Trump and Xi Open Washington Summit With Pomp but Few Expected Breakthroughs

US President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for a state summit marked by elaborate ceremony but modest expectations, as the two leaders sought to project stable ties despite persistent friction over trade, technology, Taiwan and the war with Iran.

Speaking from the grand foyer, Trump described his relationship with Xi as a "truly great friendship" and said progress had been made on trade since his trip to China in May. He added that security, technology and what he calls "super intelligence" would be central to the talks, arguing that decisions taken now could shape peace and prosperity for decades.

Xi, speaking after Trump, said competition between the two countries should be healthy. He said US companies were welcome in China and expressed hope that Chinese firms would be treated fairly in the United States. He also called for regular military-to-military dialogue to improve crisis prevention, and invoked the idea that the so-called Thucydides trap can be overcome.

The visit is Xi's first to Washington in more than a decade and the second meeting between the two leaders this year. Trump greeted Xi on arrival on Wednesday evening with a red carpet at Joint Base Andrews, a reception not extended to a foreign leader by a US president since Barack Obama met Pope Francis in 2015.

After their remarks, the leaders observed a military ceremony including a flyover at the Rose Garden, with Chinese flags flying from the Oval Office roof alongside US flags, before a scheduled bilateral meeting.

The summit's symbolic weight has been accompanied by domestic political complications for Trump. His warm reception of Xi, who heads the Chinese Communist Party, sits awkwardly with his campaign messaging ahead of November's midterm elections, where Republicans' narrow congressional majorities are at stake and where he has for months labeled Democrats as communists.

Media coverage of the leaders' remarks was also unusual: no US television network carried them live, in what was described as a collective protest against the White House's ban of CNN, MS Now and Politico.

Despite the fanfare, analysts see little prospect of major breakthroughs. Tangible outcomes are expected to be limited to an extension of a trade truce due to expire in November and an agreement to examine the threats posed by artificial intelligence.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng that the two sides had agreed to extend until January 10 an arrangement that paused a trade war in which mutual tariffs had topped 100%. Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday morning that "super intelligence" would be a major topic but indicated little appetite for new regulation, saying he wanted to leave it as it is and that this was also China's position. Xi said both countries have the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and to ensure it remains under human control. Analysts say intense competition in AI is likely to limit any agreement to symbolic gestures.

People familiar with the plans say the talks could also produce deals to lower some tariffs, combat drug trafficking and expand military dialogue, while Trump is expected to seek the release of Americans and others detained in China.

Xi enters the summit in a comparatively strong position, having overseen a surge in China's trade and with firm control over supplies of rare earth minerals that give him significant leverage. Both leaders have incentives to keep relations stable: Trump is contending with an unpopular war with Iran, while Xi faces domestic economic challenges.

Underneath the surface, several disputes could reignite tensions, including Taiwan, export controls and AI. Taiwan, a democratically governed island claimed by China, remains the most contentious issue, and US allies in Asia worry that Trump may be tempted to soften Washington's support for Taipei to secure economic wins with Beijing. Xi is expected to press Trump to halt Taiwan arms sales, possibly during a planned visit by the two to the US National Archives on Friday, and China is offering help in pressuring Iran in return, according to sources briefed on the matter. After the May summit, Trump said he was holding in abeyance an arms package to Taiwan worth about $14 billion, calling it a "very good negotiating chip."

The leaders are likely to discuss the Iran war, though there has been little sign Beijing is willing to press its ally to meet US demands.

Thursday's state dinner guest list includes business leaders such as Apple's Tim Cook, Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Tesla's Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. Despite that lineup, people familiar with US plans say Trump is likely to maintain firm export controls on US technology that Xi wants loosened.