Ex-Trump Advisor: Deal with China Still a 'Coin Toss' Despite Mar-A-Lago Summit Plans
*By Chloe Aiello*
President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are reportedly considering a meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Resort in March to resume trade talks. But whether or not any major developments will result is a toss-up, former State Department Senior Advisor Christian Whiton told Cheddar.
"It's still a coin toss as to whether or not there's a big deal, but Wall Street seems to take it for granted. I think it's less likely, and what's more likely, it's going to be a very long-term process of jousting," said Whiton, who served as an advisor for both Trump and former President George W. Bush.
[Axios reported](https://www.axios.com/trump-xi-china-trade-war-mar-a-lago-37bb245b-9ffa-455e-bc82-499c3c32d7e2.html) on Sunday that Trump's advisers have discussed hosting a summit at the president's Palm Beach, Fla., resort in an attempt to resolve the ongoing trade standoff between the U.S. and China. Sources informed Axios that the summit could come as soon as mid-March, although neither the date nor the location have been officially set.
A mid-March summit would come after the March 2 deadline Trump set to hike tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion in Chinese goods. Whiton said the summit could potentially lead to further delays.
"My guess is that if a summit was scheduled, it would be hard for the administration to go ahead with that increase," he said. "Having said that, there is some jousting within the administration between hardliners ... who want tariffs on sooner as added pressure, and the Wall Street crowd."
Whiton also said that China has done little to address major concerns over intellectual property theft and anti-competitive behaviors.
"What I understand is China really hasn't been that forthcoming in the systemic reform that Trump really wants, and frankly that there is bipartisan consensus for," he said. "They are sort of saying, 'meet us halfway on those things.' But that is extremely hard to do."
Trump has been pushing for adjustments in trade policies with China even before he stepped into the Oval Office. The two powers have been tangled in a retaliatory trade war since Trump first leveraged tariffs in early 2018.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/white-house-reportedly-considering-mar-a-lago-for-u-s-china-trade-summit).
The Biden administration on Tuesday quietly launched its website for Americans to request free at-home COVID-19 tests, a day before the site was scheduled to officially launch.
Just 27% of voters aged 18-29 approve of the job Biden is doing as president, according to a survey from The Economist and YouGov late last year. Santiago Mayer, executive director of Voters of Tomorrow, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss why President Biden is losing support among young voters.
Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech, joins Cheddar News to discuss it being one year since Trump was exiled from social media and the former President's new platform 'Truth Social.'
Cliff Albright, co-founder of the group Black Voters Matter, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss why he boycotted President Biden's voting rights speech this week, and the push from Senate Democrats to debate and vote on the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Senator Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) has teamed up with fellow Democratic senator and former astronaut Mark Kelly to introduce the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, a bill to essentially end stock trading by sitting lawmakers. From the other side of the aisle, Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) introduced his own legislation to enact something similar. The dueling bills come at a time when it's popular to constrain members of Congress from owning and trading stocks. Karl Evers-Hillstrom, a business and lobbying reporter at The Hill, spoke to Cheddar about the significance of the bills, and what they could mean for lawmakers, their families, and staffers moving forward.
A second Starbucks location in the U.S. has officially voted to unionize. On Monday, the National Labor Relations Board announced workers at the Starbucks store located in the Buffalo, NY suburb of Cheektowaga voted 15-9 in favor of being represented by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union. The New York Times reports votes were tallied in December but remained inconclusive as the union challenged the ballots of several employees it said did not work at the store. A Starbucks spokesperson has said that it may appeal the labor board's decision, which comes as several other Starbucks stores across the country are also pushing to form a union. Danka Dragic, shift supervisor for the second Starbucks store in the country to unionize, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Earlier today, Minnesota Republican Representative, Tom Emmer, introduced a bill that would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency directly to American consumers. According to the Congressman from Minnesota, requiring Americans to open a fed account to access a digital currency, would "put the Fed on insidious path akin to China's digital authoritarianism." Rep. Tom Emmer joined Cheddar's None of The Above to discuss more.
Sixteen of the country's most prestigious universities have been hit with a lawsuit claiming those schools illegally conspired to eliminate competitive financial aid offers for students. Just some of the schools mentioned include Yale, Brown, Columbia, UPenn, and Cornell. Author of "Who Gets In and Why" and Professor of practice at Arizona State University, Jeff Selingo, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
