Xi Schools Trump on North Korea in Just 10 Minutes

By That's, April 13, 2017

Currency manipulation isn't the only thing Donald Trump seems to have second thoughts about these days.

In addition to deciding to no longer label China a currency manipulator, the US President apparently had groundbreaking revelations about North Korea after chatting (and having awkward handshakes) with Xi Jinping last week in Florida.

The Donald told the WSJ that he more or less believed China could simply eliminate the DPRK's nuclear threat. A brief 10-minute conversation from Xi on Chinese-Korean history, however, set him straight on the issue:

“After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it’s not so easy. I felt pretty strongly that they had a tremendous power [over] North Korea. ... But it’s not what you would think.”

Vox's Zack Beauchamp points out four major reasons why this revelation is startling:

1. Trump thought China could fix North Korea until the Chinese president politely informed him that North Korea is in fact complicated.
2. Trump seems to have required the leader of China to explain basic facts to him that he could have Googled, or at least asked one of the many US government North Korea experts about.
3. Trump came to a profound realization about one of the most dangerous conflicts on earth after a 10-minute conversation.
4. Trump is getting his information about East Asian affairs from the leader of America’s largest rival in the region.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the two plan to stay in "closer touch" via phone calls and meetings. In exchange for help with North Korea, Trump also apparently offered China more favorable trade terms.