Today, Les, Jess, Morgan, Matt, and Marc examine what to expect — and what to be skeptical of — as President Trump travels to China this week for a face-to-face meeting with Xi Jinping on Thursday. The summit follows their last encounter in the fall, but this time on Chinese soil, with trade and economic tensions dominating the agenda even as flashpoint issues like Taiwan and Iran linger at the margins. Expectations in Washington are deliberately low, and the pattern of Beijing treating agreements as temporary pauses rather than binding commitments remains a live concern.

Will Xi use the meeting to press Trump on ending the Iran conflict to protect China's oil supplies, and how does that square with Beijing's simultaneous support for Iran's nuclear program? Will national security issues get serious airtime or be quietly traded away for economic wins? Given China's track record of opacity and broken promises, from trade deals to the Spratly Islands, how should the Trump administration distinguish genuine progress from the appearance of it? 

Check out the answers to these questions and more in this episode of Fault Lines.

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