In my opinion, the upcoming summit between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could not be happening at a more important moment.

The world is unstable.

Ukraine continues grinding through a bloody war of attrition. Iran remains the world’s leading exporter of chaos and terrorism while trying desperately to preserve its crumbling influence structure. Global shipping lanes remain vulnerable. Inflation has cooled from its worst levels, but Americans still feel the squeeze every single day they buy groceries, gasoline, or try to finance a home.

And floating over all of it is China.

Massive. Ambitious. Increasingly aggressive. Economically strained in some areas, technologically dangerous in others, and still trying to figure out whether it wants to become a responsible global power or simply the wealthiest authoritarian regime in human history.

That’s why this meeting matters.

Because of all the media caricatures of Trump as impulsive or chaotic, one thing he consistently understands better than most world leaders is leverage.

And right now, America still possesses enormous leverage over China if we are wise enough to use it.

So if I’m President Trump walking into that room, I have three priorities.

And if progress is made on these three fronts, the entire geopolitical landscape shifts.

3. Keep China Out of the Iranian and Ukrainian Conflicts

This is the immediate concern.

China has spent years playing both sides of global instability—publicly calling for “peace” while economically benefiting from nations actively destabilizing the world order.

Beijing buys heavily discounted Russian energy while Moscow wages war in Ukraine. It continues maintaining deep economic ties with Iran while the mullahs fund terror proxies, threaten shipping lanes, and destabilize the Middle East.

That balancing act cannot continue indefinitely.

And........

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