Trump wraps China visit with few deals, Georgia GOP primary looms
Trump left Beijing touting “fantastic trade deals,” but no major agreements emerged as Xi warned Taiwan mishandling could trigger conflict. Georgia Republicans now turn to Tuesday’s Senate primary.
President Donald Trump ended his Beijing visit with plenty of pageantry and few public results, after two days of talks with Xi Jinping that centered on trade, Taiwan, the war in Iran and the broader U.S.-China relationship. The trip, Trump’s first to China in nearly nine years, played out at the Great Hall of the People and Zhongnanhai, settings that underscored how much is at stake for both governments even when the public ledger is thin.
Trump said he had made “fantastic trade deals,” but no major breakthroughs were announced as he departed China. Public reporting around the visit pointed instead to broad signals of progress and very little concrete detail. On Iran, there was no tangible help from Beijing to end the war, and on trade the White House did not roll out a package that matched the rhetoric. That left the central question of the trip unanswered: whether the world’s two largest economies are actually moving toward a durable reset, or simply buying time with carefully staged optics.
Taiwan remained the sharpest edge of the encounter. Xi warned Trump that mishandling the issue could lead to clashes or conflict, a reminder that the dispute is no longer just a diplomatic talking point but a live strategic risk. POLITICO’s reporting that Trump’s noncommittal stance on Taiwan arms sales could affect a $14 billion deal Congress approved in January only sharpened the stakes around what Beijing heard, and what Washington may now do next.
That uncertainty is landing alongside another political test back home. Georgia Republicans will choose their Senate nominee on May 19, with the winner set to challenge Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who was first elected in 2021 and is running unopposed on the Democratic side. The GOP field includes Reps. Mike Collins and Earl “Buddy” Carter, former college football coach Derek Dooley, John Francis Coyne III and Jonathan McColumn.
Gov. Brian Kemp has endorsed Dooley, but recent polling showed Collins ahead while a large share of voters remained undecided. If no candidate clears a majority, the primary runoff is set for June 16, and the general election follows on Nov. 3. For Republicans, the race offers one of their clearest shots at a Senate pickup; for Trump, the China trip ends with symbolic images abroad, but few measurable gains to show at home.
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