Trump touts ‘great meeting’ with Xi at White House – as it happened

We’re going to close this live page now and continue our coverage of the Trump-Xi summit in our US politics blog here. As Robert Mackey has just reported, tonight’s state dinner in Xi Jinping’s honour will not be televised because the White House has continued to deny full access to the event to CNN journalists on Thursday, despite a court order. Read more here. Recapping some of the day’s key newslines: Xi called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the “Thucydides trap” that could put the US and China on a military collision course. He also said the Chinese and US economic and trade teams had reached a new joint agreement, which he called “good news for the global economy”. Xi said Beijing hoped the ⁠US ⁠adhered to ‌the “correct” position of opposing “Taiwan ‌independence” and handles the Taiwan ‌question with prudence. On the US-Israeli war with Iran, he said China supported ‌the US and Tehran returning to a June memorandum of understanding ‌that was meant to end the war and ⁠reopen the strait of Hormuz. Trump said he and ⁠Xi had a “great meeting” after ⁠the two leaders ‌met ‌at the White ‌House. Here’s a summary of the leaders’ remarks before the talks. There was no sign of breakthroughs on contentious issues such as AI, trade, Taiwan or the Iran war. In remarks after Xi’s arrival on Thursday, Trump emphasised his “truly great friendship” with the Chinese leader, rather than focusing on policy differences, and said the two ‌powers had made strides on trade since his trip to China in May. “Our teams have been working to encourage a more balanced trading relationship.” Xi said the two countries’ interests were deeply intertwined and that competition between them should be a “healthy one”. US companies were welcome in China, he said, ‌while expressing hope Chinese companies were “treated fairly” in the US. The head of ⁠the Airlines for America industry group said US carriers opposed adding more direct flights from China to America, while Xi said it might happen. As Donald and Melania Trump welcomed Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan for the black-tie state dinner, outside the White House gate a group of loud demonstrators shouted slogans like “China out ⁠of Hong Kong”. The protests were clearly audible to the US and Chinese leaders ⁠as they posed for pictures on the red-carpeted White House steps, Reuters is reporting. During a bilateral discussion in the afternoon, Xi urged the US to oppose “Taiwan independence”, according to a readout from the official Chinese news agency Xinhua shortly after it concluded. The White House did not immediately provide its own summary of the talks. Xi had been expected to press Trump this week to halt arms sales to Taiwan. Following his visit to China in May, Trump said he was holding in ⁠abeyance an arms package to Taiwan worth some $14bn and called it a “very good negotiating chip”. Donald and Melania Trump have welcomed Xi Jingping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the White House for the state dinner in their honour, while other guess have also been arriving. As the start of the gala dinner approaches, US Senate Democrats have criticised Trump’s summit with Xi, saying it prioritises pageantry over substance on issues such as artificial intelligence, trade, critical ⁠minerals and weapons ⁠for Taiwan. The summit is heavy on diplomatic honours but has no ⁠indication that closed-door talks yielded breakthroughs on the issues dividing them. In a statement signed by at least 19 ⁠of the 47 members of the Democratic caucus and reported by Reuters on Thursday, the Democrats called on Trump to ‌immediately deliver more ‌than $15bn in security assistance – $1.3bn in funds and a $14bn arms sale ‌package – that Congress has approved for Taiwan and to push for human rights and the release of wrongfully detained Americans. Some of Trump’s fellow Republicans also marked the summit by calling on Trump to release the funds for Taiwan. The Democrats also criticised Trump’s loosening of restrictions on ‌high-end chip sales to China, and said the extension of the US-China tariff truce did not sufficiently address supply chain issues such as China’s hold on global rare earth refining. Democrats are typically critical of Trump’s policies, but their response to the summit gave an indication of how party members might address Beijing if they take control of ‌one or both houses of Congress in the coming midterm elections. At tonight’s swanky state dinner for Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, everything from the tech-heavy guest list to the fashion choices of those on it, who sits where, their body language and what’s on the menu will be closely scrutinised for clues about where things really stand between the Chinese leader and Donald Trump. “Everyone wants to be there,” the US president said during this week’s UN general assembly. “It’s the hottest ticket in town.” The dinner in the White House’s East Room is expected to showcase “the positive vibes surrounding the visit” and indicate that “the president is very focused on signalling warmth and a close personal connection with Xi”, says Edgard Kagan, senior adviser and chair in China studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. First lady Melania Trump’s menu features a first course of yellow squash velouté with wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, crispy pancetta and drizzled scallion oil, the Associated Press reports. After that, guests will get sesame-crusted sea bass with braised baby bok choy, roasted garden eggplant and a sauce verte. Dessert is vanilla crémeux with sour cherry confit and walnut frangipane, as well as ice cream with honey from the White House. The head of ⁠the Airlines for