President Donald Trump and Chinese language chief Xi Jinping must navigate a number of thorny points when the 2 meet this week throughout a high-stakes state go to on the White Home.
“We will speak about lots. It should be an incredible assembly. And we’re going to take a look — we’ve got an excellent relationship,” Trump stated Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations Common Meeting.
“Look, he likes China. I just like the U.S. He loves China. I like the U.S. That is the best way it’s. However we’ll have a giant — it is a massive deal tomorrow night time. Everyone needs to be there. Everyone needs to be there,” Trump stated.
President Donald Trump and Chinese language President Xi Jinping stand collectively as they tour the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, Could 14, 2026.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP, FILE
The 2 leaders might be compelled to work by a myriad of points together with synthetic intelligence security, Taiwan, commerce, the struggle in Iran and significant minerals as they work to keep up a fragile and infrequently frosty relationship amid deep mutual mistrust and rising tensions between the geopolitical rivals.
The choreography
Wednesday’s go to marks the primary state go to to the U.S. by the chief of China in additional than a decade.
Xi was final within the U.S. for a state go to in September 2015 throughout the Obama administration. Trump visited China in Could for talks with Xi.
Trump might be on the bottom simply exterior of Washington at Joint Base Andrews for an arrival ceremony when Xi’s aircraft lands late Wednesday. The airport greeting is uncommon for Trump as he historically greets overseas leaders on the White Home and displays the pomp and circumstance surrounding the go to.
On Thursday, Trump and first woman Melania Trump will welcome Xi and his spouse Peng Liyuan at a ceremony held indoors on the State Flooring of the White Home. Trump and Xi will even take part in a assessment of troops within the Rose Backyard earlier than they head into formal, personal bilateral talks.
Xi and his spouse will even be the company of honor Thursday as Trump and the primary woman host the Chinese language delegation for a state dinner within the East Room, the place each leaders are anticipated to ship remarks.
“1000’s of individuals would like to be at that dinner,” Trump instructed reporters Friday within the Oval Workplace.
President Donald Trump and Chinese language President Xi Jinping attend a bilateral assembly on the Nice Corridor of the Folks, Could 14, 2026, in Beijing, China.
Alex Wong/Getty Photographs, FILE
“This can be a very robust ticket for me,” Trump stated. “I’ve instructed a whole lot of excellent pals of mine, ‘You simply can’t come.'”
Company scheduled to attend the state dinner embrace tech executives like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Google and Michael Dell, the CEO of Dell Applied sciences, the White Home and a supply acquainted instructed ABC Information.
Additionally on the visitor checklist are Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Jane Fraser, the CEO of Citigroup, and Tim Cook dinner, who lately stepped down because the CEO of Apple.
On Friday, Xi and his spouse are scheduled to return to the White Home for a non-public tea with the Trumps, who will then take them on a tour of the Nationwide Archives to view historic nationwide paperwork. Xi is predicted to depart the U.S. later Friday.
The skyline of Taipei, Taiwan, is proven on this undated file photograph.
STOCK IMAGE/Getty Photographs
Taiwan prime of Xi’s thoughts
Taiwan might be prime of thoughts for the Chinese language premier as he has repeatedly known as for an finish of U.S. arms gross sales to the self-governing, democratic island.
China has lengthy claimed the sovereign territory as its personal and frequently conducts large-scale army drills, live-fire workout routines, and every day air and naval patrols to use strain on the island. Taiwan depends closely on U.S. army assist to push again on China’s encroachments.
Xi is prone to push Trump to press pause on a proposed $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan which incorporates missiles, anti-drone weapons and air-defense methods. Trump has held off approving the sale and beforehand described the deal as a possible “negotiating chip” with China.
Of their assembly in Could, Xi warned Trump that if the problem of Taiwan is dealt with “improperly,” the 2 nations might “come into battle,” China’s official state broadcaster Xinhua reported.
Tensions over the Center East
One other evident situation the 2 leaders might talk about is the widening battle within the Center East.
The persevering with battle with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has dealt an financial blow to the U.S. because it grapples with traditionally excessive gasoline and diesel costs.
The Trump administration has notably downplayed taking motion in opposition to China regardless of the U.S.’ acknowledged aim of focusing on all international locations with monetary ties to Iran as a part of the U.S. Treasury’s offensive ‘Operation Financial Outcast.’
Trump in current days additionally shrugged off experiences that China had supplied Iran with satellite tv for pc imagery, saying, “I believe he is behaved fairly properly.”
“After they say that China spies on us, I say, ‘You’re proper, and we spy on them too,’ you realize? We spy on them too,” Trump stated.
A number of democratic lawmakers known as on Trump to challenge Xi on Iran when the 2 meet.
Trump “has an essential alternative to sentence China’s position in arming and enabling Iran, and to demand an finish to their assist,” the lawmakers stated in a letter despatched to the White Home this week.
AI guardrails and laws
Senior White Home officers who briefed reporters on the Chinese language chief’s state go to stated synthetic intelligence will even be on the agenda.
Officers didn’t preview what sorts of AI guardrails and laws may very well be mentioned between Xi and Trump however Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who met together with his Chinese language counterpart over the weekend, stated the 2 sides mentioned organising a notification system if there’s an incident “that rises as much as a nationwide safety degree from AI.”
“…transferring from opaque to extra transparency between the primary and the quantity two A.I. powers on the planet is essential,” Bessent stated.
This photograph taken on July 17, 2026, reveals delivery containers on the Port of Lengthy Seashore, the second-busiest container seaport in america, in Lengthy Seashore, Calif.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP through Getty Photographs, FILE
A renewed truce on tariffs?
On commerce, questions stay in regards to the U.S. and China detente with some specialists predicting the 2 leaders plan to resume a tariff truce and probably announce further commerce offers on agriculture, plane, rare-earth and significant minerals, and Chinese language buy commitments.
Throughout their Could assembly, Trump stated the subject of tariffs “wasn’t introduced up,” however he was fast to assert that the U.S. secured many offers, together with the acquisition of aircrafts, engines and soybeans.
‘A small variety of deliverables’
Consultants anticipate few deliverables from the Thursday summit.
“That is going to be a summit that is comparatively underwhelming with a small variety of deliverables, however I believe that works primarily to China’s benefit,” stated Scott Kennedy, senior adviser and trustee chair in Chinese language enterprise and economics on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research.
ABC Information’ Emily Chang contributed to this report.
