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                 Was It a Coincidence or What?

                                                                                                                                                    Junious Ricardo Stanton

            How many of you believe in coincidences, random unconnected happenstances or occurrences?  I don’t, especially when it comes to psychopaths and megalomaniacs and their machinations.  In my opinion, Trump’s banning of CNN, MS Now and Politico along with his previous banning of the Associated Press from the White House was not a one-off event. It was a calculated political and PR move especially since it happened right before the official state visit of Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the US for a round of three-day meetings.

Yes, Trump referred to some media outlets as Fake News during his first term but now he is even more determined to squelch anything that makes him look bad especially as the mid-term election approach. He can’t have his somnambulant MAGA base being exposed to the truth. Though it a bit late for that he can still try to mitigate the truth getting out.

            Why, you might ask, do I think this way? Because Xi Jinping is coming to the US at a time when the American Empire has been exposed as a rapacious paper tiger and during these meetings Trump was going to be forced to make some very embarrassing requests of Xi Jinping. Xi Jinping did not come to Washington as a subordinate or a minor player on the global stage; he was coming as the representative of an extremely powerful nation, whose economic, technological and military stature is overshadowing the American Empire which is in rapid decline and freefall.

In this scenario Trump is in no position to be rude, crude and belligerent towards Xi like he was against Ukraine’s clownish leader Volodymyr Zenlensky. No, Donald Trump must play the gracious host so he can try to charm some major concessions from the Chinese leader. The last thing Donald Trump wants is the media to show him cow towing to Xi Jinping!

            Trump’s foolish trade and tariff policies against China blew up in his face, like Willie E, Coyote and has hurt the America economy. China politely called Trump’s bluff and sought other trading partners for the things it needed such as soybeans, petroleum gas and electronics. China turned to the South East Asia Nations (SEAN) for trade and commerce. Chinese imports of US goods dropped 30% in 2025 due to Trumps tariffs and US imports of Chinese goods fell 26% last year.

China is still determined to aggressively move forward with its global Belt and Road initiative and is undeterred by Trump’s bombast and foolishness. Frankly, China has all the cards. Xi Jinping has Trump over a barrel with his pants down around his ankles because China has a virtual monopoly on the mining, refining and processing of rare earth minerals which the Empire needs for industrial and military capacity. At this point the US simply can’t compete! China is helping Iran logistically by supplying satellite imaging technology and by purchasing Iranian oil thereby thwarting Trump and Netanyahu’s war against Iran by helping Iran to survive and win!

            Trump doesn’t want the US media asking embarrassing questions of Xi Jinping or revealing just how disadvantaged the US is relative to China’s purchasing power, its economic status and its resourcefulness in seeking other markets and trading partners following Trump’s boneheaded tariffs and trade war. Trump’s policies have put the Empire in a precarious position and Xi Jinping is standing pat, allowing the US to shoot itself in the foot. China is never going to back down or concede anything to Trump. Xi will be polite courteous and firm.

 The press would undoubtedly ask Xi Jinping his views on what the US has done to undermine China’s energy needs thus threatening its economic viability by destabilizing key trading partners Libya, Syria and Venezuela.  The US media would ask Xi Jinping about these issues and his thoughts on other global matters such as the widening war in West Asia and America’s role as a facilitator, instigator and purveyor of violence in that region. AI and trade will also be raised.

            So rather than Dick and Jane Sixpack finding out the gory details how Trump has disadvantaged them with his disastrous foreign and economic policies, Trump shut down access prior to Xi Jinping’s visit. A federal judge ruled against Trump’s ban but Trump was able to limit the damaging optics and narrative and save some face.

He was able to avoid embarrassing questions and not have to make any stupid responses to further damage his image on the world stage like he just did at the UN.

            That’s my theory and I’m sticking with it.

                                                            -30-