America industry group has said US carriers oppose adding more direct flights from China to America, even as Xi Jinping raised ⁠the idea. Chris Sununu, who heads the group representing American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and others, said US carriers continue to be hampered by the fact that ⁠Chinese counterparts are allowed to overfly Russia on eight flights. He had been advocating to Trump administration officials not to give in, he said on Thursday. It’s not just a minor ⁠thing. It’s a huge cost to the airlines to have to go around Russia. At an event in Washington on ‌Thursday, Xi raised the idea ‌of increasing flights, Reuters reports. The US and China currently can each operate about 50 round-trip flights a week. Xi said: Our ‌two sides may also increase direct flights to facilitate two-way travel and trade. The White House did not immediately comment. Donald Trump has two hours to kill until he hosts a state dinner in honor of China’s president, Xi Jinping, so naturally he used the break to renew his hostilities with two US news outlets he attempted to punish for reporting unflattering details about his presidency. Writing on his social media platform, Trump complained that two of the three outlets he banned from the White House, CNN and MS Now, “refused to cover” his elaborate welcome of Xi to the White House on Thursday. “The event was magnificent – Actually made for Television but, because they’re Fake News, and because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to ‘TRUMP,’ they refused to be there,” the president claimed. What Trump failed to report to his followers on Truth Social was that the two broadcasters were not in position to cover the event live because his own actions and those of his aides. Trump’s aides initially failed to give journalists from those news organizations access to the White House on Thursday morning, despite a court order issued before dawn that their passes be restored. Their passes were taken away last week following Trump’s decision to ban them, along with Politico. Since CNN is also one of the five networks that provide pool video coverage of White House events to other broadcasters, in a rotation determined by the White House press office. The other networks refused to resume normal coverage until they were assured that the White House would restore CNN crews to the broadcast pool. The other networks – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News – had refused to provide pool video of White House events in solidarity with CNN since Trump attempted to ban the cable news outlet from covering him in person last week. “At the moment, the pool doesn’t have that assurance, so it has not filmed any of Trump and Xi’s events so far today,” CNN’s chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, reported before Trump, a former reality television star, posted his complaint. According to China’s Xinhua state news agency, Xi Jinping has said that the Chinese and US economic and trade teams have reached a new joint agreement, which he called “good news for the global economy”. Xi and Trump also exchanged views on the Middle East, Ukraine and ⁠the Korean Peninsula during the meeting, Xinhua reported. We’ll bring you more on this as we get it. One is an authoritarian who represses the media with a strong allergy to democratic elections. The other is head of the Chinese Communist party. Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to the White House on Thursday, setting the stage for a scene quite unlike anything the august old building has seen over more than two centuries. And while Chinese state media had been welcomed onto the White House grounds, many US journalists had not, thanks to Trump’s ban on CNN, MS Now and Politico. Michael McFaul, a former US diplomat, described the vivid contrast as “wrong and embarrassing”. That was hard to deny, given that China ranks 178th in Reporters Without Borders’ press freedom index, ahead of only North Korea and Eritrea (the US, for the record, is down to 64th). But it also made perfect sense because, whereas past presidents sought to make China more like the US, Trump evidently aspires to make the US more like China. The deference was deafening. On Wednesday night he and his wife, Melania, travelled to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to greet Xi off his plane – a schlep that US presidents rarely make for foreign leaders – and rolled out a literal red carpet for his strongman soulmate. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader, observed on X: “If you’re a foreign authoritarian, Trump won’t just invite you to visit America, he’ll roll out the red carpet for you…” Vladimir, are you feeling jealous yet? Xi is such a star that he got two welcomes. On Thursday morning, there were more flags, more trumpet blasts, and another red carpet as the Trumps emerged from the White House south portico to greet Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. Then it was on to the grand foyer for statements – with no reporter questions allowed, of course – before the two delegations, sitting in neat rows. Trump went first. You can tell when he’s on his best behaviour because he (mostly) sticks to the teleprompter. But it was Xi, speaking more substantially, who looked like he owned the place. Trump, sitting behind with hands clasped together, had the appearance of junior partner. Xi said he was ready to work with the president to “steer the giant ship of the China-US relationship on a steady course toward the future”. Then he got to the meat in the sandwich, insisting that the countries can “co-exist in peace” and their competition “should be a healthy one”. “The Thucydides trap can be overcome,” Xi declared, in a tacit acknowledgement that China is threatening to displace the US as