XI FLIES TO WASHINGTON TO ARGUE ABOUT A 1982 DOCUMENT, POSSIBLY INSIDE THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES

Xi Jinping lands in Washington on Wednesday, sits down with Trump on Thursday, and tours the National Archives on Friday, and sources briefed on the prep say the archives stop is where he might make his pitch. The pitch is the third of the three joint communiqués, signed in 1982, in which the US said it intended to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan. He is going to the building where the country stores its old paperwork to complain about a piece of paperwork. There's a footnote Beijing tends to skip. Reagan attached a memo saying the reduction was "conditioned absolutely upon" China staying committed to a peaceful resolution. Chinese forces now operate around Taiwan almost daily, with live-fire war games. Trump's leverage is $14 billion in missiles, anti-drone gear and air defenses that he has been holding since spring. He told Fox in May it was "a very good negotiating chip." Taiwan's Lai Ching-te responded that his country will never be sacrificed or traded away, which is what you say when you can feel yourself being sacrificed and traded away. Nobody agrees on how hard Beijing is pushing. The Telegraph, citing Kyodo sources, reported China threatened to scrap the summit over new arms sales. A senior US official told the Daily Caller News Foundation that reporting is wrong. Matt Pottinger's bet is that Xi just lectures Trump for a while, like last time.

Why you should give a shit: Fourteen billion in missiles and air defense is now stuck in a drawer next to a 1982 promise Reagan personally booby-trapped, and whether Taiwan ever sees it depends on how Thursday's meeting goes.