Bessent hints Beijing raised “bigger deal” prospect beyond Busan truce

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping convened at the White House on Thursday for their second summit of 2026, with both governments publicly playing down the odds of “deliverables” — what the newsletter called diplo-speak for concrete outcomes — and signaling they care more about a smooth meeting than about the deep differences between the world’s two largest economies, the Wall Street Journal’s Politics newsletter reported. The summit takes place weeks before the November expiration of the one-year trade truce Trump and Xi struck in Busan, South Korea, in October 2025, which halted a tariff war.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a hint at something bigger on Wednesday. “The Chinese on Sunday came up with the idea of a bigger deal,” Bessent said after a New York meeting with Vice Premier He Lifeng, Xi’s economic right-hand man. “We’re open to the idea of just continuing the Busan arrangement or examining the bigger deal.” He was referring to the one-year trade truce the two leaders struck last October in Busan, which halted a tariff war and expires in November.

Wei wrote that being open to the idea is not a promise, adding that read another way, Bessent’s remark is less a sign that a grand bargain is near than an indication of the US leverage over China. Chinese officials have incentives to dangle the prospect of more, the newsletter reported, so the meeting doesn’t end up looking like it failed to deliver much.

People close to the Chinese side told the Journal that Beijing has weighed bigger purchases of American farm goods to please Trump before November’s midterms, holding back until now so Xi could head home with a win. Xi will keep pressing Trump to oppose Taiwanese independence and halt US arms sales to the self-ruled democracy. The lever Beijing cares about most, the newsletter reported, is US export controls.

Thursday’s schedule includes both leaders delivering remarks at 10:15 a.m. Eastern, holding bilateral meetings at 11:30 a.m. and noon, delivering additional remarks at 7:55 p.m., and attending a state dinner at 8:10 p.m.

The same edition of the Politics newsletter carried several other Washington developments. A federal judge ordered Trump to temporarily restore White House access to the building for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said a Canada-US trade pact remained possible but that his country would not give up its freedom to strike deals with the European Union and other parts of the world. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and GOP Reps. Dan Meuser and Ryan Mackenzie were set to discuss US energy production in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

The newsletter also reported that the Trump administration has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a December G-20 meeting at a Trump resort in Florida, as part of an effort to bring Russia back into Group of 20 leaders’ meetings. Putin last attended a G-20 summit in 2019 in Japan. Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) called the Russian leader a “killer” as some congressional Republicans pushed back on welcoming Putin to the United States.

Two political items rounded out the newsletter. The Journal analyzed nearly 70,000 hours of podcasts and found that conservative podcasters appear to be losing interest in Trump; instead, the newsletter reported, they are criticizing Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, described as a “Bible-quoting Democrat threatening to flip red Texas,” and debating the Lindsay Clancy murder trial.

Separately, leaked audio of Nebraska independent US Senate candidate Dan Osborn captured him describing Trump supporters in unflattering terms and suggesting he could not honestly state his views for fear of alienating GOP voters. Osborn has cast himself as an outsider who can take on both parties. The newsletter framed the episode as “another example of how the insurgent left wing can hurt Democrats.”

The edition was curated and edited in collaboration with Joe Haberstroh and Alina Heineke, according to the newsletter.