Jennifer Bowers BahneyMay 15th, 2026, 5:09 pm

MS NOW contributor and former Russian ambassador Michael McFaul said he was struck by how much praise Donald Trump heaped upon Chinese President Xi Jinping during their two-day summit — without receiving reciprocal praise from Xi.

“In his remarks, President Xi said that he hoped the two countries could avoid the so-called Thucydides Trap,” said host Erielle Reshef. “It’s a historic reference about a great power being threatened by the rise of another. Trump struck a bit more of a public, at least cordial, flattering tone in his comments.”

“What do you make of the posture, both in private and in public, of these two leaders? And how should we be reading all of this?” Reshef asked McFaul.

“Well, to figure out what happened in private, we’re going to have to get better readouts than we have so far to date. They’re just pretty pablum. They’re very stock phrases. Nothing new in my mind, either from president Xi or President Trump,” McFaul said.

McFaul continued:

What’s striking to me about the public remarks is just how effusive President Trump was in calling the chairman of the Communist Party of China, dictator and autocrat, his ‘friend.’ He just kept using the phrase, ‘friend, friend, friend. He’s a great leader, great leader, great leader.’ Chairman Xi Jinping said nothing reciprocal to President Trump, to the best of my mind, and lest I missed it, I never heard him call the president his ‘friend.’ I never heard him call a ‘great leader.’ And that asymmetry, I think, is striking. I think that’s a position of weakness, frankly, from the president. It’s not necessary. You have to meet with Xi Jinping and manage the relationship. And I think that’s the way this summit will be remembered. A kind of nonevent, right? There’s not going to be any breakthrough moments.

“But this asymmetry of praise is striking to me. Unprecedented, I would say,” McFaul added.

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.

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