the world’s superpower. But with more flattery, he added: Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand. None of this was covered by the usual cable news networks because they were boycotting shared coverage, in solidarity with the banned outlets. Trump then sat down with the world’s biggest jailer of journalists for bilateral talks. Perhaps he was seeking tips. When they met face to face, was this a Reagan-Gorbachev style summit of great historical import, discussing guardrails on AI and other ways not to destroy the world? Maybe not. By the afternoon, some of the banned reporters had been allowed back on to the White House campus after a judge found Trump’s action to be unconstitutional. It must have been a tricky one to explain to Xi. He remains the master of repression; Trump is merely The Apprentice. This is an edited extract. You can read the full US politics sketch here: Amid the chaos of his attempts to ban journalists from CNN, Politico and MSNOW from the White House (they’ve since been allowed back in), Donald Trump quipped in the Oval Office that China has the friendliest press corps. According to a White House print pool report: US and Chinese photographers were separated from the pool and brought in for two sprays with the president, according to two of the photographers who were present. During the second spray, Trump made a joke about how the Chinese had the friendliest press corps. A reminder that China’s media is one of the most heavily controlled and censored in the world. Chinese state media has been covering the summit. US television networks boycotted Thursday’s state visit in solidarity with colleagues from the three targeted media outlets, resulting in a blackout of sorts for what would otherwise be a high-stakes news story. The stark irony of Trump’s comments amid his attempts to restrict media access – not to mention his frequent attacks on the press – and the resulting blackout, also hasn’t been lost on anyone. Earlier, a group of demonstrators gathered outside the White House to protest against China’s treatment of its minority Uyghur Muslim population in Xinjiang province. China has arbitrarily detained more than one million people in so-called “re-education camps” that the government claims are benign vocational centres teaching useful career skills. Former detainees have described them as de facto prisons implementing mass brainwashing and obedience to the Communist party. Over the last decade, more evidence has emerged of forced labour, torture, forced sterilisation of women and other methods of population reduction, and cultural erasure. Several governments (including the United States) and human rights bodies have condemned the situation as a genocide. In 2022, a damning UN report found that China had committed “serious human rights violations”, which may amount to crimes against humanity. One protestor, Aziz Sulayman from Virginia, told Reuters that his brother, a dentist called Alim Sulayman, was arrested 10 years ago. I don’t know his whereabouts. And he was sentenced, that’s what I heard, for 17 years, without any, court, any, due process. He is innocent. He is a young Uyghur man. We want him to be free. Another protestor, Haider Jan, said that “President Trump must confront Xi Jinping” over human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other minorities in China. Donald and Melania Trump will host Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan in the East Room of the White House for a state dinner later tonight. According to a release from the White House: “The menu showcases American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence, bringing the culinary traditions of both nations together. The meal begins with a toast of Schramsberg “Blanc De Noir,” honoring the historic “Toast to Peace” shared by President Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1972. The same American sparkling wine served at that historic gathering continues to be enjoyed at White House functions today.” Here’s what’s on the menu: First Course Yellow Squash Velouté Wild Mushroom Fricassée Crispy Pancetta Scallion Oil Second Course Sesame Crusted Sea Bass Braised Baby Bok Choy Roasted Garden Eggplant Sauce Verte Dessert Vanilla Crémeux & White House Honey Ice Cream Walnut Frangipane Sour Cherry Confit For entertainment, there will be a performance from tenor Christopher Macchio, who performed at Trump’s inauguration last year, along with performances by military musicians from the United States Marines Corps and the United States Army. The décor will be “an expression of warmth and celebration and draws on the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history. Urns showcase overflowing red blossoms. Tables are dressed in rich red linens and adorned with dahlias and ranunculus. Among the seasonal blooms, the tables feature vermeil from the White House collection. The Reagan State Service is featured on the tables. These details blend Chinese artistry and American tradition together.” After leaving their husbands at the White House earlier, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan toured one of the largest Asian art museums in the US, celebrating cultural ties between the US and China during a high-profile diplomatic visit to Washington. The Associated Press reports that the first ladies visited the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in a display of soft power that united two figures known for fusing style and diplomacy. It was the first public meeting in nearly a decade between the spouses, one a former fashion model and the other a famed soprano. They arrived to crowds gathered on sidewalks across from the museum, many waving Chinese and American flags. Inside the museum, the first ladies toured the Peacock Room, a gilded green, blue