President Donald Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as “a Leader of extraordinary distinction” while en route to Beijing on Wednesday — a warm tone that contrasts sharply with warnings from some of his closest conservative policy allies, who say U.S. security and economic interests demand a tougher line.
Traveling with more than a dozen top American business leaders — including fellow billionaires Jensen Huang, Elon Musk and Tim Cook — Trump also described China as a “Great Country” in an online post during the trip.
Conservative Voices Urge Caution Back Home
Former Trump deputy national security advisor Matt Pottinger, writing in the Hoover Institution platform Freedom Frequency with co-author Liza Tobin, on Tuesday advised Trump to “reject any ploys that would weaken America,” including investment in battery manufacturing in the U.S. by Chinese manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., increased purchases of American advanced semiconductors, and a “peace gesture” on Taiwan, the self-governing democracy of 23 million people over which Beijing claims sovereignty.
Project 2025 Architect Warns Trump To Be Tough
Another skeptic: Paul Dans, a prominent architect of Project 2025, a policy blueprint for a second Trump administration. Dans withdrew from a primary election battle against fellow Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham for a U.S. Senate seat in April and now practices law in South Carolina. In an interview at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece last month, Dans endorsed the idea of a Trump-Xi meeting but said the American president should take a tough approach while there.
“He never shrinks from a fight,” Dans said of Trump. “So absolutely go. I think dialogue is the best thing, but I think he has to be very demanding.”
Dans said he worries about several areas involving U.S.-China business ties, including Chinese investment in the U.S. — particularly in American agriculture and food industries, as well as pharmaceutical industry tie-ups.
Farmland, Food Supply And National Security
“We’re very hesitant about Chinese ownership in the U.S., particularly farmland and our agricultural sector. I just was running for the United States Senate, and the biggest applause line was, ‘We’re going to take back the farmland from the Chinese,’” Dans said. “We can’t own land in China; they shouldn’t be able to own land in the U.S. And, you know, respectfully, in our very important food chain and pharmaceuticals – these are areas that the United States, for national security, needs to control.”
“I’m not saying there aren’t areas for cooperation, but I don’t think what we’ve seen in terms of Chinese investing in the United States is a solution. It’s actually going the other way,” he said.
Dans Targets Smithfield And Big Agriculture
Dans, who holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Virginia Law School, was particularly critical of pork producer Smithfield Foods, which Chinese pork producer WH Group purchased in 2013. WH Group’s chairman is Chinese billionaire Wan Long, and the Hong Kong-listed parent company is one of China’s biggest meat suppliers.
“Smithfield needs to be seized by the U.S. government and turned back to the American people. Why? It’s too much jeopardy. That’s the food that we put in our bodies everyday. We want healthy farming,” said Dans, whose federal government work includes a post as a senior adviser in the Office of Community Planning and Development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the first Trump administration. In January 2021, Trump appointed him to a six-year term as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, according to his bio.
“I want to rip up American agriculture root and branch, and actually borrow from the European system and get back healthy food. We’re talking about re-establishing family farms, going back to the land in the 21st century. And so big ag needs to go, whether it’s owned by the Chinese or by American cartel interests. But particularly (with) a situation like Smithfield, I talk to people and they are very hesitant to even buy that product.”
Stock investors in Smithfield, which went public on the Nasdaq in January last year, don’t seem to have any problem with the company: Its shares have risen by nearly 13% in the past year and, at Tuesday’s close of $25.52, have gained a quarter from their IPO price.
Pharma Partnerships Draw Scrutiny Too
Dans also expressed skepticism about collaboration with China involving the pharmaceutical industry. U.S. companies including Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb have actively formed partnerships. This week, Chinese drugmaker Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals said it reached a global strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Bristol Myers that could eventually be worth up to $15 billion for the Lianyungang-based company, including a $600 million upfront payment.
“If you’re going to find a villain above big agriculture, it’s big pharma,” Dans said. “I do not believe that that is the long-term solution to healthy living. But certainly, ironically, a lot of that pharmaceutical development was pioneered by the U.S. Ultimately, I think we have to not only produce at home, but be leading in that industry (and be) a little bit more circumspect about sharing it.”
Public Opinion Reflects Similar Skepticism
Dans’s wary views about China align with overall public opinion in the U.S. Approximately 27% of Americans have a positive opinion of China — an increase of six percentage points since last year and nearly double since 2023 — yet 71% have an unfavorable view, according to a Pew Research poll released last month.
“People are wanting us to focus on rebuilding here at home,” Dans said.
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