Kristi Noem

of launching hostilities against the main island of Taiwan, because the chain of command has been severed because of Xi Jinping's relentless purges, which has left the top of the Chinese military decimated.

So for instance, on the Communist Party Central Military Commission, which controls the military, there's only two of seven members now.

One is Xi Jinping, and the other is a political commissar.

which means there are no operational officers on the Central Military Commission.

That means you've got a military that really can't start a war.

It can stumble into a war, and the chance of that is actually quite high, Vince, but it can't start one.

2026 was a good year for us because the Chinese now respect President Trump.

We know that in 2025 and earlier years, they really did not respect him.

They pushed him around and they were chortling.

They were telling everybody, oh, you know, the United States is in terminal decline.

Trump is, you know, not a factor.

Now, they don't say that anymore, from what we can tell.

But also, just thinking about it, since Trump has taken Venezuela off the board, is going to take Cuba off the board, and is beating the crap out of Iran, I think the Chinese now respect Trump.

And one thing, Vince—

You know, Trump wants to go to Beijing and I don't think he should go right now because the Chinese are killing Americans in effect in Iran.

But I don't think the Chinese want Trump in Iran, in Beijing, because, you know, they don't want this victorious, triumphant guy tramping around their capital.

So there's been a real stark change in the way the Chinese view Trump.

And this is really good for the United States.

Yeah.

So this is very, very good for us right now.