Europe Today: Trump meets Xi Jinping as Brussels watches nervously

euronews (in English)

Europe Today: Trump meets Xi Jinping as Brussels watches nervously  All eyes are on Beijing, where Donald Trump has arrived alongside CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech companies. On his first visit since 2017, the US president is meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, with Brussels following nervously and fearing the worst.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/05/14/europe-today-trump-meets-xi-jinping-as-brussels-watches-nervously  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

Transcript

00:14Good morning. It is Thursday the 14th of May. I'm Maeve MacMahon and this is Europe Today.

00:21That's your daily digest of European news and context live here on Euronews.

00:26Coming up in the context of trade tensions with China and a war in the Middle East that

00:32has infuriated the Chinese, Donald Trump is in Beijing for tough talks with the Chinese

00:37President Xi Jinping. We'll bring you the European lens on these talks. They come as

00:42Lebanon and Israel hold fresh meetings in the US as their latest ceasefire near's end.

00:47Meanwhile, despite murmurs from the Russian President this week that the Fusco War in

00:52Ukraine might end soon, Russia has been launching mass daytime drone and missile strikes against

00:58Ukraine. This as President Zelensky wraps up talks with NATO in Romania. Plus, foreign

01:04ministers from the Strasbourg-based human rights body, the Council of Europe, are gathering

01:09in Moldova today to adopt a political declaration on human rights and migration. NGOs fear, though,

01:15a watering down of fundamental rights and press freedom. But first, all eyes on Beijing, where

01:21Donald Trump is spending three days on his first visit since 2017. The US President is holding

01:27direct talks, of course, with the Chinese President at a time when the world is in turmoil over

01:32trade tensions, ongoing wars and the growing power of big tech. We can start by taking a listen

01:37to what the two leaders had to say when they met.

01:45China and the United States can move beyond the so-called Thukiridis trap and set a new

01:50example in bilateral relations between major powers. We can work together to address global

01:55challenges injecting stability to the world, and we can improve the well-being of our peoples

02:00partners and the shared future of humanity, building a good future for our bilateral relations.

02:09We've had a fantastic relationship. We've gotten along. When there were difficulties,

02:13we worked it out. On behalf of all of the great delegation that we have, we have the greatest

02:19businessmen, the biggest, and I guess the best in the world. And they're here today to pay respects to

02:25you and to China.

02:26And now for some analysis on this visit, I'm joined here in the studio by our US politics expert,

02:31that is Stefan Krummer. Stefan, good morning.

02:34Good morning, Maeve.

02:35Tell us more about this trip. What exactly should we be looking out for?

02:38Well, Maeve, they have started their talks already. We don't know the detailed agenda,

02:44but they're expected to discuss a whole range of thorny issues, the core of which is trade. And

02:51Trump himself, just before his departure, said that he'll be talking about trade with Xi Jinping

02:56more than anything else. Now, Trump is flanked by 17 CEOs of big American corporations, Elon Musk

03:05among them. And he's seeking to strike deals with China to have them buy more American products from

03:11food to aircraft. Remember the trade war with China that Trump started, has sent the bilateral

03:18trade into freefall and forced companies from both sides of the Pacific to regroup. Now, the Chinese

03:25side wants a more balanced economic relationship, a more stable relationship, and they seem to have

03:33the better cards. They are sitting on most of the world's rare earth reserves that are used for

03:40basically every tech product that has a battery. They control the critical supply lines and they have

03:46invest heavily in green tech, in green energy. And that makes them suffer much less than other

03:53countries from the current energy crunch and the recent spike in oil prices due to the war in Iran.

04:02And this is where Trump's problems start. The Iran war that he triggered more than two months ago

04:07has led to global energy crunch, sky high oil prices and gas prices and plummeting approval ratings

04:14at home. So he doesn't seem to have a strategy to end the war in Iran. And now he wants

04:22the Chinese

04:22to help him find a diplomatic solution. But so far, Beijing has shown very little interest to wade into

04:29this conflict that they consider entirely to Washington's making. Instead, Xi prefers to let

04:36the US embroil itself in another Middle East war. So getting the Chinese to do something about Iran,

04:44that is probably Trump's biggest challenge here. Okay. And meanwhile, of course, today in Brussels,

04:47the institutions are closed for the bank holiday, but they are keeping a close eye very nervously.

