Trump Hosts Xi for First State Visit Since 2015 Amid Trade and AI Tensions
US President Donald Trump is hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a three-day state visit in Washington, the first of its kind since 2015. The agenda focuses on extending an expiring trade agreement, artificial intelligence competition, and tensions over rare earth exports and Taiwan arms sales.
US President Donald Trump will host Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week in Washington for a three-day state visit. This trip marks Xi's first state visit to the US since 2015 and his third meeting with Trump in the past year.
The diplomatic proceedings began with Trump personally greeting Xi at Andrews Air Force Base. The schedule includes a White House state dinner and a military flyover. David Sacks, a fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, described the planned welcome as "really unprecedented" and noted that such pomp has not been afforded to any US ally.
Xi Jinping is accompanied by First Lady Peng Liyuan, who is expected to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art with US First Lady Melania Trump on Thursday. Tech industry leaders Sam Altman (OpenAI), Jensen Huang (Nvidia), and Elon Musk (X) are also expected to attend the state dinner.
A central focus of the talks is the potential extension of a US-China trade agreement reached in October 2025 during a meeting in South Korea, which is set to expire in November. That truce saw Washington suspend steep tariff increases while Beijing eased back from restricting rare earth exports. However, Chinese rare earth exports to the US remain down despite the agreement. According to the latest US Census Bureau data, the US trade deficit with China stands at more than $91bn (£68.2bn).
Recent side talks held by US and Chinese officials on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday failed to yield meaningful progress. Nevertheless, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent met Chinese counterpart He Lifeng on Sunday and reported "very successful" talks regarding trade and artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence has climbed rapidly toward the top of the agenda. Trump views defeating China in the AI race as a primary objective, stating, "Whoever wins AI, wins." Senator Bernie Sanders has called for Trump and Xi to negotiate a treaty to pause AI development and ban superintelligence.
Other points of contention include a pending multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan approved by the US Congress. Trump has held off on signing the measure, using it as a bargaining chip. Additionally, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a letter to Ford Motor Company in September urging the company to cut ties with China due to national security concerns.