It’s now in all the media. Lee Jae-myung will meet Donald Trump and Xi Jinping next week.
Both are billed as state visits; only one will function as one. The first will be a circus, the second will be a summit. The difference could not be starker.
A circus and a summit: Trump and Xi visit Lee
The meeting with Trump will be noisy, flashy, and theatrical – a circus where the clown wears a blue suit, sports a fake tan and has all the acumen of the bowl from a broken shithouse. The meeting with Xi will be quiet, deliberate, and steeped in planning – a summit where the statesman speaks softly, moves precisely and brings clear deliverables.