RCP Podcast: Trump Walks China Tightrope, Will He Cave on 'Ban' for Hostile Press? ICE Office Gives Victims of Immigrant Crime a Voice
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/09/23/rcp_podcast_trump_walks_china_tightrope_will_he_cave_on_ban_for_hostile_press_ice_office_gives_victimes_of_immigrant_crime_a_voice.html

Wednesday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Carolina Lumetta joins Carl Cannon, Tom Bevan, and Andrew Walworth to ask what President Trump hopes to gain by hosting his Chinese counterpart at the White House, the administration's defense of tossing CNN and MSNOW reporters out of the building, and how the press pool is reacting to the "ban."

Joe Abraham, whose daughter Katie was killed by an intoxicated illegal immigrant, discusses his new role leading ICE's revived VOICE office for victims of immigration-related crime.

The panel also breaks down the consequences of Paramount and the state of California settling an antitrust lawsuit that was blocking their purchase of CNN, and the suspicious timing of a new report suggesting Sen. Susan Collins was under FBI investigation.

Listen live weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM's Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/realclearpolitics-podcast/id1509826894), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5FkNemg3aIaPPNBImIcW2l), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@realclearpolitics4074), or other platforms.

00:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N78RAPOZwjA&pp=0gcJCWMAwfN6Pr3D) - Opening: Trump's China Tightrope -- Xi and AI

RCP WH correspondent Carolina Lumetta joins Andrew Walworth, Tom Bevan, and Carl Cannon to preview what Trump hopes to gain from another summit with Xi Jinping and his attempt to combine the AI race and economic competition with China, a warmer personal relationship with Xi, and his push to rebuild U.S. manufacturing.

Carolina Lumetta, RealClearPolitics: The High Stakes of the China State Visit (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2026/09/23/the_high_stakes_of_the_china_state_visit_154528.html)

"We know AI will be a big topic," she said. "He really sees this as a race that he wants to win. China sees it as a race that they want to win as well."

"It'll be interesting to see Trump walk this tightrope," Bevan added. "He's 100% full bore ahead on AI. That may be the right policy, but it is putting him at odds, in an election period, with public opinion on this issue."

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07:33 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N78RAPOZwjA&t=453s) - Jimmy Lai and Human Rights

Carl Cannon and Carolina Lumetta discuss whether Trump will press Xi Jinping over imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai and other human-rights cases.

"This is a bit of a missing element to Trump's diplomacy-is that he doesn't talk about human rights very much," Carl Cannon said. "It's a little off-brand on a week while he's kicking news organizations out of the White House."

Watch: Sebastien Lai: Jimmy Lai Chose Prison Over Exile Or Silence (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/05/30/sebastien_lai_my_father_chose_prison_over_silence.html)

"The complication is that Jimmy Lai is not an American citizen, so there's a little less leverage that the United States can play there, " Lumetta said.

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10:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N78RAPOZwjA&t=630s) - Vance Says It's Not a Press Ban -- Will Trump Back Down?

The panel turns to the administration's defense of restricting CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from reporting inside the White House, how the press pool is reacting, and the competing legal and political arguments surrounding the decision.

Watch: Vance: We're Not Going To Give You Special Access To The WH If You Engage In What Is Effectively Far-Left Propaganda (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/09/21/vance_were_not_going_to_give_you_special_access_to_the_wh_if_you_engage_in_what_is_effectively_far-left_propaganda.html)