04:53Yes, indeed, Maeve. They are watching the summit from the sidelines, because there's not much else

04:59they can do. And they are quite nervous, because really, they can't be optimistic about any outcome,

05:08as they risk being squeezed between superpowers to superpowers who don't care much about European

05:14interests. If Trump and Xi struck a tactical deal over what we call managed trade that would

05:23give the US preferential access to rare earths, for example, that would leave Europe with shortages

05:30and trade restrictions that put a lot of pressure on European companies. That is about the nightmare

05:37scenario for the European Union. On the other hand, if US-China trade relations further escalated and

05:45became a trade war, that could hit European industries through weaker demand, globally disrupt

05:53supply change, and financial volatility. So, it's almost a lose-lose situation for the Europeans, Maeve.

06:00Okay. Shafran Kobe, thank you so much for that analysis. And as you heard there,

06:04an interesting takeaway from this visit is the fact that some of the most richest and most powerful

06:09tech companies in the world are also present. Our Jakob Janis has the lowdown.

06:15Hey, how's your first day? Because Donald Trump has just landed in Beijing for a summit that feels

06:21less like diplomacy and more like a Silicon Valley board meeting. He hasn't just brought officials,

06:26and one could say he has arrived with an AI cabinet to navigate high-stakes tech cold war.

06:32Alright, so who's on the guest list, and should Europe be worried?

06:38First, Elon Musk is there to protect Tesla's massive Chinese footprint,

06:42and also his interest as head of XAI. And he's accompanied by Tim Cook, who is managing his

06:48final lab as Apple's CEO, balancing billions in sales with a shift of production away from China.

06:55And there is also the king of chips, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, who joined at the last minute to

07:01lobby for the sale of powerful H200 AI chips, which are currently stalled by US and Chinese regulations.

07:07And joining them are the giants of the supply chain. Micron is there to fight Beijing's ban on American

07:14memory chips, while Qualcomm aims to protect its role as the primary chip supplier for China's biggest

07:20smartphone brands. And they are not just talking trade. They are discussing the new age of AI-supported

07:26warfare and the risk of China copying American frontier models. So if you ever wondered what the

07:32AI industry looks like in practice, these CEOs provide the perfect picture. And that picture also

07:39highlights where Europe stands in the AI race. So if you're looking for a European OpenAI or Google,

07:45the news is grim. The continent lacks hyperscale giants. But hey, the news isn't all bad,

07:53as Europe is securing its own AI supply chain. And while superpowers fight over AI models,

07:59European firms like STMicroelectronics, SOITEC and ASML provide the essential hardware to build them.

08:07And this bet is on strategic autonomy. The idea that you don't need to outspend your superpowers if

08:13you control the tools that drive the race. But will it be enough? Well, you can always ask this question

08:20to your favourite AI agents. Just remember, the answer might vary depending on whether you ask Elon

08:26Musk's Grok or Francis Mistral.

08:33That was Jakob Janis, of course, reporting for us there. And now to take a closer look at what's at

08:38stake for the EU, we can bring in Michael Bloss, a German MEP from the Green Party. MEP is working

08:44very closely on EU-China relations. We're thrilled to have you with us. Good morning. And of course,

08:49we're hearing, you know, Donald Trump saying, we're the two superpowers, referring to the US and China.

08:54So where does that leave the European Union? Sandwich somewhere in the middle?

08:59That's true. It is a moment where Europe has to realise that it is not sitting at the table when

09:07the two superpowers speak about very important things that is also determining Europe's face.

09:15So there are two shaking hands over the heads of European leaders. And we have to understand that

09:24only when Europe speaks with one voice, when we are better coordinating in our China policy,

09:31but also in our US policy, we can have an influence.

