*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 two companies tout their deal as necessary for innovation and claim that it doesn't decrease competition in the field. Those arguments will be difficult to prove, says Eleanor Fox, an antitrust expert at NYU Law School. The third and fourth largest mobile networks in the U.S. announced a $26.5 billion merger Sunday that they claim will help develop a 5G network and create jobs. The deal still needs approval from regulators, who have expressed antitrust concerns in the past.
Rather than exiting the political fray, the former Secretary of State is campaigning for Democrats in this year's midterm elections and reaching out to women's groups. "I think she's earned the right to do whatever the hell she wants," says Amy Chozick, a writer-at-large for The New York Times and author of "Chasing Hillary."
New Jersey could become home to more innovation with hands-on support from lawmakers, says Aaron Price, founder and CEO of Propelify, an innovation festival in Hoboken, NJ.
The White House Correspondents' Association responded to the annual event saying, "the entertainer's monologue was not in the spirit" of the group's mission. However, it's actually the journalists insulted by her jokes who are "not doing their jobs," says Emma Vigeland, a host and producer of the TYT Politics Show on The Young Turks.
The agreed merger of T-Mobile and Sprint aligns with President Trump's policy priorities, the T-Mobile CEO John Legere says in an interview with Cheddar's Hope King. He says the president's tax policies have "added a great amount of value in this deal," and the merged company can help create a fast 5G network vital to the country's digital infrastructure, another priority for Trump.
The congressman said that, though the historic summit between the two Koreas was a positive, the U.S. should take North Korea's denuclearization promises with a grain of salt. "As President Reagan used to say, trust, but we need to verify," he told Cheddar.
The comedian, who plays a right-wing commentator on his Comedy Central show "The Opposition," has high hopes for this year's "Nerd Prom" thanks to host Michelle Wolf. "I'm just excited to sit back and watch her kill it," Klepper told Cheddar. The White House Correspondent's Dinner takes place on Saturday, and President Trump has decided to skip the event for the second year in a row.
Maintaining diplomatic momentum after the historic meeting Friday between the North Korean leader Kim Jung-un and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea will likely fall on the shoulders of President Trump, who will have his own summit with Kim next month.
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci tells Cheddar that, since he was fired last year, he has spoken to President Trump about a dozen times to talk about both political and personal issues.
Anthony Scaramucci, who only lasted 11 days as the White House Communications Director, tells Cheddar one of his biggest accomplishments last year was letting cameras back into White House briefings. That, and hiring a hair and makeup artist.
