51�Թ�

When asked why he didn’t take the threat more seriously, Barr justified his response by saying, “At the end of the day, it wouldn’t be carried out, and you could talk sense into him.”

“I found in his first term that the only way to really talk sense into him was to say, ‘This is … going to hurt your reelection chances,’” said Barr, a Trump appointee.

China's announcement came hours after French President Emmanuel Macron left China following meetings with senior leaders, including President Xi Jinping, where Macron urged Beijing to talk sense to Russia over the war in Ukraine.

On Thursday, Macron urged Beijing to talk sense to Russia over the war in Ukraine while von der Leyen said Xi expressed willingness to speak to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“You’re blowing it,” she told him aboard Air Force One flying back from India, according to an account she gave former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey when she called him to implore him to talk sense into the president.