What Trump could learn from Nixon's meeting with Mao


President Trump reportedly decided to take an "unstructured" approach to preparation for his Tuesday summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — which is to say, he's gonna wing it. But as the president is still in transit from his hotel to the meeting as of this writing, he has time to borrow a play from former President Richard Nixon and take some crib notes.
When Nixon met with China's Mao Zedong in 1972, The New York Times notes, he went in armed with a few handwritten reminders. There were four sections on his list: What they want, what we want, what we both want, and how to treat him. All four were short and to the point, but the final section may offer the most fascinating look inside Nixon's historic diplomatic trip:
Treat him (as Emperor)1. Don’t quarrell [sic]2. Don’t praise him (too much)3. Praise the people — art, ancient.4. Praise poems.5. Love of country. [President Nixon, via The New York TImes]
Were Trump to take a page from Nixon's playbook, he could make a similarly brief page of notes to stay on track in his negotiations. For how to treat Kim, the Times advises, Trump could write reminders like "Praise friendship with Dennis Rodman" and, crucially, "Don’t talk about Libya."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read more about Nixon's notes and their modern analogue here.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
-
The best shows to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2025
The Week Recommends The world's biggest arts festival is back with an incredible line-up
-
Wonsan-Kalma: North Korea's new 'mammoth' beach resort
Under the Radar Pyongyang wants to boost tourism but there won't be many foreign visitors to Kim Jong Un's 'pet project'
-
The 5 best TV reboots of all time
The Week Recommends Finding an entirely new cast to play beloved characters is harder than it looks
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling
-
Thai court suspends prime minister over leaked call
Speed Read Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been suspended, pending an ethics investigation
-
Senate passes GOP megabill after Alaska side deal
The pivotal yes vote came from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, whose support was secured following negotiated side deals for her home state Alaska
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities