ELISSA NADWORNY, HOST:
President Trump is back from his trip to Beijing. He went with a number of high-profile business leaders, including Elon Musk. And overall, the president said the visit went really well. Here's what he told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an interview right after the meeting in China.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "HANNITY")
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Those businesspeople are here to make deals and to bring back jobs. They're bringing back massive - no, you know, China's going to invest hundreds of billions of dollar with those people that were in that room today.
NADWORNY: We're joined now by NPR's Ron Elving. Good morning.
RON ELVING, BYLINE: Good to be with you, Elissa.
NADWORNY: OK. So this was a two-day visit after a year of tariffs and tough talk. And we know that they talked about investments, trade and the war on Iran. But, Ron, what were your top takeaways from the meeting?
ELVING: There has to be heightened concern today in Taiwan. The U.S. has had a special relationship with that island and a commitment to its independence and its defense through nearly 80 years. But as you say, Trump seemed more interested in other issues, selling U.S. products to China and making deals. And as he left, he even said he had discussed Taiwan with President Xi and discussed in detail the contents of the next package of military aid that the U.S. will be sending to Taiwan.
Now, that is something previous presidents have explicitly refused to do. Trump persists, meanwhile, in portraying China as an ally in handling Iran, mostly because China depends on the Strait of Hormuz for so much of its oil. But the strait is a big question mark right now. Who's in control? What confidence can the world have in that control? And Xi is looking out for which scenario would best serve China's particular interest.
NADWORNY: OK. So last night, back in the States, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow Virginia to use a new voter-approved congressional map that would favor Democrats. This map was in response to Republicans redistricting to favor their parties in several states. And today across the country, there are protests planned in several cities in response to what's being done to voting rights and redistricting. Does this type of public response matter? I mean, will it make a difference?
ELVING: Not to the court cases, perhaps, but it makes a difference for the people who want to voice their objections to these rollbacks and reaffirm their belief in the Voting Rights Act. Now, that breakthrough, back in 1965, followed decades of activism by African Americans and others who believed they could overcome the race-based politics of the region and elect Black people to high office.
There was resistance to that movement then, and there has been since. And 60 years later, we see that resistance at something of a high tide, especially in terms of political and judicial power. But we shall see what the real consequences are, intended and unintended. And the chapter being written right now at this moment is not likely to be the last.
NADWORNY: So we have primaries coming up. Louisiana is holding its GOP Senate primaries today, and a bunch more states - Alabama, Georgia, Oregon and more. I mean, which races are you watching?
ELVING: I'm focused mostly on Louisiana at the moment. The incumbent Republican senator there, Bill Cassidy, is on the ballot today, and he's on thin ice because he voted to convict Trump in a 2021 impeachment trial in the Senate - the second impeachment trial. And so Trump has endorsed one of the other Republicans running, Congresswoman Julia Letlow, and that is hard to overcome in the GOP, even for an incumbent.
Now, Louisiana has a lot of its own unusual election laws and rules, and there's a new procedure right now for independents who want to take part in the primary. So Cassidy's accusing the incumbent Republican governor, Jeff Landry, of changing the rules to block some of Cassidy's voters, and it'll probably be a long night in Baton Rouge.
NADWORNY: OK. So I want to talk to you about the global economy. Gas prices still roiling. We're in the 12th week of war with Iran. There is kind of a ceasefire, although there're still being shots fired in the Strait of Hormuz. I mean, have you seen anything this past week to suggest that the Trump administration has an off-ramp for the conflict?
ELVING: We know that Iran had a formal response to the last U.S. peace proposal. Trump said he was done reading it after the first sentence - not even remotely the surrender he was looking for. It seems clear at this point that we want a deal that calls us the winner and Iran the loser. Iran doesn't see it that way, and it has shown remarkable capacity for pain and resilience in surviving to fight another day.
NADWORNY: That's NPR's Ron Elving. Thanks for talking to us.
ELVING: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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