Jeff Zeleny: Trump Is ‘Softening His Tone, China Has Been Silent’

EXCERPT:

ZELENY: “And at the same time, later that day, he had this meeting in the Oval Office. And we knew about it at the time. We didn‘t know exactly what was said in that meeting, but I am told that these four CEOs were invited in by the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and others to kind of give the president somewhat of an education on what the real-world impact of these tariff policy fallout sort of is. And the empty shelves really kind of, you know, is an image. That‘s what you can see. And the president is so attuned to visuals, we know that he is. And this is something that, of course, hearkens back to the pandemic. But even before that, I mean, think of the 1970s gas lines or something like that. So I‘m told the image and just the idea of that really sort of rattled him. But really, ever since then, they have softened their tone on China after that, so I think we‘ve seen a shift this week. Will it last? Who knows. But it doesn‘t answer the big question: What does it do with China? He‘s softening his tone. China has been silent."