Trump delights in his deference to Xi, his strongman fantasy made flesh

Chinese leader appears to be in the driving seat as the unusually polite US president ignores questions on Taiwan Why does Donald Trump look so at home in China? The US president spent day one of his summit in Beijing basking in rigid pageantry, heroically managing not to offend his hosts and offering the verdict: “China is beautiful.” A man who has shown authoritarian yearnings in his own country – discrediting elections, cowing universities, accusing journalists of treason – visibly delighted in one where the strongman fantasy is made flesh. Not for the first time, he was far better behaved in one of the world’s most repressive regimes than when he shows up in Europe’s democracies like a human wrecking ball. There has been a strange, uncharacteristic deference and circumspection about Trump since he left Washington. Unusually, he did not speak to reporters on the long Air Force One flight nor did he post about his meeting with President Xi Jinping on his Truth Social platform. Climbing out of the presidential limousine at the Great Hall of the People on Thursday morning, Trump fiddled with his jacket, as if nervous, eventually deciding to button it. He had previously predicted th