09:33Well, that is the issue. You said Europeans are not around the table. And everyone says,

09:37if you're not on the table, you're clearly on the menu. How can the EU and the 27 countries survive

09:43in this world where Washington and Beijing are cutting deals over Europe's head and neither

09:48obviously caring about the climate, the environment or privacy issues?

09:54Well, it seems that we have to realise that it's difficult to survive if we're not speaking with

10:00one voice. But it's really Europe is squeezed as it was said already. There is a trade war with the

10:08US

10:09happening. But also, if we look at our trade relations with China, this has really turned around now.

10:16And there is a trade deficit of 360 billion euros. So the question is for us, how do we get

10:25more autonomy

10:27and more sovereignty? And I think the answer is, as I said already, speaking with one voice is very

10:35difficult, especially looking at the member states. And China is doing this divide and conquer policy.

10:43But it also means, for instance, with regards to energy imports, energy policy, becoming sovereign by

10:53producing our own energy. And second, I think also rare earth. Europe is absolutely dependent for

11:00all its technology on rare earth. And also here, we have to diversity, diversify and not become

11:05not being so dependent on China.

11:07And of course, Donald Trump is a very transactional president. How could deals

11:11being struck this week in Beijing impact negatively European industry?

11:18Yeah, it was already said, when there is a better relationship between the US

11:23and China that can result in, well, less market access, for instance, from the EU to the Chinese market.

11:36However, I think I want to also discuss on another policy area, which is security. I think that's

11:44also very important. And it's interesting or, well, that there is a risk that the US is less

11:55focused on Taiwan. And we see that the main security risk for Europe currently is Russia's attack on

12:04Ukraine. We heard that tonight and yesterday there was this massive drone attack. And China is supporting

12:12Russia in this. If China would pull the plug on the war of Russia against Ukraine, that would really help

12:21us. But it seems that they are more go entering into some kind of imperialist policies.

12:30And that's really also a problem for Europe.

12:32OK, Michael Bluss, thank you so much for waking up early on this Thursday bank holiday for joining us here

12:38live on Europe Today.

12:39I'm moving on to Bucharest, where NATO Secretary General Mark Lutze joined talks with the so-called B9 countries, mostly

12:46from the east.

12:47The idea was to beef up defence technologies. It comes as the US announced that 5,000 troops, excuse me,

12:54could be withdrawn from Germany over European countries' refusal to join the war in Iran.

12:59Our NATO correspondent, Shona Murray, has the scoop and joins me now here on set. Good morning, Shona. Just first,

13:05tell us about these meetings.

13:07Well, the B9 meeting was in Bucharest, which is the central European countries like Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and

13:16so on.

13:17And they were also joined by the Nordic countries, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and so on. Also, President Zelensky was there

13:22and Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO.

13:25So it was an important meeting to discuss European security and joint drone production.

13:28But Mark Rutte, the Secretary General, was also asked about this rift with Donald Trump that's ongoing with NATO.

13:34He said NATO allies have gotten the message over Iran, but not quite true.

13:38Because if you look at Trump's message yesterday to reporters, he said that NATO was very disappointing to me.

13:44NATO was not there when we wanted them. We don't need NATO, but if we need them, they just weren't

13:49there.

13:49So you can see that's ongoing. But lots of sources I've spoken to have said that really Donald Trump is

13:53trying to distract from what is not a very successful war in Iran.

13:57And meanwhile, of course, Shona, you have some exclusive information about these plans of the US to withdraw troops from

14:02Germany. Tell us more.

14:03So this is really interesting, Maeve, because as we know, the US announced 5,000 troops were withdrawn from NATO

14:08territory in Germany.

14:10What I heard over the last few hours and late last night was confirmed to be by a NATO person,

14:15was that instead of removing the 5,000, a 4,000 troop brigade that was due to be sent from

14:20the United States to Poland has been cancelled.

