Trump hosts Xi at White House summit with no sign of breakthroughs

Washington, United States. US President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for a lavish summit marked by ceremony but no sign of breakthroughs on AI, trade, Taiwan or the war with Iran.

State dinner and protests

The leaders and their wives attended a black-tie state dinner featuring sesame-crusted sea bass. The guest list included many technology chief executives. Outside the White House gate, protesters shouted slogans including “China out of Hong Kong,” audible as the leaders posed for photographs on the red-carpeted steps.

In a dinner toast, Trump said he and Xi “both understand we represent different systems but the ties between our people endure and we’ve never gotten along better.”

Trump invited guests to tour the site of a new ballroom he is building nearby. Earlier, he showed Xi a helipad he had built in the White House complex. Construction projects have been a frequent topic for Trump, who has focused on remaking Washington’s physical infrastructure.

Talks on relations and Taiwan

Xi said the leaders had held in-depth discussions and reached “common understanding on many issues” that provided “new strategic guidance for China-US relations.” He gave no details. Calling for “a new approach for major countries to get along with each other,” Xi said China and the United States must act as responsible major countries.

During bilateral talks in the afternoon, Xi urged the United States to oppose “Taiwan independence,” according to a readout from China’s official news agency. The White House had not yet issued its own summary of the talks.

Xi had been expected to press Trump to halt arms sales to Taiwan. After visiting China in May, Trump said he was holding in abeyance an arms package for Taiwan worth about $14 billion, calling it a “very good negotiating chip.”

Wider pressures

The Washington meeting took place while scores of world leaders were in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. It also came amid growing public concern about the rapid development of AI and as Trump struggled to resolve the war his administration and Israel began with Iran. The war has sharply raised energy prices and weighed on his public approval ahead of November’s midterm elections.