far as Russia and China, we know exactly what they're doing,
00:08:46.000 what they are or are not doing.
00:08:47.680 We don't have to air publicly what all of that is,
00:08:50.820 but where necessary, we're addressing it, we're mitigating it,
00:08:53.780 or we're confronting it head on.
00:08:56.880 A lot of people are missing it,
00:08:58.480 but you don't put a man of his military and defense credentials,
00:09:02.720 who's literally the Secretary of War,
00:09:05.460 at a geopolitical summit of diplomacy, unless you mean to project hard power. I would say Trump was
00:09:15.420 doing exactly that. I mean, the media has a habit of making everything with China about economics
00:09:21.560 and tariffs as if trade is all there is to it. But the underlying contest between the United States
00:09:27.740 and China is over global power. And who has the upper hand in the Indo-Pacific? Who runs the
00:09:36.080 shipping lanes and the energy routes, the semiconductor supply chains? That's where the rub 0.69
00:09:42.400 is. And I'd argue that Iran, in fact, the Islamic Republic, fits into this picture as well. Not only
00:09:51.840 fits in, but was probably the core and primary reason why President Trump went to China in
00:10:00.080 the first place.
00:10:01.080 Your message to Iran's allies, namely Russia and China, who have called for an immediate
00:10:05.720 end to hostilities.
00:10:08.400 I don't have a message for them, and they're not really a factor here.
00:10:11.600 And our issue is not with them. 0.90
00:10:13.860 It's with the nuclear ambitions of Iran.
00:10:18.160 ties to the Islamic Republic are of strategic importance. China buys Iranian oil, and they
00:10:25.640 like the instability that saps American influence and keeps the U.S. preoccupied in the Middle East.
00:10:33.440 So when President Trump is upping the pressure on Iran while having military types in the room,
00:10:39.380 I don't see this as a coincidence or appeasement. This is a form of strategic linkage. The point
00:10:46.200 that President Trump is making is that everything is tied together. The Islamic regime is tied to 0.84
00:10:52.620 shipping, it's tied to the Strait of Hormuz, it's tied to markets, it's tied to Taiwan, to energy, 0.93
00:10:58.760 and all of that is tied to China. And that is why deterrence is so vital. You don't just have a
00:11:08.480 strong military to fight the wars, but to make the cost of escalation prohibitive. That's the whole
00:11:15.880 concept of peace through strength. And Pete Hexeth was there to underscore that the American
00:11:25.660 economic clout has the military reach to back it up. Then there are the CEOs. And to me,
00:11:35.240 that's perhaps the most revealing part of the trip. President Trump's hand is very plain to
00:11:40.900 see here. He knows from his time in business that in modern geopolitics, capital and technology and
00:11:48.080 manufacturing are national power. When he brings these big names like Elon Musk to Beijing,
00:11:55.240 some will tell you it's because Americans are beholden to China and they're going there to
00:12:00.720 kiss the ring. However, it's completely the opposite. In fact, I think President Trump
00:12:05.760 is putting a reminder in front of China of how much the world economy actually relies on the
00:12:14.000 United States and on United States companies. Scott Besant is also there for the same reason,
00:12:21.480 to represent the whole financial edifice of American power from Wall Street, the Treasury,
00:12:27.440 the reserve currency, and the investment systems. China always seeks an advantage. They seek an 0.76
00:12:32.520 advantage in everything. They seek an advantage in the seating chart. So, you know, this isn't
00:12:38.020 unusual. And, you know, let's see if, you know, China, let's see them step up with some diplomacy
00:12:44.760 and get the Iranians to open the street. You said that twice now. Do you expect Beijing and
00:12:50.140 President Xi to do something with regard to Iran? Again, all I'll say is Iran is the largest state
00:12:58.300 sponsor of terrorism. And China has been buying 90% of their energy. So they are funding the 0.72
00:13:03.860 largest state sponsor of terrorism. But more importantly, Iran, the threat of attacks from 0.84
00:13:10.660 Iran has closed the strait. We are reopening it. So I would urge the Chinese to join us 0.73
00:13:16.500 in supporting this international operation. There are things moving through the UN
00:13:21.800 that China and Russia have blocked. People give China too much credit. Yes they manufacture
00:13:28.640 but America still dominates finance and consumer demand and of course the dollar. The message from
00:13:36.700 American CEOs is plain and simple. You need access to us. This is classic Trump. Put the leverage out
00:13:46.480 there and show that you have options. Step back and look at the whole affair, and the strategy
00:13:53.200 is in plain view. This wasn't President Trump going to Beijing with a white flag. He went in
00:13:59.840 with every pillar of American influence in tow, political, corporate, military, and financial.
00:14:08.700 In fact, I would go so far as to say it was for an audience beyond China too. President Trump's
00:14:16.460 trip to China was also meant for Russia, for Europe, for American allies, and for American
00:14:24.620 voters at home. Every leader is watching the tone and the body language and, of course,
00:14:31.080 the symbolism. And President Trump is very good at the theater of power. So no, I don't see any
00:14:38.180 appeasement here. In fact, I see deterrence and diplomacy in equal measure. I see President Trump
00:14:44.840 trying to get the word out that America is the superpower and America will conduct themselves
00:14:51.600 as such. What do you make of this? Was this President Trump showing strength or was this
00:14:58.380 appeasement? Tell me in the comments. And as always, like and subscribe and I will catch you
00:15:03.860 in the next video.