Who Has the Cards? Increasingly, It’s China

This week, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss the geopolitical dynamics and possible outcomes of the Trump-Xi summit with former New York Times Beijing Bureau Chief and host of Face-Off: the US vs. China, Jane Perlez, whether or not the United States has essentially lost the war it started in Iran, and how badly the latest round of gerrymandering will hurt the Democrats and America as a whole in the upcoming midterms and beyond. Here are some notes and references from this week’s show: Jonathan Cheng for The Wall Street Journal: Trump Faces an Emboldened China in Return to Beijing Rush Doshi, Chris McGuire, Heidi E. Crebo-Rediker, David Sacks, and David M. Hart for Council on Foreign Relations: At the Trump-Xi Summit, China Will Have the Upper Hand Michelle Chapman for Associated Press: Who was on Trump’s plane to China? Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO and more Face-Off: The U.S. vs. China, a podcast hosted by Jane Perlez and Rana Mitter Robert Kagan for The Atlantic: Checkmate in Iran Thomas L. Friedman for The New York Times: NATO, Please Help. Trump Has No Strategy for Iran. Adam Entous, Maggie Haberman, and Jonathan Swan for The New York Times: U.S. Intelligence Shows Iran Retains Substantial Missile Capabilities Erin Banco and Gram Slattery for Reuters: Exclusive: US spy agencies examine how Iran would react to Trump declaring victory Lee Ying Shan for CNBC: ‘Not a Chance Hormuz Opens’: How Wall Street’s new NACHO trade bets on a prolonged oil shock Julia Manchester for The Hill: Trump trips on affordability with remark on Iran, to GOP’s chagrin Victor Reklaitis for MarketWatch: The Pentagon now estimates the Iran war is costing $29 billion. The overall economic toll is much greater. Joseph Ax and Tim Reid for Reuters: Why Republicans won the redistricting war but may still lose the US House Steve Vladeck for One First (Substack): 227. “We’re All Trying to Find the Guy Who Did This” Jamelle Bouie for The New York Times: Opinion: This Is Getting Dangerous Here are this week’s chatters: Emily: Chloe Bland and Alexa Calvanese for PennLive: Immigrant to Pa. followed the law, but then a lawyer’s error changed everything; Kyle Cheney for Politico: 10,000 rulings: The courts’ overwhelming rebuke of Trump’s ICE policies John: Cocktail (Wikipedia); Difford’s Guide for Discerning Drinkers: 13 May: World Cocktail Day David: Simone Stolzoff for The Atlantic: He’s So Random Listener chatter from Brent Robins in Ann Arbor, Michigan: Spencer Bailey for The Guardian: The ‘unregistered Americans’: because of their parents, they do not exist For this week’s Slate Plus bonus episode, Emily, John, and David discuss who actually benefits from this week’s resignation of FDA chief Marty Makary amid overlapping pressure campaigns from the tobacco industry and anti-abortion groups. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily Bazelon talks with journalist Mark Oppenheimer about his new book, Judy Blume: A Life. Oppenheimer, who spent years with Blume’s papers at Yale and conducted extensive interviews with the author herself, traces how a restless housewife in New Jersey became one of the most beloved—and most banned—writers in American history. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Nina Porzucki Research by Emily Ditto You can find the full Political Gabfest show pages here. Want more Political Gabfest? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. You can subscribe directly from the Political Gabfest show page on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Or visit slate.com/gabfestplus to get access wherever you listen. Find out more about David Plotz’s monthly tours of Ft. DeRussy, the secret Civil War fort hidden in Rock Creek Park.