“Twelve out of ten.” That’s how President Trump described this week's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping—a bold rating for one of the most consequential diplomatic encounters in years. But what really came out of it? Was this the start of a new trade understanding or just another pause in a brewing confrontation between two global powers? In this episode of Talking Geopolitics, host Christian Smith is joined by GPF Chairman George Friedman, speaking from The Citadel in South Carolina, where he’s a keynote speaker at an open-source intelligence conference. They unpack the U.S.–China meeting - from tariffs to rare earths -, the fragile economics behind Beijing’s export-driven model, and how these developments connect to Friedman’s long-term forecast from his book The Next 100 Years.

As GPF Chairman George Friedman has written about in recent months, the United States is trying to reduce its exposure in foreign conflicts. With the US now entering its third week of a government shutdown, the nation has its own set of crises to work through, while Trump is also working to broker peace in Gaza and a trade agreement with China. How does the current situation fit within the framework of institutional and socioeconomic cycles, as described in George's most recent book, The Storm Before the Calm? And where does President Trump fit into it all? Host Christian Smith is back on the podcast with Dr. Friedman to discuss the US and the historic shifts of the 2020s.