Sept. 24 (UPI) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. counterpart Donald Trump met at the White House for bilateral talks Thursday but afterwards remained mum about what was discussed.
Trump welcomed Xi on his second day in the country with a performance by the Marine Corps Band and a flyover and a review of troops dressed in colonial uniforms. Watching the review were Vice President JD Vance, second lady Usha Vance and Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Trump said in his opening remarks that the two countries should work together. He added that during World War II, they fought on the same side.
Xi noted the respect he and Trump share for each other and invited 100,000 American students to visit China in the next five years. He also announced that two pandas will soon be loaned to the Atlanta Zoo.
Trump joked that the Chinese press corps are the friendliest after a morning battle with some members of the American White House press corps. All Chinese media are controlled by the government.
After the meeting, Xi left the White House at about 1:30 p.m. EDT, and neither said much about how it went.
“Great meeting, thank you,” Trump said to reporters’ questions. Then he walked back into the White House. The Chinese delegation climbed into cars and left.
Before the meeting, Trump emphasized that AI would be a key topic. After AI companies began expressing worry that AI could destroy humanity, Trump said that there should be no guardrails on AI except for the Department of Justice.
But Xi struck a different tone in a speech in India on Sept. 12. He said countries should “encourage open source, openness, collaboration and sharing,” and called for a global AI governance pact, but didn’t elaborate on how that would work, CNN reported.