Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin Arrives in Beijing, China for Summit with Chairman Xi

May 19, 2026 | sundance |

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi greeted Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin upon arrival in Beijing, China, for a summit with Chairman Xi Jinping just days after Xi and President Trump spent two days in personal conference.

There will be more details from this visit that will surface in the next several hours and few days;however, for those who walk the deep weeds the video of the arrival is very interesting. Russia controls Russian interests in all things, including diplomatic missions. Foreign Minister Wang Yi greets President Putin and there are customary celebratory festivities on the tarmac that most are familiar with.

Putin is walking briskly, very deliberately and giving warm waves to the assembled children.But Putin is all business, focused and walking fast. Minister Yi slows his pacein an effort to slow Putin and emphasize the welcome. Putin keeps forward momentum.It’s subtle, but so typically Russian in approach. Nothing extraneous, nothing off script, nothing casual –straight, predictable and forward.

Notice the Russian control and immediate separation at the moment when they reach the end of the red carpet. Wang Yi and the Chinese welcome delegation as well as all security elements just disappear as in typical Russian fashion the Russian security service takes control from there.

It is a subtle difference between the merged casual formality of a U.S-China visit, and the hard lines of a Putin visit.I find myself thinking about what a difference it would make in relations between our nations if Americans really understood Russians.Russians are not cold per se’, they just don’t do casual very well.

There’s no “small talk” in Russian culture. There is talking that has a purpose and benefit –or there is silence.

It is a facet of cultural distinction that many Americans just don’t understand.There are no pretenses and everything is deliberate.

LIVE: Putin arrives in China to meet with Xi Jinping (full)

5:18

https://www.youtu.be/d6hRhPxXB6Q

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/19/russian-federation-president-vladimir-putin-arrives-in-beijing-china-for-summit-with-chairman-xi/

(Sundance has previously insinuated that he lived in Russia growing up, it makes sense because he has the same writing skills.)

USMCA Development – Canadian Prime Minister will Announce New Advisory Council for USMCA/CUSMA Negotiations. 1/2

May 20, 2026 | Sundance |

Somewhere along thepath to the inevitable dissolution of the USMCA trilateral trade agreement, reality will set in for Canada. Until then, denial is the preferred course of action from Prime Minister Mark Carney.Not since COVID-19 have we witnessed an intellectual disassociation happening over such a large sector of a population.

According to the latest media reports,Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce a new Canadian Trade Advisory Councilthat will strategize the best moves within each sector of the Canadian economy todeal with the United States USMCA renegotiations. Even at this latest date, the Canadian government is still under thebelief they can negotiate themselves into a position where their status within the USMCA (CUSMA) will be retained.

Simultaneous to this announcement,the one best hope the Canadians have relied upon is also evaporating. However, before discussing that aspect, let’s first look at the advisory council.

CANADA – Prime Minister MarkCarney is expected to unveil a new advisory council focused on Canada-US trade relationsas Ottawa attempts to salvage Canadian-US trade amidst Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs. According to reports, the council will bring together majorbusiness leaders, labour representatives and former politicians toadvise the federal government ahead of the scheduled review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement(CUSMA).

[…] While the entire list of figures present on the council has yet to be announced,the Government of Canada first announced the advisory committee in April 2026, and released a partial list of members. Members reportedly include Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, former Quebec premier Jean Charest, and other representatives from sectors such as energy, manufacturing and forestry. There are alsomultiple high-level Canadian executives presenton the list released by the Prime Minister’s office on April 21. The committee will be chaired by Dominic LeBlanc, who currently serves as minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs. According to the Prime Minister’s Office,the council’s role will be to provide strategic advice and industry expertise as Canada prepares for negotiations under the umbrella of Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats.(Carney never listens and he’s sure he can influence the U.S.)

The creation of the council reflects growing anxiety in Ottawa regarding the future of Canada’s trade relationship with the United States. Since returning to office, Donald Trump has continuously threatened new tariffs on several major industries while pushing for tougher trade concessions from allies. Canadian sectors like steel, aluminum, automotive manufacturing and critical minerals have been most heavily impacted, while US lumber and alcohol sectors have seen massive hits due to retaliatory tariffs and restrictions from Canada. […] His government hasincreasingly promoted what it calls a “resilience strategy,” focused on strengthening partnershipswith Europe and Asia while preparing for difficult negotiations with Washingtonover continental trade and supply chains. (read more)

An advisory panel to strategize retention of a system that will no longer exist.

I doubt you could define Canadian politics with a better example.

Here’s the background story that makes matters much, much worse for Canada.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/20/usmca-development-canadian-prime-minister-will-announce-new-advisory-council-for-usmca-cusma-negotiations/

>>24628569

2/3

Thebest card the Canadians haveon the issue of this agreement comes from thepossibility of leftists within the U.S. congressfighting against the Trump administration’s efforts to change or eliminate the USMCA.Carney, like Trudeau before him, is relying on anti-Trump support within congress.

In 2018 it was then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who wedged Canada back into the trade negotiations by threatening to whip her members against the U.S-Mexico agreement unless President Trump and thenU.S. Trade Representative Lighthizer permitted Canada to engage in the trade discussions and the elimination of NAFTA. Before that Pelosi intervention,Trump and Lighthizer were 80% of the way in eliminating NAFTA and creating a U.S-Mexico bilateraltrade deal. Pelosi saved Trudeau’s position.

In 2026, Prime Minister Mark=Carney is hoping for the same level of support from Democrats, except a recent announcement reflectshis strategy doesn’t hold any merit.

Twenty U.S.Democrat Senators are asking U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to structurally get a lot tougheron the tradereview and directly close the USMCA loophole that permits Canada to use Chinaas the manufacturing center of their component goods.

Democrats, yes democrats, well understand that U.S. labor unions can see the fundamental flaw that exists as long as Canada cannot factually align with U.S. and Mexico manufacturing systems due to Canadian carbon exchange rules and legislated regulations on climate change. Democrats are asking Greer to get tough.

VIA NBC – A group ofDemocratic senators will issue a set of demandsto U.S. Trade Representative ahead of amandatory joint review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement this summer.

In a letter led by Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and shared exclusively with CNBC before being sent later Wednesday,15 Democrats wrote to Greer to “insist that any revised agreement must deliver meaningful and measurable gains for American workers.”

[…] The Democrats are demanding new provisions on the labor front of the agreement, asking that Greer use the reviewto “lift all boats by ensuring that both Canada and Mexico fully comply with their labor commitments.”

The letter writers targeted seven priorities they would like to see addressed in the review.First was business relocations to Mexico. They saidthe USMCA has fallen short on keeping businesses in the U.S., pointing to manufacturing wages in Mexico, which they say create a wage gap that is leading to offshoring.

[…] The Democrats also askedGreer to find new ways to enforce bans on goods created with forced labor, which they say all parties have failed to enforce.

[…] Addressing Chinese investment, which also came up as an issue during Trump’s recent trip to Beijing, is also among the Democrats’ demands. […] “It is critical to address this loophole in thereview of the Agreement to prevent its use as a backdoor to the North American economy by third-party actors, particularly our adversaries,” they wrote.“Combatting China’s unfair trade practiceswill take global cooperation, and the review can present a model of how countries can work together to counter this threat.”

Another way the Democrats suggested countering China’s advance into the North American supply chainis by introducing new rules of origin requirements for additional sectors. China’s pervasiveness in components for manufactured goods like autos has recently become an issue in Washington. (read more)

Canada has purposefully and intentionally aligned itself with Chinese industrial manufacturing because. Canada’s rules and regulations on climate change and carbon compliance restrict their own industrial manufacturing systems. Canada needs China to do the dirty jobs and create the component goods that can be assembled into Canadian products. Democrat in the Senate are asking USTR Greer to address this exact issue.

President Trump and USTRGreer can now leverage this bipartisan issue against the Canadian tradedelegation.Canada’s hopeof having theprofessional political left run cover for them no longer exists. This is a very significant development.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/20/usmca-development-canadian-prime-minister-will-announce-new-advisory-council-for-usmca-cusma-negotiations/

>>24628602

3/3

In the December 2024 meeting between Trudeau and Trump, the issue of NATO compliance was part of alarger discussion around trade imbalances, non-tariff barriers, intellectual property conflicts and legislative hurdlesthat Canada uses as a crutch to retain economic benefit without reciprocity.

Prime Minister Trudeau argued in Mar-a-Lagothat Canada could not change all the points of conflict, drop their non-tariff barriers, comply with NATO demandsand simultaneously get into total alignment with the USMCA trade compact (CUSMA to Canada),because their climate policies and legislated carbon payment system did not supportor match the heavy industrial processing capabilities of both the United States and Mexico.

This factually correct and honest admission by Trudeau, an admission he would never say to his own constituents in Canada, triggered President Trump to respond with the 51st state, notation. Essentially, Trump saying, if you cannot be a hemispheric partner with equal capabilities; and if you need to retain structural economic dependency;then you, Canada, should just become a 51st state of the USA.

Think about the reality of the Canadian position. Structurally, without using China, Canada cannot comply with the USMCA without abandoning their net-zero carbon program. This requires legislative change and a complete 180° reversal in the climate-change mindset of the Canadian people. That is very unlikely to happen.

If Canada cannot factually align with the U.S. and Mexico, then how does Canada expect to retain a trilateral trade agreement?

(Canada has fucked themselves 12 ways to Sunday, the cannot be in a trade agreement with the U.S., and now held hostage by China for a long time. And their country is flooded with those shitty little spy cars from China. Carney didn’t believe he could be shut out of the American trade Agreement, he’s not a bright banker.)

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/05/20/usmca-development-canadian-prime-minister-will-announce-new-advisory-council-for-usmca-cusma-negotiations/

JUST IN: Iran threatens war ‘BEYOND THE REGION’ if attacked

Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery discusses President Donald Trump warning Iran to make a deal or face new attacks

6:44

https://youtu.be/w8lW8e0LFJw

NEW: MASSIVE military buildup INTENSIFIES in Middle East

Chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports on rising tensions in the middle east as Iranian officials issue new threats. Former USS Cole Commander Kirk Lippold analyzes Iran's refusal to negotiate and potential military responses to aggression.

8:50

https://youtu.be/pXstEvPat3c

Watters: This only ends one way…

Fox News host Jesse Watters assesses the state of the U.S.-Iran conflict as it nears the three month mark

(They won’t even listen to the Gulf Muslim countries)

7:18

https://youtu.be/AwHltr6MYLE

DEVELOPING: Israel preparing to resume war with Iran

Trey Yingst reports from Tel Aviv as President Trump says the U.S. was ‘an hour away’ from striking Iran while JD Vance warns Tehran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon. Israel is reportedly preparing to resume war efforts in the region.

4:37

https://youtu.be/m5R96fkcEVk

Iran strikes 'ON THE TABLE' as Trump renews warnings

President Trump warned Iran that ‘the clock is ticking’ after speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as fears grow over renewed military action. Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman breaks down Iran’s strategy, Strait of Hormuz tensions and the latest U.S. counterterror operation targeting ISIS leadership

4:44 (this is the third day in a row Fox has 4:44 for the length of the video, any clues?)

https://youtu.be/Q43jUNbNrnQ

Arizona Community College Relies on AI to Run Commencement Ceremony – Chaos Ensues

Alana Mastrangelo20 May 2026

An AI system malfunctioned while it was being used to read the names of Glendale Community College (GCC) graduates at the school’s commencement ceremony in Glendale, Arizona, on Friday — resulting in the event needing to be paused at least twice to great frustration of graduates and their loved ones.

Students and families were left frustrated after the names being read at GCC’s commencement ceremony didn’t match the graduates walking across the stage, according to a report by AZ Family.

Grace Reimer told the outlet that the incident “definitely made me feel uneasy,”recalling having crossed the stage to retrieve her degree, only to return to her chair and realize something was off.

“I also didn’t hear a lot of cheering, and I know my family is a pretty loud family,” Reimer said.

She ended up hearing her name called several minutes later.

It turns out that the names of graduates being displayed on a screen at the commencement ceremony had stopped changing.

“Here’s what happening. We’re using a new AI system as our reader,”Glendale Community College President Tiffany Hernandez explained during the ceremony mishap, eliciting boos from the audience. “Yep, so that is a lesson learned for us,” the GCC president added.

But Hernandez’s clarification did not satisfy several students, including Reimer, who told AZ Family,“It didn’t feel sincere and it kinda felt like they didn’t care.”

“During one of our commencement ceremonies, there was a technical issue that impacted the reading of some graduate names,” Glendale Community College said in a follow-up statement.

“While the issue was corrected during the ceremony, we are sorry for the disruption it caused during what should have been a celebratory moment for our graduates and their families,” the school continued.

“We have also communicated directly with graduates to apologize for the experience,” GCC added. “We are incredibly proud of all our graduates and are taking steps to ensure an issue like this does not occur again.”

While college officials had initially said students would not be allowed to walk again, the decision was reversed following backlash from the community, Newsweek reported.

During the re-do, graduates whose names had been skipped were called back to the stage for a second go at it — this time, with a human announcer reading their names.

Ironically, Glendale Community College had warned that AI systems “are known to produce inaccurate information” in an online resource about responsible use of artificial intelligence and ethical concerns.

Moreover, the site adds that AI issues can also lead to “real-world negative or dangerous consequences.”

“Students should be reminded that the onus is always on the end user to verify any and all information that comes from a text generator,” the guidance states, amusingly adding that it is the students’ responsibility “to verify any and all information that comes from a text generator.”

Breitbart News recently reported that ex-Google CEO andDemocrat mega-donor Eric Schmidt was loudly booed when he brought up AI during a commencement speech, while graduates at the University of Central Florida also booed a commencement speaker who praised AI.

As this viral video demonstrates, AI is an increasingly divisive topic, especially for America’s youth. Breitbart News social media director Wynton Hall has written his instant bestseller Code Red: The Left, the Right, China, and the Race to Control AI to serve as the definitive guide on how the MAGA movement can create positions on AI that benefit humanity without handing control of our nation to the leftists of Silicon Valley or allowing the Chinese to take over the world.

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2026/05/20/arizona-community-college-relies-on-ai-to-run-commencement-ceremony-chaos-ensues/

Report: Xi Told Trump that Putin May Regret Invading Ukraine

According to a Financial Times (FT) report on Monday, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping told the visiting President Donald Trump that Russian President Vladimir Putin might come to regret invading Ukraine.

This seemingly anodyne observation would be significant becauseChina has refused to denounce the Russian attack on Ukraine and, while the Chinese insist they have not supported the invasion directly, they have undeniably protected Russia against the worst effects of international sanctions for its act of blatant aggression.

Xi is Putin’s senior partner in the Axis of Tyranny and if he truly thinks Putin made a terrible blunder by attacking Ukraine — even if he only revealed that opinion in a private chat with the visiting U.S. president —it could have a significant impact on Moscow’s determination to continue the stalemated war after four years of bloodshed and soaring expenses.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday offered a brief and irritated denial of the FT report,calling it “completely false.”

President Trump also denied the report, insisting that Xi “never said that,” while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to China’s denial of the account as the last word on the subject. FT dutifully reprinted these denials, but seemingly stood by its story, which was sourced to “several people familiar with the U.S. assessment of the Beijing summit.”

On Tuesday, Reuters put another dent in China’s claims of neutrality on Ukraine by revealing that roughly 200 Russian troops attended secret training exercises in China in late 2025, with a focus on drone warfare tactics, and some of the Russians returned to the Ukrainian battlefield with their new knowledge.

Some of the Russians who received this Chinese training were themselves high-ranking professional military instructors, according to the report, so they could be expected to pass their knowledge along to Russia’s frontline forces in Ukraine.

The training program was outlined in a “dual-language Russian-Chinese agreement signed by senior Russian and Chinese officers in Beijing on July 2, 2025.” The agreement named several locations where the secret training would take place, including facilities located in China’s capital of Beijing, and also provided for Chinese troops to receive training in Russia.

Reuters was able to corroborate this document with internal Russian military reports from late 2025 that described Russian military personnel training in China. These Russian reports described the trainees studying Chinese drone warfare tactics, including the use of drones to pinpoint targets for mortar and artillery fire, and the deployment of electronic warfare weapons to shut down enemy drones.

One of the Russian military files reviewed by Reuters included photos of uniformed Russian soldiers sitting in classes taught by uniformed Chinese military instructors, which would rubbish China’s usual claims that any coincidental military collaboration with Russia during the Ukraine war was purely a matter of private companies working together voluntarily.

Previous reports have suggested China helped Russia improve its drone technology. The Chinese government claimed this collaboration was between private arms companies and was not directed by the regime in Beijing.

“By training Russian military personnel at an operational and tactical level who then participate in Ukraine, China is far more directly involved in the war on the European continent than previously known,” an unnamed intelligence official told Reuters.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not bluntly deny the report, as it did with the claim of Xi thinking Putin made a mistake in Ukraine. Instead, it repeated some boilerplate rhetoric about China’s “objective and impartial stance” on the Ukraine conflict.

https://www.breitbart.com/asia/2026/05/20/report-xi-told-trump-that-putin-may-regret-invading-ukraine/