WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out the red carpet for China’s Xi Jinping on the Chinese president’s first state visit to Washington in over a decade.The leaders exchanged warm words at a lavish White House state dinner but gave little indication of a breakthrough on any of the pressing issues.Ahead of the meeting, Xi said the US and China “should be partners rather than rivals,” while Trump hailed his “truly great friendship” with the Chinese president. The talks centered on the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement by Beijing. A few hundred protesters gathered near the White House to rally against Xi’s visit.Protesters highlighted a number of issues, from calls for religious freedom and autonomy in Tibet, Hong Kong and the Xinjiang region to demands that China refrain from interfering in Taiwan.Protesters gathered in Lafayette Park, north of the White House, while other groups gathered outside the Chinese embassy. Pro-Xi rallies were also held in Washington.After the talks, Xi attended a state dinner with Trump and US tech executives, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla’s Elon Musk.Trump described the event as the “hottest ticket in town” and said the “entire tech world” and “entire banking world and a lot more” would attend.Xi stressed that the countries should ensure AI remains “under human control” and act “as responsible major countries”.But tensions remain despite the diplomatic niceties, including over Taiwan — with Xi urging Trump earlier in the day to take the “correct position” on the self-governing island which Beijing claims as its own, amid a major weapons package paused by Trump.Addressing those gathered late on Thursday, Trump thanked Xi for making the long trip to the US, and said the relationship between the two men was strong.”We’ve never gotten along better,” Trump said.He praised the long history of US-China relations, although he did take an unscripted detour to praise his ongoing ballroom project.In the off-the-cuff moment, he said as a “special treat” the Chinese leader and his wife could be the first to enter the ballroom, which is still a year away from completion.”Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honor to have you do so,” he said.He also presented Xi with a sculpture of a bald eagle, America’s national symbol, saying it embodied “the free and soaring spirit of America”.”We hope it will find a nice, wonderful place in Beijing. It’s your honor,” he said.Trump added that he and First Lady Melania had participated in the design of the sculpture.Xi meanwhile thanked his hosts for receiving him and his wife with “meticulous care and consideration”, making them “feel truly at home”.He said the two leaders were “making history in our bilateral engagements”.”We agreed to build a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability,” Xi said, adding that the two shared “sincere and in-depth exchanges” that would strengthen relations between the two countries.Like Trump’s, Xi’s remarks were heavy on flattery, focusing on cultural ties and shared history between the US and China.The relationship between the two countries was “forged in blood and fire” during the fight against Japan in World War Two, before being furthered during the “ping pong” diplomacy of the Nixon administration, he said.Towards the end of his speech, Xi said the US and China’s goals could be “mutually reinforcing”. He urged both sides to explore a “new approach for major countries to get along”.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was at another table, with a serious look on his face. His wife was seated beside him, with Jared Kushner and White House chief of staff Monica Crowley nearby.The White House invited scores of US officials, as well as conservative broadcasters, tech industry bosses, social media CEOs and other corporate executives.Attendees included members of Trump’s cabinet, as well as family members like his children Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany.Bosses from the tech industry in attendance also included Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.Both Cook and Huang were seated at the same table as Trump and Xi. As was Musk, who previously worked in Trump’s administration leading the effort to shrink government.Other companies whose leaders were in attendance include General Motors, Visa, Paramount Skydance, ExxonMobil and more.But one notable absence was Anthropic — one of the biggest and most valuable AI firms in the world. On Friday, Xi is scheduled to visit the National Archives, where the US Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are held.Trump and Xi will begin their day with tea at the White House’s Red Room with their wives, before heading to the US National Archives for a tour of the building and its exhibits.Xi and his wife will depart Washington later in the day.WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out the red carpet for China’s Xi Jinping on the Chinese president’s first state visit to Washington in over a decade.The leaders exchanged warm words at a lavish White House state dinner but gave little indication of a breakthrough on any of the pressing issues.Ahead of the meeting, Xi said the US and China “should be partners rather than rivals,” while Trump hailed his “truly great friendship” with the Chinese president. The talks centered on the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement by Beijing. A few hundred protesters gathered near the White House to rally against Xi’s visit.Protesters highlighted a number of issues, from calls for religious freedom and autonomy in Tibet, Hong Kong and the Xinjiang region to demands that China refrain from interfering in Taiwan.Protesters gathered in Lafayette Park, north of the White House, while other groups gathered outside the Chinese embassy. Pro-Xi rallies were also held in Washington.After the talks, Xi attended a state dinner with Trump and US tech executives, including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Tesla’s Elon Musk.Trump described the event as the “hottest ticket in town” and said the “entire tech world” and “entire banking world and a lot more” would attend.Xi stressed that the countries should ensure AI remains “under human control” and act “as responsible major countries”.But tensions remain despite the diplomatic niceties, including over Taiwan — with Xi urging Trump earlier in the day to take the “correct position” on the self-governing island which Beijing claims as its own, amid a major weapons package paused by Trump.Addressing those gathered late on Thursday, Trump thanked Xi for making the long trip to the US, and said the relationship between the two men was strong.”We’ve never gotten along better,” Trump said.He praised the long history of US-China relations, although he did take an unscripted detour to praise his ongoing ballroom project.In the off-the-cuff moment, he said as a “special treat” the Chinese leader and his wife could be the first to enter the ballroom, which is still a year away from completion.”Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honor to have you do so,” he said.He also presented Xi with a sculpture of a bald eagle, America’s national symbol, saying it embodied “the free and soaring spirit of America”.”We hope it will find a nice, wonderful place in Beijing. It’s your honor,” he said.Trump added that he and First Lady Melania had participated in the design of the sculpture.Xi meanwhile thanked his hosts for receiving him and his wife with “meticulous care and consideration”, making them “feel truly at home”.He said the two leaders were “making history in our bilateral engagements”.”We agreed to build a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability,” Xi said, adding that the two shared “sincere and in-depth exchanges” that would strengthen relations between the two countries.Like Trump’s, Xi’s remarks were heavy on flattery, focusing on cultural ties and shared history between the US and China.The relationship between the two countries was “forged in blood and fire” during the fight against Japan in World War Two, before being furthered during the “ping pong” diplomacy of the Nixon administration, he said.Towards the end of his speech, Xi said the US and China’s goals could be “mutually reinforcing”. He urged both sides to explore a “new approach for major countries to get along”.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was at another table, with a serious look on his face. His wife was seated beside him, with Jared Kushner and White House chief of staff Monica Crowley nearby.The White House invited scores of US officials, as well as conservative broadcasters, tech industry bosses, social media CEOs and other corporate executives.Attendees included members of Trump’s cabinet, as well as family members like his children Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany.Bosses from the tech industry in attendance also included Apple’s Tim Cook, Google’s Sundar Pichai, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.Both Cook and Huang were seated at the same table as Trump and Xi. As was Musk, who previously worked in Trump’s administration leading the effort to shrink government.Other companies whose leaders were in attendance include General Motors, Visa, Paramount Skydance, ExxonMobil and more.But one notable absence was Anthropic — one of the biggest and most valuable AI firms in the world. On Friday, Xi is scheduled to visit the National Archives, where the US Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights are held.Trump and Xi will begin their day with tea at the White House’s Red Room with their wives, before heading to the US National Archives for a tour of the building and its exhibits.Xi and his wife will depart Washington later in the day.
Trump and Xi exchange warm words but little progress on key issues
