Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Arrives in China for High-Stakes Meeting with Xi; Interview with Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA): Trump: I Don't Think About Americans' Financial Situation Amid War; Trump's Approval on Economy Drips to 30 Percent; CIA Escalates War on Cartels with Deadly Operations in Mexico. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2026 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[08:00:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: ... It has been largely stable since October, since the two leaders sat down for that brief meeting when President Trump was in Asia the last time around. Now, of course, we are in a completely different climate now than we were back in October because of the war in Iran. So that has opened the door for a lot of questions as to what President Xi is going to ask for and what President Trump is going to ask for and who actually has the upper hand.

Again, if the war in Iran was not looming over this, it would likely be that President Trump would have the upper hand going into this. However, the analysts we're talking to say he's in a weaker position than he was at least back in October, given the fact that we expect him to ask President Xi to push Iran, who, of course, is the closest ally of China's in that region, to open the Strait of Hormuz, to even reach a peace deal. This is going to be an enormous part of this conversation, which, of course, then goes to the question of, well, that's leverage for President Xi.

And that's also why you heard President Trump, when he was taking off, kind of downplaying this idea that he needed President Xi to step in. That's the way President Trump operates. He's not going to say he needs anybody if he's going into negotiation.

I think it's also likely why you saw this kind of small deal go through with the Department of Defense and a contract with Taiwan. It was a very small contract. We're talking $12 million in contracts that are usually billions of dollars, but that's still a muscle that President Trump can flex.

That is still some form of leverage that President Trump has. He knows that's something that President Xi wants from him, to talk about the relationship with Taiwan, to try to insert himself into the U.S. relationship with Taiwan. So these are all things that are likely to be on the agenda, and both of the sides are going to see leveraging the power that they have, whether it is Taiwan and U.S. arms to Taiwan, or whether it is power with Iran and a relationship with Iran.

And I will remind you, when it comes to Iran, the top negotiator was here in China just days ago, ahead of President Trump's visit, and part of that was because he was briefing the Chinese leadership on what their bottom line is when it comes to negotiations. And we've seen what President Trump thinks of the latest proposal and what he likely thinks of what their bottom line is, at least at this point.

So that's going to hang heavy over this, but we do expect definitely some financial deals to come out of this, both in the private and public sector.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: You saw them literally smoothing out the red carpet for the president to get off Air Force One very shortly. What you're also seeing there is a military honor guard from China, a military band, and then this, the Chinese youth, 300 or so there to greet the president.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's bring in Alice Han. She's the director at the advisory firm Green Mantle and an expert in Chinese macroeconomics. There have been a couple of different articles written about how China sees the United States now, both of them saying that they basically think that America is declining.

I'm curious what you think that Xi is looking to get out of all this, especially when you have the president saying, hey, we don't need China's help when it comes to Iran. But if they do help and do help clearly get some sort of a deal to get the Strait open, doesn't that give them a heck of a lot more power on the world stage?

ALICE HAN, DIRECTOR AT GREENMANTLE AND EXPERT IN CHINESE MACROECONOMICS: Well, thanks very much. You know, China's long had this narrative of the East is rising and the West is falling. So this is nothing new, but I would say that certainly Trump to your earlier point has had a huge setback from the Iran crisis.

I think he's coming into this geopolitically weaker and the Chinese know it. So the three areas that I think the Chinese will be looking for some kind of clarity or announcement about are the following.

Number one, on trade. They don't want the section 301 investigation to raise further tariffs on China. In fact, they probably want to wind back some of the existing effective tariff rate around 30 percent currently on China.

Number two, on the tech export controls. I think they will be applying some kind of pressure in the discussions both this week and in future discussions as to rolling back or loosening some of the restrictions on chip equipment and chips.

And number three, on the geopolitical issue, I think whereas Trump really wants to talk about Iran and get China to collaborate and help in resolving the Iran crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, the Chinese I think in the short term will apply some pressure on the Taiwan arms sales side of things. Even although I don't think Taiwan will be front and center, at least that seems to be on the table.

And I think the Chinese will try to persuade Trump to delay or even walk back the 11 billion that was agreed to at the end of last year in terms of arms sales to Taiwan. BERMAN: I have to say, I think it's fascinating, Kate, something that you and Kristen were talking about, which is that the president did not speak to reporters at all on this flight. If we still have Kristen Holmes with us, it's interesting because that means, and there was plenty of time too, and he left yesterday afternoon. So it's not like it was a late night red eye, right?

It was an afternoon flight. The president presumably had been awake for a while beforehand and had plenty of chances to do so.

[08:05:00]

And it left really the narrative to be, Kristen, that exchange he had with a reporter before he left about whether or not economic -- the economic situation for American families would factor into the negotiations with Iran.

And his answer was not even a little bit. I don't think about Americans' financial situation. So that's what was hanging over this entire 20-hour flight.

