Trump landed in Beijing for talks with Xi Jinping while looking weaker at home and abroad, which is bad for US leverage and good for China.

• Trump showed up with Elon Musk in his entourage, and neither man criticizes China the way they criticize other countries.
• US stock futures dropped on a hot wholesale inflation reading, adding to the pressure on Trump going into the meeting.
• A Chinese oil supertanker linked to Iran sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz toward US-patrolled waters, possibly part of a quiet deal tied to the summit.
• Treasury Secretary Bessent met the Chinese vice premier behind closed doors in Seoul beforehand, and the silence afterward suggests the talks were tense, not friendly.
• Regular Chinese people interviewed by the Financial Times said they see Trump as unreliable and no longer view America as the model it once was, with middle-class interest in the US fading.

Outlook: Xi will play the calm, stable partner while Trump pushes for a headline deal, leaving China holding most of the cards in any trade truce that emerges.