and gold dining room that was once housed in a London mansion before opening to the public in Washington in 1923. The room was created by American artist James McNeill Whistler. They also paused to look at a stone disk from ancient China, along with “Princess from the Land of Porcelain,” an oil painting by Whistler hanging in the Peacock Room and featuring a kimono-clad woman standing and holding a fan. Later, youngsters from Hope Chinese School serenaded the women with renditions of famous Chinese folk songs, “Song and Smile” and “Jasmine Flower.” The subject of Taiwan came up during a bilateral meeting in which Xi Jinping urged the US to oppose “Taiwan independence,” ⁠according to a readout from the official Chinese ⁠news agency Xinhua. The White House did not immediately provide its own readout of the discussion. Xi had been expected to press Trump this week to halt arms sales to Taiwan, the Associated Press reported. After visiting China in May, the US president said he was suspending an arms package to Taiwan worth about $14 billion and called it a “very good negotiating chip.” The move left some US allies in Asia ⁠and even some Republicans concerned that Trump may be tempted to soften Washington’s support for Taipei in exchange for economic wins with China. China has long asserted territorial ownership of Taiwan, a democratically governed island that relies on US power to counter Beijing’s threats. Despite backing Taiwan, the US has traditionally avoided taking an official stance on its independence. Chinese president Xi Jinping has left the White House after meeting with Trump, Reuters reported. But he should be returning this evening at 6.45pm ET for a state dinner that expects to feature a number of tech CEOs, including: Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Sam Altman of ⁠OpenAI, Tim Cook of Apple, Elon Musk of Tesla, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jensen Huang of Nvidia. ⁠Donald Trump said that ⁠he and ⁠Xi Jinping had a “great meeting” after ⁠the two leaders ‌met ‌at the White ‌House, Reuters reported. Trump made the comments to reporters in response ‌to shouted questions before the two boarded the Marine One helicopter ⁠on the White House grounds for a brief tour. We’re getting some lines through on the news wires via Chinese state news agency Xinhua about what Xi and Trump have discussed. Xi Jinping said that ‌China supports ‌the US and Iran returning to a June memorandum of understanding ‌that was meant to end the war and ⁠reopen the strait of Hormuz. He also said Beijing hopes the ⁠United States ⁠adheres to ‌the “correct” position of opposing “Taiwan ‌independence” and handles the Taiwan ‌question with prudence. We’ll bring you more on this as we get it. Here are some more images from Xi’s high-stakes state visit so far: Reporters from three news outlets banned from the White House by Donald Trump were back on the grounds on Thursday afternoon, hours after a federal judge ordered the administration to reinstate their access. CNN, MS NOW and Politico journalists were allowed back in, the latest development in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes. The saga comes during a heavy news cycle with Xi Jinping’s visit and world leaders gathered for the United Nations general assembly. The Chinese president is not staying at Blair House during his state visit, CNN is reporting citing a White House official. Instead, the Financial Times (paywall) reports that he will stay at the Waldorf Astoria, previously the Trump hotel, in Washington, citing someone familiar with his plans. On his last visit in 2015, Xi stayed at Blair House, the official US guest house across from the White House. in Washington Xi Jingping has called for extensive cooperation with Washington to avoid the “Thucydides trap” that could put the US and China on a military collision course. At the start of his summit with Donald Trump at the White House, the Chinese president laid out terms for a mutual understanding that he said could avoid military conflict between the two competing superpowers. “We should strengthen communication. China and the United States are different in national conditions, but through candid, in-depth and continued dialog, our two countries can understand each other better, seek common ground while shelving differences, and build up mutual trust,” said Xi, with Trump looking on. “We should coexist in peace,” he said. “China and the United States, as two major countries, stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in confrontation. Our two militaries should maintain regular dialogue and improve mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention.” With such conditions in place, Xi said, “the Thucydides trap can be overcome”, refering to the phenomenon, defined by the Greek historian, of tensions that arise when an emerging power challenges the dominance of an established power. Xi invoked the phrase in his meeting with Trump in Beijing in May, asking the US president how he planned to avoid it. His proposals for lessening tensions – which also included the invitation of 100,000 young Americans to visit China on student exchanges – come amid a period of intense competition between the two powers over artificial intelligence and trade, with each side imposing tariffs on the other. Here is brief recap of the remarks made by Donald Trump and Xi Jinping just now on the Chinese president’s landmark state visit to Washington. Trump touted their “truly great friendship” and that they had made “tremendous strides on the issues facing our countries” as he welcomed Xi to the White House. He kept his remarks vague and focused on their personal relationship, of which he said he is “very proud”. Trump said the two leaders would focus on security, technology and artificial intelligence