U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for his highly anticipated summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a restless moment for a world worried about war, trade and artificial intelligence.
The visit occurs at a delicate moment for Trump’s presidency, as his popularity at home has been weighed down by the U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and rising inflation as a consequence of that conflict. The president is seeking a win by signing deals with China to buy more American food and aircraft, saying he’ll be talking with Xi about trade “more than anything else.”
Here’s the latest:
Trump’s arrival is trending on Chinese social media platform Weibo
A video posted by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showing Trump stepping out of the plane and walking down the stairs had more than 18,000 likes in less than 30 minutes.
More than 1,300 comments were made in response to the post. Some welcomed Trump to China and others wrote: “peaceful coexistence, win-win cooperation.”
The status of Taiwan will be a major topic
China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island the Chinese government claims as part of its own territory.
Trump told reporters Monday he’d be discussing with Xi an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan the U.S. administration authorized in December but hasn’t yet begun fulfilling. The arms package is the largest ever approved for Taiwan.
But the U.S. leader has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that’s raising questions about whether Trump could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.
At the same time, Taiwan — as the world’s leading chipmaker — has become essential for the development of AI, with the U.S. importing more goods so far this year from Taiwan than China. Trump has sought to use Biden-era programs and his own deals to bring more chipmaking to America.
Trump pauses to take in the elaborate welcome scene in Beijing
Three hundred youngsters waved miniature American and Chinese flags in front of themselves and then over their head in unison.
“Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.
Trump greeted dignitaries after deplaning, then stopped and grinned, taking in the scene.
He didn’t answer questions, instead climbing in a limo on the way to his hotel.
The president has nothing more on his public schedule until Thursday.
Following him off the plane were Trump’s son, Eric, and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, as well as assorted travelers, including Space X chief Elon Musk.
The Chinese offered Trump a pomp-filled welcome
A red carpet was rolled out for him after Air Force One landed.
The president was to be greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to Washington; Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs; as well as the U.S. envoy to Beijing, David Perdue, according to the White House.
The welcoming ceremony includes some 300 Chinese youths, a military honor guard and a military band.
The meat of Trump’s summit in China won’t happen until Thursday
That’s when the leaders will hold bilateral talks and a formal banquet.
The Trump administration hopes to begin the process of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address differences between the countries. The board could help prevent the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes, an action China countered through its control of rare earth minerals. That led to a one-year truce last October.
Trump arrives in Beijing ahead of meetings with Xi
Trump has touched down in Beijing for his summit with Xi Jinping.
Trump has no public events beyond his arrival on Wednesday’s schedule, but is set to meet with Xi a series of times on Thursday and Friday.
U.S. and China have “candid” exchanges in South Korea’s trade talks, CCTV says
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent engaged in “candid, in-depth and constructive” exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday.
The officials led the trade talks between the world’s two biggest economies in South Korea, hours before Trump’s arrival in Beijing.
CCTV said they were guided by the important consensus reached by the heads of state of both countries, and upheld the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation.
Nvidia CEO is late-announced addition to Trump’s trip
The White House said Huang’s schedule hadn’t permitted his coming, but then changed, clearing the way for him to make the trip.
The last-minute addition inspired online commentary and memes on the Chinese internet.
Those including on Xiaohongshu and Weibo, where people shared manipulated images of Huang clinging to Air Force One with his bare hands.
Musk, Cook and other prominent US executives invited to join Trump on trip to China
These prominent U.S. executives from Big Tech to agriculture have been invited to join Trump on his trip to China, according to a White House official:
1. Elon Musk – CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
2. Tim Cook – CEO of Apple
3. Kelly Ortberg – Rockwell Collins former CEO
4. Jensen Huang – Nvidia President and CEO
5. Larry Fink – BlackRock Chairman and CEO
6. Stephen Schwarzman – Blackstone Chairman, CEO and co-founder
7. Brian Sikes – Cargill Chairman and CEO
8. Jane Fraser – Citi Chairman and CEO
9. Jim Anderson – Coherent CEO
10. H. Lawrence Culp – GE Aerospace Chairman and CEO
11. David Solomon – Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO
12. Jacob Thaysen – Illumina CEO
13. Michael Miebach – Mastercard CEO
14. Dina Powell McCormick – Meta President and Vice Chairman
15. Sanjay Mehrotra – Micron Chairman, President and CEO
16. Cristiano Amon – Qualcomm President and CEO
17. Ryan McInerney – Visa CEO
Soaring inflation and plummeting economy test Iran’s ability to withstand war and US blockade
Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz is throttling the world’s energy supplies and inflicting global economic pain, but the struggles of the Islamic Republic’s own economy are testing its ability to withstand the war and defy Washington’s demands.
Iranians have been hit by spiraling prices for food, medicine and other goods. At the same time, the country has seen mass job losses and business closures caused by strike damage to key industries and the government’s monthslong shutdown of the internet.
The economic cost of the war and the U.S. naval blockade “has been very substantial and unprecedented for Iran,” said Hadi Kahalzadeh, an Iranian economist and research fellow at Brandeis University.
But Iran has withstood decades of economic pressure and sanctions and its capacity to adapt has not been dismantled, Kahalzadeh said.
The International Monetary Fund has predicted the Iranian economy will shrink by about 6 percentage points in the next year.
The Associated Press