14:23So in effect, there's no net problem when it comes to NATO's troop force within Europe.

14:30Now, take a listen to Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, when he was asked about this yesterday.

14:35When you look at the US presence in Europe, it is still vast and massive.

14:39And there is a clear commitment between the United States to stay involved.

14:43We know that we are investing now more in Europe.

14:45We have always known that the United States, over time, has to pivot more towards Asia.

14:50So we are all in this all together.

14:55And obviously, it is a sovereign decision of the United States where they will bring their troops, how they will

15:00do that.

15:01But we do this in close consultation.

15:02And that's Mark Rutte. And he's not necessarily answering the question.

15:06And this is interesting because in Poland over the past few weeks, after that announcement,

15:10Polish media was speculating that these troops could go from Germany to Poland.

15:15In fact, the opposite is the case.

15:17A whole 4,000 troop, it's a replenishment troop or brigade, will now not be sent to Poland,

15:23which will obviously be very difficult for them.

15:24But essentially, there is no net effect to NATO's troop force within US troop forces within NATO.

15:31And I did get a confirmation on this from a NATO military official who said NATO rotational forces

15:37do not factor into NATO's deterrence and defence plan.

15:40So it looks like this issue has been somewhat resolved for the betterment of everybody, including US-NATO relations.

15:48OK, Shona Murray, our NATO correspondent, thank you so much for that very comprehensive analysis.

15:53But now to another story that's making the rounds here in Brussels.

15:57The EU has stopped short of heeding a petition by over one million Europeans about banning unscientific conversion therapy,

16:05designed, of course, to change people's identity and sexual orientation.

16:08The US or the UN, excuse me, is calling for a worldwide ban.

16:12Our EU correspondent, Angela Scudgin, spoke exclusively to the EU Commissioner for Equality, Hadjil Abib.

16:17Yeah, it's a torture and it's a physical and psychological harassment that could lead to a deep depression or suicide.

16:28And that's why we need really to react and to combat these practices.

16:34And these young citizens who gather one million signatures succeed to create awareness.

16:41We've launched a study and we are going to organize to put into place a forum for discussion between member

16:49states, between the commission.

16:50Already eight member states took the decision in their legislative, national legislation to ban these practices.

16:59But we need to see all of them and we are going to encourage them and to show the path.

17:05And by taking this recommendation, we take a very strong stance.

17:11We need to see these practices banned in our union.

17:15But you just highlighted that eight member states have banned this.

17:19How are you going to convince the other dozens that haven't done this so far?

17:22What pressure are you going to put on them?

17:24By exchanging best practices.

17:26So we will show, first of all, that it is possible to ban, no matter what is your political architecture.

17:35I mean, Germany has taken this bold step.

17:37Belgium, Spain, many countries.

17:42And three countries at least are monitoring, are willing to take this kind of decision.

17:51And I think we need to create more awareness because, frankly speaking, I met many ministers and a lot of

18:01them are not aware of what are these practices about.

18:05What happens if a member state does not accept this recommendation?

18:08What follows from the side of the commission?

18:12It's non-binding.

18:14This is a path that we choose because we didn't want to take, you know, decades of discussions like we

18:25are doing with the Equal Treatment Directive.

18:27So we prefer to build on the goodwill, on awareness and on the fact that if we need, if we

18:33still believe that our union is a union of freedom, of expression, of equality, we need to ban these practices.

18:50And in case you missed it, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, he's back in the news again as French prosecutors

18:57are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for him for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions from the late Libyan dictator.

19:05A verdict is expected on November 30th.

19:08You can read more about that story and any other stories we're covering for you here on euronews.com.

19:13And of course, you can drop us a line, europetoday at euronews.com, and you can tell us what kind

19:19of stories you'd like us to cover, from football to film festivals or the ban on Brazilian meat.

19:25We'd love to hear your preferences.

19:27But for now, thank you so much for tuning in to Europe Today.

19:29Take care and see you soon here on Euronews.

19:40Euronews.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended