GOP Sen. Thom Tillis on Trump-Xi visit: “It’s a WTF moment”

September 24, 2026 / 6:42 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Republican Sen. Thom Tillis questioned President Trump's judgment in hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner at the White House this week, saying he's "worried about the trend of spending more time with despots and less time with democratic leaders of nations."

"It's a WTF moment," the retiring North Carolina senator said in an interview with "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil on Thursday about Mr. Trump's red-carpet rollout for Xi compared to the reception that some U.S. allies like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have received.

"It's not that Xi Jinping is coming here to learn how to become a democratic, capitalist nation. Xi Jinping is trying to understand how his opposition will ultimately embrace their worldview," he said.

Tillis called the visit "bad timing," listing off China's human rights abuses against the Uyghurs, espionage capabilities, alleged access to U.S. voter data and reports that Iran has used information from China to target U.S. military assets in the region. Tillis also questioned why the administration has held up an arms shipment to Taiwan.

"If we want to build a relationship, a productive relationship with Xi Jinping…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/healthwatch/