Tillis rips Trump's Xi meeting as a "WTF moment"

Driving the news: Tillis called Trump's red-carpet rollout for Xi a "WTF moment" in an interview with CBS News.

• Tillis said he was "worried about the trend of spending more time with despots and less time with democratic leaders of nations."

• "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," Tillis said.

Between the lines: Tillis questioned what prompted the "sea change" he sees in Trump's posture toward China after years of pledging to take a hard line against Beijing.

• "I just don't know what has changed," he told CBS.
• He also deemed it "bad timing," citing China's human rights abuses, espionage capabilities and alleged access to U.S. voter data. Trump has separately alleged that China interfered in the 2020 election.
• "If we want to build a relationship, a productive relationship with Xi Jinping and China, we also have to hold him accountable for things that are just simply unacceptable," Tillis said.

Zoom out: The visit came with other politically charged optics.

• One flashpoint came when Trump showed Xi the "Presidential Walk of Fame," including the autopen image displayed in place of former President Biden's portrait.
• It also happened amid Trump's fight with the media. Trump said China's state media was friendlier than the American press.

Go deeper: Trump and Xi's summit revives panda diplomacy