And I'm surprised in a way that he didn't try to clean that up. What are White House officials saying about it?

HOLMES: Yes, I mean, I also feel sorry for the reporters who are traveling in the pool because it is so stressful. You think that you're flying on Air Force One, that's all great, but you're waiting every second on pins and needles in case somebody comes back into the cabin, particularly President Trump, but you might get another senior official. And so for that entire time with a refuel in Alaska, those reporters probably did not sleep almost at all because they were waiting, anticipating a potential gaggle from President Trump, never of course, to get it.

And when you talk to White House officials, they're really being tight-lipped about those comments, saying that, of course, President Trump was trying to reiterate the point that Iran can't have a nuclear deal. That's what he's thinking about, the fact that they can't have a nuclear weapon. That's really what President Trump was trying to say there, you know, the kind of backpedaling of those remarks.

But the other part of this is that the Republican Party as a whole, the White House, allies of President Trump know just how difficult this situation is, particularly ahead of midterms. They know that people are struggling. They know this is really bad.

And days ago, I was told that President Trump was still looking for a diplomatic off-ramp. Now, of course, that comes before the latest response that the U.S. got from Iran, in which President Trump said that he was disappointed, he was dissatisfied. He said he stopped reading it at parts because it just wasn't even remotely what he wanted. Now, of course, we know behind the scenes, he has been increasingly frustrated, considering more seriously resuming combat operations.

But I think what was really clear in the last gaggle that we saw him in, which was that departure, is that he was growing increasingly frustrated publicly as well. And President Trump, one thing that he is very good at is spinning a narrative, turning one small thing into an entire narrative around what he is doing in the White House. But it has been increasingly harder for him to do so.

When we're seeing Iran not come to the table with a deal, when you're seeing those inflation numbers, when you're seeing how dissatisfied Americans are with the economy.

And I'll remind you, John, one of the reasons that President Trump was able to win in 2024 was he and his team tapped into something that the Democrats were not tapping into, which was it wasn't necessarily about politics, it was all about the economy and how people were feeling. So they're keenly aware that right now people are not feeling good, and comments like President Trump's don't help, even if they are supposed to be in the context of not wanting Iran to have a nuclear weapon.

All of this, of course, it goes back to the idea that everyday Americans are not thinking about Iran when they wake up. They're thinking about their financial situation. And of course, you have the president coming out and saying he's not thinking about them, he's thinking about Iran, which is not good for midterms, not good for Republicans who are running, who are trying to tell Americans that things are going to be back to normal soon. When you have a president saying he's not even thinking about that aspect of all of this.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: As the wait continues and the watch continues on the now open door of Air Force One, everyone standing by in Beijing -- that's easy, right there -- for the president to come out of the plane at some point, and we are watching it here with you as we continue the watch and wait. Kristen, with the eye on Air Force One.

The unknowns and kind of the, if you will, the unscripted moments are always something that is what makes news, especially when it comes to President Trump. What is known? Give us a quick rundown of what is known in terms of the schedule for this important and very high stakes visit.

HOLMES: Yes, so this tonight is just the beginning of the trip. Again, this is going to be him showing up. I'm going to actually look down. It's eight o'clock p.m. here, so he is going to go into the hotel to have this greeting.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: And he is not just descending the steps right now, Kristen.

HOLMES: Oh, and here he is. He comes out. And this does look like a large, Kate, this looks like a larger crowd than what I saw from 2017 for his arrival.

And again, look, President Xi knows what President Trump wants. He knows that he wants a show, and he is getting one. I mean, you can see right there the coordination with the flag.

It's not just 300 Chinese youths. They have a coordinated flag movement with American and Chinese flags there.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: And in this moment, Kristen, let's just pause. Let's just listen in, and everyone take in this moment.

BERMAN: So, who you're seeing there, in addition to President Trump, is, of course, Eric Trump, his son, Lara Trump, daughter-in-law, but Elon Musk directly behind Lara Trump, also there, Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, there. Of course, tech leaders will be part of this trip. Huang and Musk were the only two who flew on Air Force One.

Huang actually met the flight in Anchorage, Alaska, for the last leg. There'd been some kerfuffle about whether he was invited or not. President Trump clearly wanted to make a show of it.

But you can see the ebullient greeting there. The people, though, that the President wants to focus on are the White House. Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Elon Musk, and the CEO of NVIDIA, which is pretty interesting.

SIDNER: It is interesting. It's also just interesting to see the pomp and circumstance because, as we have been talking, the President really stood there for a second and took it all in because he likes the bigger, the better, and China rolling out the red carpet, literally, for him as well.

Kristen, as you're watching this, what are you seeing? Because, of course, having those folks there along with the President on Air Force One, who are at the top of the industry, for example, in tech, when you see that, what does this mean? What is he hoping to get out of it when it comes to the business side of things and, obviously, in a pitch to help American business?

