In the United States, the Mar-a-Lago summit between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping on Friday was largely overshadowed by Trump’s decision to launch airstrikes against the Assad regime in retaliation for chemical weapons attacks earlier in the week.

But this outcome was the result of a second feature of the summit: the almost complete absence of any substantive results, including on North Korea.

This outcome was predictable, given the staffing deficits in the new administration and the lack of clarity about the president’s intentions, even on key issues such as trade