Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has accepted President-elect Donald Trump's invitation to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China. Jonathan Hassid, an assistant professor of political science at Iowa State University, says that gives Branstad a chance to capitalize on years of relationship building. Branstad has had a relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping since Branstad's first term in office.
"This gives him a chance to capitalize on that friendship, and it also means that President-elect Trump will have someone in office who may be capable of smoothing ruffled feathers that might happen from time to time," Hassid says.
Recently, Trump took a call from the President of Taiwan, which has some foreign policy experts questioning what approach his administration might take when it comes to China.
During this hour of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with Hassid, and Dennis Goldford, who serves as chair and professor in the department of political science and is Flansburg Fellow at the Harkin Instititute.
