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As President Donald Trump touts a productive relationship with China ahead of his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, an expert is warning that the U.S. is in a “very dangerous period” in its relations with the communist nation, claiming that Xi is preparing for war.
Trump and Xi are set to meet on Thursday in Washington, D.C., just four months after the leader’s last meeting in May, with artificial intelligence and trade expected to be at the forefront of the conversation.
Gatestone Institute senior fellow Gordon Chang claimed that, despite the leaders trumpeting a positive relationship, Xi is mulling a war against the United States and organizing troops “for battle.”
TRUMP SAYS CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING WILL VISIT US ON SEPT 24
Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (Kenny Holston/Pool Photo via AP)
“Xi Jinping keeps on talking about going to war against us… and also he’s preparing China’s society, civilian and military, for battle. And we think we’re at peace,” Chang said Sunday on “Fox News Live.” “So, this is a very dangerous period for us.”
Chang’s remarks come amid reports that China aided Iran in attacks that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan earlier this summer.
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Iran reportedly received satellite images of an airbase in Jordan from Chinese entities before carrying out the attack, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Chang decried China for providing “targeting data” to Iran that resulted in the deaths of U.S. servicemembers, saying Trump must “absolutely” get tougher on China and arguing that decades of open dialogue with the Chinese have only made things worse for the United States.
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“Whatever one thinks of the strategic discussions the United States has with China, there’s this moral dimension that China is deliberately killing Americans,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People on May 14, 2026, in Beijing, China. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Experts expect this week’s summit with Trump and Xi to be vastly different from their May meeting, as since then, conflict in the Middle East has escalated and the AI race has intensified.
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Chang believes Trump will not get any better of a reception about AI than former President Joe Biden did during his meeting with Xi in 2023, adding that the Chinese leader is not positioned to compromise.
A split image shows Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, and President Donald Trump, right, after Trump said China agreed to stop supplying weapons to Iran. (Vincent Thian/POOL/AFP via Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“Xi Jinping is facing a turbulent Communist Party at home, which means that he can’t compromise. Also, he’s arrogant. He incorrectly believes that China’s on the way up and the United States is on the way down and we’re in terminal decline,” Chang explained.
“He’s not very much inclined in any event to compromise with the United States,” he added.