HOLMES: Yes, and, Sara, I wouldn't rule out the fact that Eric Trump is not just President Trump's son. He runs Trump Org, and we know that Trump Org has been doing business deals all around the world while President Trump has been in office. So I think it's likely that there might be conversations about Trump Org as well as these other tech companies that you just noted.

Obviously, there has been a heightened tension between China and the U.S. when it comes to tech. The competition has grown greater and greater, even since President Trump was here last in 2017, and so he brought two heads of the industry to bring with him, almost as backup, that having two of the smartest and wealthiest and most successful CEOs in the field is going to be enticing to any world leader. We know that from even when President Trump used to travel with Elon Musk at the beginning of his tenure. He was a draw for world leaders.

So we expect some private-sector deals to likely come through as well. We know that those are already having some preliminary conversations about that. We also obviously saw that President Trump did the same thing on his trip to the Gulf countries, his first trip where he had CEOs with him, and he came out of there with several private-sector deals. Then, of course, there's going to be likely conversations about the

U.S. restrictions on Chinese tech. So these are two leaders who might be part of those conversations.

Now, I do also want to note that in addition to who we saw get in the front car there, we also saw Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, kind of come out and slowly go to the back to get into another car. It is very notable that Pete Hegseth is on this trip.

[08:45:00]

I mean, this is not really a trip in which the Secretary of Defense would normally go, but it gives you an idea of just how important the war in Iran is right now and how much this is looming over this, that the Secretary of Defense has also come on this trip and apparently flown on Air Force One, which, by the way, that's not how this usually works. They have their own plane. They usually fly in the Doomsday plane alongside Air Force One, so they have their own plane.

But this clearly goes to what President Trump said out loud when he was leaving. We're going to be having conversations about potentially what we do next in Iran on the flight on the way there as well.

BERMAN: Oh, sorry.

BOLDUAN: No, I was just going to add, thank you to the control room for helping, but we were told that the chant from the crowd, the youth and everyone in the crowd, as the president was coming down the red carpet, was, welcome, welcome, enthusiastically welcome.

BERMAN: I had done the translation myself, so I don't know what you're saying.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. Apologies.

BERMAN: But thank you for the control room for confirming that.

Alice, very quickly to you, when the Chinese leadership sees Eric Trump, Lara Trump, of course, Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, the companies there, and Elon Musk and the head of NVIDIA, what do they think?

HAN: Well, I think it's very clear the messaging that is being delivered to the Chinese from the Americans is that we're open for business. The fact that he is bringing two of the major business leaders who tend to be favorable to China, that is Elon Musk and Jensen Huang, as well as his key family members, suggests that they are willing to do some kind of business deal. Now, it remains to be seen what gets announced, but my own sense is that there will be some kind of announcement of purchases of Boeing aircraft.

The CEO of Boeing is there in the delegation. There might even be some discussion of finally letting in the H200s from NVIDIA, which have still been blocked by the Chinese side, even though they were approved late last year by the Americans. So I think a lot is on the table, from chips to EVs to Boeing aircraft, and I think very much that the signal is we're open to do business with the Chinese.

BERMAN: All right, Alice Han, thank you so much. Kristen Holmes standing by for us over there as this trip, as this summit begins. Thank you as well. Keep us posted as to all these developments as we watch the president move on to the next stage of this trip.

With us now is Congressman Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. She is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us. You know, we did not hear from the president either on the flight at all or as he was deplaning. The last we really heard from the president was when he was leaving the White House yesterday.

And, of course, the idea that Iran will come up in this summit is very much front and center. But the president was asked, essentially, when dealing with Iran and the negotiations, how much does Americans, do Americans' financial well-being factor in? Listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're negotiating with Iran, Mr. President, to what extent are Americans' financial situation motivating you to make a deal?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I'm talking about Iran, they can't have a nuclear weapon. I don't think about Americans' financial situation, I don't think about anybody. I think about one thing -- we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That's all. That's the only thing that matters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What was your takeaway there, Congresswoman?

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Oh, it's jaw- dropping, although it shouldn't be anymore. Good morning. I see the president has framed this up really identically to how he left the United States.

Quote, I don't think about Americans' financial situation at all. I don't think about anybody. How could the leader of the free world, the president of the United States, say such words and have those expressions?

I don't think about anybody at all. That is exactly who this president is, and it is very sad for America that our leader is over in China with that frame. His frame is entirely about himself, as he explained, that you just showed, that he is surrounded by businessmen, Hegseth and Rubio, in the background.

The president, sadly, is in a weakened position as a result of his reckless war in Iran. He has put the United States in a weakened position because there are so many important things that should be talked about, but now the agenda is going to be very different because of the Strait of Hormuz and the weakness of the president at this moment.

