Excerpt: As Donald Trump welcomes Xi Jinping to Washington, Paul Verhagen discusses the geopolitical stakes of the summit, the AI arms race and Europe's changing relationship with the two superpowers.
During an appearance on WNL's Goedemorgen Nederland, Paul Verhagen discusses the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to the United States and the growing importance of the relationship between the world's two largest powers.
With Washington and Beijing competing for technological and geopolitical dominance, Verhagen argues that the summit represents an important attempt to stabilize a relationship increasingly defined by trade disputes, strategic rivalry and the race for artificial intelligence. Despite calls from Silicon Valley to slow AI development, he argues that neither government has a strategic incentive to abandon the competition.
The discussion also turns to Europe's changing place in the international order. As the transatlantic alliance becomes increasingly unreliable, Verhagen argues that Europe should reconsider its relationship with China. Rather than replacing one dependency with another, he advocates pragmatic cooperation that could help Europe strengthen its strategic autonomy.
WNL Goedemorgen Nederland, September 24, 2026.