at their summit today, and are working towards “a more balanced trade relationship”. Xi, meanwhile, struck a very different tone, acknowledging that he and Trump have built a “personal rapport” but concentrating his remarks on geopolitical concerns. Xi called for continued dialogue and the building of mutual trust, understanding and peaceful coexistence between the two countries and to avoid conflict. He stressed that Chinese and US interests are “deeply intertwined” and that they “stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in conflict”. He also stated clearly his hope that Chinese companies would be “treated fairly” in the United States. The Chinese leader also emphasised their joint, historic responsibility as leading nations in artificial intelligence. Both the US and China have the capability and responsibility to manage AI for good, he stressed, and must “ensure the development of AI is always under human control and serve the wellbeing of the people”. The two men are meeting now in the Oval Office, where they will discuss the fragile trade-war truce, Taiwan, AI and China’s support for Iran and for Russia’s war in Ukraine. A breakthrough is unlikely today for the world’s two most powerful nations, but stick with us as we bring you all the latest out of the meeting. Trump and Xi are now both standing at the front of the Rose Garden (which Trump has turned into a patio) with their wives and flanked by members of Trump’s cabinet for the official military review and a military flyover. Next, Trump and Xi observed a silent drill platoon from the Truman balcony. They will then go to the Rose Garden. Xi then issues an invitation for 100,000 American students to visit China in the next five years for exchange and study. He also announces that two pandas – Ping Ping and Fu Shuang – will settle into their new home at the Atlanta zoo in the coming days. This reminds me of China’s gift of two giant pandas to the Smithsonian national zoo in 1972, following Richard Nixon’s historic visit to Beijing in the detente era of the Cold War. The ceremony is now over. “Our two militaries should maintain regular dialogue,” Xi says, and the countries should aim to avoid conflict and confrontation. He says the US and China must “hold the line of no conflict”, adding that the two countries “stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in conflict”. “We should co-exist in peace,” Xi says, adding that competition between China and the US should be positive and kept within boundaries. With both China and the US being leading nations in artificial intelligence, Xi says they both have the capability and responsibility to manage AI for good, and “ensure the development of AI is always under human control and serve the wellbeing of the people”. “China keeps its door wide open and welcomes American companies who want to do business and invest there,” Xi says, adding: “We hope Chinese companies are treated fairly here in the United States”. “The interests of China and the United States are deeply intertwined,” Xi says, adding that it would be hard to solve many of the world’s problems without the two countries co-operating with one another. Xi says that China and the US “shoulder a historic responsibility to promote human progress” and says he is willing to work with Trump to “steer the ship of China-US ties”. “We should strengthen communication,” he says, adding that “candid, in-depth, sustained dialogue can promote understanding and mutual trust.” Of his personal relationship with Trump, Xi adds that the leaders have respect for each other and have built up “personal rapport”. Taking to the podium, Xi says both China and the United States are “great countries” with “great peoples”. He says he is here to “carry on our friendship, expand co-operation and promote the wellbeing of both our peoples”. The two will also discuss “pressing issues” concerning security, technology and artificial intelligence, Trump says (though he’s still trying to make “super intelligence” happen). He adds: The decisions we make in these areas today can promote promote peace and prosperity for decades and decades to come. Trump says he’s “very proud” of the US-China relationship, and says the two countries are working towards a “more balanced trade relationship” including “new market access for American farmers and ranchers”. He touts new trade progress between the US and China, and says that he and Xi “have made tremendous strides on the issues facing our two countries”. In the first row in front of the leaders sit US vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha Vance, Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her daughter Arabella, US secretary of state Marco Rubio, treasury secretary Scott Bessent, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Donald Trump is speaking now. He notes that Xi is the first Chinese leader to make a second formal visit to the White House, and says the two have “forged a truly great friendship” since Trump was first elected in 2016. Trump points out that this is the first time he and Xi are meeting at the White House. “A lot has changed since he was last here,” he says. Trump and Xi are scheduled to deliver remarks on Thursday morning at the White House, hold their bilateral meeting, and make remarks again in the evening as part of a state dinner. The schedule does not include a news conference and it’s unclear whether Trump and Xi will take questions from either American or Chinese reporters. In a 2015 meeting, Xi and then-US president Barack Obama held a joint news conference as part of a White House summit. In the Rose Garden, which Trump has since turned into a patio, each president made opening remarks. Then they each answered one question from a US reporter and another from a Chinese reporter