LARRY KUDLOW: Xi’s saber-rattling is no match for the American Trumpian Economic Boom
FOX Business host Larry Kudlow examines President Donald Trump’s big meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on ‘Kudlow.’
According to reports, President Xi Jinping has done a little saber-rattles over the Republic of China in Taiwan with President Trump. In addition, he seemed to say that if America mishandles Taiwan, the two countries will clash – and put the relationship at serious risk.
No one really knows what that means, forever we have had a policy of strategic ambiguity, such as America’s defense of Taiwan’s independence. I don’t think any of that will change. And I don’t think Mr. Trump wants it to change; not really negotiated. And Taiwan, and specifically Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, may be at the center of the global AI race. That’s a Taiwanese company that recently opened a major operation in Phoenix, Arizona. And other places in America. I highly doubt that Mr. Trump wants any of this changed. Or worse, give it up. Mr. Xi is wrong.
In recent weeks you have watched the United States end its influence in Venezuela, the Panama Canal, soon to be Cuba, and Iran. I mean, Communist China buys 90 percent of Iran’s oil and gas exports. But as Mr. Trump has blocked air in Iran’s ports, China is hungry for energy. They may do a deal with us, but that too remains to be seen if it comes under the scrutiny of Treasurer Man Scott Besent’s investment board.
Former deputy national security adviser Victoria Coates and The Foreign Desk editor-in-chief Lisa Daftari discuss the Iran war and its impact on President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on ‘Kudlow.’
Meanwhile, Mr Trump elbowed China out of the Middle East and out of the Western Hemisphere. And on top of all that, China’s economy has never recovered from the real estate crash of the past few years. They used to post GDP growth rates of 15 percent or more. Now that’s down to 5 percent or less, which is recession for them. And if they have bad economic statistics coming up, they decide not to publish them at all.
Remember, China is Communist China, CCP. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, they flirted with some free market reforms that boosted their economies, and created a viable private sector. However, in the 21st century under the following dictators, especially Mr. Xi, the economy has been turned back into a tightly run statistical corporation, with massive corruption and repeated economic failures.
In world trade, they are very protectionist and rarely keep their promises to open markets. As someone who worked on Mr. Trump in the first term of the First Division, I can tell you a lot about his promises that have been fulfilled. My point here is that while China has invested heavily in a strong military, its economy is underperforming and its political standing in the world is deteriorating.
Ronald Reagan Institute director Roger Zakheim and Fox News political analyst Reince Priebus explain how the Trump administration’s foreign policy has frustrated China in ‘Kudlow.’
All this reminds me of President Reagan and Gorbachev. The American economy was booming in the 1980s under Reagan. The Soviet economy was collapsing. Gorbachev desperately wanted Reagan to abandon what was then known as Star Wars, now the Golden Dome defense of America. And so Mr. Army. Trump Space. Still, Reagan refused to discuss Star Wars further. He bluntly told Gorbachev that America’s strong economy was producing resources to support the defense of the region, but the Soviet economy would not be like ours.
I think it is the same today with Mr. Trump and Xi. Here’s my favorite statistic: on a per capita basis, American GDP is over $90,000 per person. And China? Per capita their GDP is less than $14,000. That gives America an economic advantage nearly seven times that of China. So Mr. Xi can apologize all he wants, but Mr. Trump has the ability to keep America first.
