Change in obligation (Ultimate giving of face) occurred at the Southern White House on April 6, 2017.
The ultimate "Giving of Face" occurs by the acts offered to the guest while in one's own home and given to the guest, in Asian culture. This was done in an unimaginable level of grace and dexterity, and was practiced on the PM of Japan just two months earlier.
You must deeply understand the giving and taking of Face in Asian culture to pull it off. DJT knowing "The Long Sale" in Asia, would understand this intimately.
45 had given Xi the ultimate in Face during Xi's visit in April of 2017. I'm so convinced of it now through the removal of Chinese corrupt elements, like the Macau Fentanyl kingpin bust, and just recently the Macau casino crackdown on moneylaundering. The use of the DoJ's copies of the Hong Kong Papers (they exist, and were mentioned in the 1st Panama Papers conviction by DoJ) make it impossible to have not been coordinated.
No "reports" on the actual meetings, in private, were given. The one detailed report that WAS given, that of Ivanka and Jared's children performing for the Xi's, in Mandarin in their "home", was all I needed to hear that the table for The Great Gift of Face was being set. Unquestionable.
A small post (not mine) on the importance of "Face" in Asian Culture:
https://internationalman.com/articles/what-is-face-in-asian-culture-and-why-should-we-care/
The use of calling Mar-a-Lago as "The Southern White House" made it the "Home" of POTUS. Here names DO matter. They did it for Abe of Japan, then Xi, and never again.
Well grabbed, fren, performing in Mandarin, by the grandchildren of the host, In His Home (I can NOT emphasize this enuf) is the penultimate giving of face. It set the table for the real gift to come, from 45, to Xi, that obligated Xi to 45, with all the power that entailed.
Kerrect. Far moar subtle, but weaponized diplomacy.