before taking additional, nation-specific questions. Of course, looming over all of this is Trump’s legal showdown with journalists from MS Now, Politico and CNN whom Trump has tried to ban from the White House, who were turned away from the building this morning, in apparent defiance of a federal judge’s order to restore their access. US networks are boycotting White House pool coverage in protest. My colleague Chris Hippensteel is covering all the latest on that on our US politics blog: To the blare of trumpets, Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walked out of the White House residence onto the South Lawn, where they greeted Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan as they stepped out of a black vehicle and onto the red carpet. They warmly shook hands and then posed for the cameras. Anti-Beijing and pro-Beijing protesters gathered outside the White House ahead of Xi’s arrival, the Associated Press notes. “Down with Xi Jinping,” chanted those condemning Beijing’s brutal policy in Tibet. They also chanted, “Shame on Xi Jinping.” Another group has gathered about a block away with banners welcoming the Chinese leader. The two camps are separated and there has been no direct clash. Donald and Melania Trump have just welcomed Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan with a military band and the flags of both countries to the White House. by Amy Hawkins and David Smith The meeting between Xi and Trump this week will be the second time that the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies have talked face to face this year. At the previous summit, held in Beijing in May, there was much talk of building a “strategic stability” between the two powers. But there was little by way of concrete outcomes: the countries remain at loggerheads over trade, export controls and geopolitics. Despite the goodwill built in May, few anticipate any major breakthroughs this week when Xi makes his first state visit to the US since 2015. “Expectations are very low,” said Bonnie Glaser, a managing director at the US thinkthank the German Marshall Fund. “Nobody is using the term ‘deliverables’.” One area in which Trump and Xi may reach some consensus is on artificial intelligence safety. Tech executives including Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet, Sam Altman of ⁠OpenAI, Tim Cook of Apple, Elon Musk of Tesla, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta and Jensen Huang of Nvidia will reportedly attend a ⁠state dinner at the White House on Thursday evening. On Wednesday evening, Donald Trump welcomed Xi Jinping to the US, taking the unusual step of greeting the Chinese leader on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews to kick off his state visit to Washington. Xi’s plane was met with a lavish arrival ceremony that included a 30-metre-long (100ft) red carpet flanked by US service members, a military flyover by two B-1 bombers and a presentation of the flags and national anthems of both countries. US presidents typically welcome foreign leaders at the White House, but Trump and the first lady, Melania, traveled to the the military base in Maryland, just outside Washington, to personally shake hands with Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on Wednesday evening. President Trump teased in a social media post this morning that artificial intelligence would be a major part of his talks today with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his state visit to Washington. He also suggested that he would avoid entertaining any kind of agreement between the two nations limiting AI development. “A big day with President Xi of China,” Trump wrote in the post to his personal social media platform. “Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is. That is China’s position also. Our guardrail is the DOJ! President DJT.” (Super intelligence is the term Trump has been pushing to refer to artificial intelligence. He pitched the language earlier this week in a tangent during his speech to the world leaders at the United Nations. It’s unclear at this point if anybody is going to take him up on it.) After an unusually warm red carpet welcome ceremony on the tarmac yesterday, Trump is scheduled to receive Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the White House South Portico. The pair will deliver remarks, exchange gifts, and watch a military review before a busy day of talks and diplomatic pageantry. The leaders of the world’s two superpowers are meeting in the US on Thursday for Xi Jinping’s first state visit to the US in more than a decade. The last time the Chinese president was hosted in Washington (by Barack Obama in 2015), the issues on the agenda included cybercrime, technology, the climate crisis and human rights. The star of the day was Ne-Yo, who serenaded Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, with Peng reportedly singing along at the state dinner. This time, Xi is meeting Donald Trump, who has overhauled the world order and recalibrated the US-China relationship. Trump is contending with a China that is in a much stronger position than it was 10 years ago. Click the link below for five things to look out for at the US-China summit. Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have plenty to cover when they sit down for talks Thursday at the White House. The US and Chinese leaders are tackling issues like trade irritants, artificial intelligence safeguards and the war in Iran. Trump wants China to use its influence with Iran, while Xi seeks a halt to US arms sales to Taiwan. A fragile trade truce had been set to expire in November, but the two countries agreed Wednesday to extend it for two months. This is Xi’s first state visit to the US in more than a decade. Stick with us as we bring you the latest lines.