BERMAN: He says he doesn't need China's help to solve the situation in Iran with the Strait of Hormuz. What do you think about that?

DEAN: Well, you know what, I think he could have done this better, and he's actually showing that he needs China. He needs to be in conversation with China, and China gets that. China's paying close attention.

We all know that when the president recklessly went into Iran and began a war of his own making without consulting Congress or the American people, a war that has proven deadly, he didn't have a plan. I'm reminded of Yogi Berra, who said brilliantly, if you don't know where you're going, you will wind up someplace else.

[15:50:00]

Here's the president. He has wound up someplace else in a weakened position before President Xi, with the hopes that maybe somehow the president will help him through the Strait of Hormuz. It's a very bad position for the United States. I

n terms of the president's wish or demand that Iran never get a nuclear weapon, we all think that. We've all thought that. If only we had something like the JCPOA, it would be a dream to go back to that agreement at this point, an agreement that the president tore up.

BERMAN: I want to go back to the economy for a second and the president's comments on it and how Democrats are really pouncing on them and noting that inflation, the numbers went way up yesterday, noting also the disapproval on the president's handling of the economy. A new CNN poll shows that 70 percent disapproved, just 30 percent approved. Those are the worst numbers that President Trump has ever experienced.

I think we have those polls. We can show them to our viewers. But while that's the case, only 30 percent approve of his handling of the economy.

When we ask voters who they prefer to run Congress next time, there's really no clear leader. Democrats hold just a three point edge and that's well within the margin of error. And that's about half of what it was just a month ago.

So why is it, do you think, that Democrats aren't doing better if Americans are feeling so bad about the economy?

DEAN: Well, I think -- and I will tell you about my own constituents -- they're extremely concerned about the economy. The price of everything is up. The price of gasoline in my area, $4.69, $4.79 now, the price of all of the goods. I don't know about the polls in terms of Democrats in the economy. What I do know is that Republicans are coming up to me, independents are coming up to me when I'm in district, like last week, saying, my God, how is it that we elected this man twice and what he has done to our economy, not to mention our standing in the world, not to mention we are at war and have lost service members and have had others wounded. What the cost of this war has been now reported at $29 billion, the nonsense around a ballroom, a billion dollars, but it's reflective of the president doesn't care at all.

What I know is that we're going to do well in these elections because people reject what this president and this administration stands for, an incoherent policy globally, an incredible damage to our economy, first through the tariffs, then through immigration, and now through a war in Iran. I believe, and you'll watch it in Pennsylvania, we're going to see the unseating of some of the silent Republican members, the appalling silence of them as our economy is being destroyed and as we are spending so much on a reckless, endless war in Iran.

BERMAN: Representative Madeleine Dean, thank you for standing by as we watch the president land in deep lane for this summit in Beijing. We do appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

We do have a lot of news as we monitor the progress in this summit, a lot of other developments here at home as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: There's exclusive new reporting in this morning, sources telling CNN that the CIA may have facilitated a deadly explosion inside of Mexico that killed a member of the powerful Sinaloa cartel. Now, CNN is also learning that this is part of a bigger secret campaign, and it's part of an expanded CIA operation within Mexico to try to dismantle cartel networks by focusing, targeting, and taking out mid-level operators.

CNN's Zach Cohen has much more on this reporting -- this exclusive reporting. He is joining us now. Tell us more about what you're learning, Zach.

ZACH COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Kate, I want to start by showing a video that was taken on March 28th on one of the busiest highways in Mexico, just outside Mexico City. You can obviously see there a massive explosion, which ultimately killed the two people in that vehicle. Now, we're told by multiple sources that this was a targeted assassination that was facilitated by CIA operations officers, and it is part of an expanded campaign to go after drug cartels inside Mexico itself, and one that's spearheaded by the agency's secretive and elite unit known as the Ground Branch.

Now, the person in the vehicle, as you mentioned, is an alleged member of the Sinaloa cartel, which is one of the groups that President Donald Trump did designate as a foreign terrorist organization earlier in his second term. Clearly, this individual was on the radar of the CIA and Mexican authorities. We're told, though, by the state of Mexico's attorney general that the cause of the explosion was likely a car bomb that was placed inside the vehicle.

But the mysterious explosion really has not been fully acknowledged, and the causes of it have not been fully acknowledged by the Mexican government so far. But this does show, what we're told, that the CIA has really been carrying out several of these types of attacks inside Mexico over recent months. Trump obviously has been hyper-focused on the counter-narcotics, counter-cartel mission.

That's one of his stated priorities, and he alluded to some sort of a U.S. ground presence inside Mexico just this week. Now, the Mexican government, whether or not they have full awareness of these types of operations really remains unclear. We're told by multiple current and former officials that it really varies from instance to instance.

[08:30:00]