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Trump and China's Xi discuss AI, trade and Iran war during state visit
Trump and China's Xi discuss AI, trade and Iran war during state visit
U.S. President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met for the second time this year to much fanfare but little in the way of grand bargains.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have met all over the world in the last 10 years, but this week, for the first time, they met at the White House.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Trump hosted Xi for a lavish state dinner last night. The U.S. president literally rolled out the red carpet for the Chinese leader as they discussed artificial intelligence, trade and the Iran war. In a few moments, we'll discuss what was accomplished with former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns. We begin with the news.
MARTÍNEZ: NPR White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram joins us now to discuss all of this. So, Deepa, what kinds of things of substance came out of the meetings in the summit?
DEEPA SHIVARAM, BYLINE: Yeah. I mean, there were no major announcements, but there were a few concrete takeaways from the summit. The first is the U.S. announced a two-month extension of the trade agreement between the countries, which was established last year when Trump and Xi met in South Korea.
SHIVARAM: And there were also discussions about artificial intelligence. U.S. and Chinese officials had deliberated over information-sharing systems that would help alert each other over AI incidents that would affect national security. And that would've been a huge development in AI security globally because there aren't a lot of guardrails that exist for this technology. But it's unclear how far that proposal on AI will actually go because in his remarks on Thursday morning, Trump was clear that on AI, he wants to, quote, "leave it exactly where it is." Trump has been opposed to any kind of regulation around the technology and often speaks about beating China on AI.
Overall, though, I mean, there were low expectations for anything major to come out of this summit, A. The meeting had more of an emphasis on Trump and Xi's personal relationship, more surface-level rhetoric about the friendship between the two countries. Xi, I will say, made several comments about the responsibility the U.S. and China have to cooperate and communicate.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. State visits usually involve some level of pomp and circumstance. Really seemed, though, like President Trump wanted to go all out to welcome Xi to the White House. You heard Leila mention literally rolling out the red carpet.
SHIVARAM: Yeah.
MARTÍNEZ: What did that entail?
SHIVARAM: Yeah. I mean, the welcome that Xi got was actually unusual because Trump met him on the tarmac when he arrived in Washington, and at the White House, you know, Trump's been doing all kinds of construction projects, and he's talked up things like building the helipad on the South Lawn as something to show off during Xi's visit. And sure enough, Trump showcased the new helipad, had military flyovers, even gave Xi a tour of sorts of the South Lawn and some of the construction he's been working on. It definitely did seem like there was a bigger red-carpet rollout than usual for this visit.
I talked to Samm Sacks about all of this. She's a senior fellow at think tank New America. And she actually said the pageantry had some significance because tensions between the U.S. and China have been ramping up so much.
SAMM SACKS: I don't want to understate the importance of pageantry at this moment because things have been so toxic. And so the pageantry itself creates a kind of breathing space that is stabilizing.
SHIVARAM: What's interesting, though, is that because of Trump's ban on three media outlets, there wasn't any TV coverage of all of this. Trump posted about it on Truth Social yesterday and complained about how the major TV networks didn't show the, quote, "made-for-television" moments.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So what are we looking forward to when it comes to Trump and Xi?
SHIVARAM: Well, a couple of announcements from Xi yesterday included the news that two new Chinese pandas are coming to the zoo in Atlanta. I know the bar was low for major takeaways, but panda diplomacy remains alive and well. But...
MARTÍNEZ: Most overhyped black-and-white animal, the panda. But that's another topic for another day.
SHIVARAM: Another time. Another time. But honestly, the real, you know, conversation between the U.S. and China simply just continues. The door is open for Trump and Xi to meet possibly two more times before the end of this year. China's hosting the APEC summit in November, and that's the same summit where Trump and Xi met on the sidelines of last year in Korea. And it would be significant if Trump traveled to China for the second time this year, and then it's possible Xi could come back to the U.S., where Trump is hosting the G20 summit in Miami in December.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Deepa Shivaram. Thanks a lot.
SHIVARAM: Thank you.
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Trump offers warm welcome as China's Xi arrives for US visit
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US President Donald Trump has greeted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping with a military flyover and 100ft (30m) red carpet to kick off their three-day summit in Washington.
In a rare move, Trump welcomed Xi's entourage at the airport as the US Air Force band marched on the tarmac and US and Chinese flags flew.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening in Maryland.
The high-stakes visit - Xi's first trip to Washington since 2015 - is expected to include closed-door meetings, a state dinner, and plenty to discuss, from AI, to the Iran war and Taiwan, and an extended trade truce.
The leader of Chinese Communist Party touched down in an Air China plane at 17:39 local time (22:39 BST). The colour and honour guard marched up to the aircraft and stood on both sides of the red carpet as two limos pulled up.
Xi and Peng exited their plane and the two couples shook hands. They spoke briefly before walking side by side down the red carpet and posing for photos.
Two B-1s flew over as the Army Air Force Band played the US national anthem. The supersonic aircraft are a key part of the US's combat arsenal.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two couples departed in separate vehicles to Washington.
This is the first time since 1962 that a US president has personally welcomed a foreign leader at the base, signalling the importance that Trump is giving this visit.
In 1962, then-President John F Kennedy greeted British PM Harold Macmillan.
Also on Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US and China will extend their trade truce to January. The agreement, which saw Trump lower tariff rates on some goods in exchange for Xi loosening restrictions on rare earth minerals, was set to expire 10 November.
Bessent, who spoke after meeting Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng, said the two discussed if there can eventually be a more substantive trade deal between the two countries.
In a written statement published by China's state news agency Xinhua, Xi said both China and the US are "great nations, and their people are great people".
"The two countries should be partners rather than rivals," he said.
Melania Trump has said she has been involved intimately with the planning of the itinerary. She told Fox News that Trump made the decision to personally greet Xi himself at the airport "because they have a great relationship".
Xi is accompanied on the visit by Cai Qi, a member of the party's Politburo Standing Committee who's widely seen as his right-hand man, Vice Premier He Lifeng, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as well as other delegates and ambassadors from Beijing.
"Realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can fully coexist, reinforce each other and benefit the world," Xi said in the statement carried by Xinhua, where he also expressed confidence that the visit would "yield fruitful results".
It is unclear if Xi has brought any business executives with him. Bringing Chinese firms to the US may also raise questions about Beijing's business practices, subsidies and overcapacity, all of which may draw more fire and questions than Xi or his party would like.
During Trump's visit to Beijing in May, he was accompanied by a group of tech executives from some of the largest US firms, including Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla's Elon Musk and Nvidia's Jensen Huang.
Leaders of US AI companies are slated to attend the lavish state dinner set for Thursday. Xi's visit will end on Friday.
Trump has dismissed recent warnings about the potential dangers of AI from within the industry as a "hoax" and both countries are racing to try to achieve dominance in the sector.
Trump will aim to achieve other deals around trade and tariffs – like lowering Chinese tariffs on American products, increasing imports of Chinese rare earth minerals, and increasing exports of US agricultural products, according to David Firestein of the Bush China Foundation.
But China appears to have reneged on promises to buy more American agricultural products and to sell more rare earth minerals to the US.
Firestein expects Xi to encourage Trump to further stall - or kill - a congressionally approved $14bn (£10.5bn) arms sale to Taiwan and deepen US-China trade integration.
These are the same US-China issues for the ages, he said, but, this time, "there seems to be a greater degree of, let's say, stability within the relationship, or less volatility relative to where we were last year".
Xi's visit comes at a time when American attitudes towards China appear to be warming.
A recent poll by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs indicated that 41% of Americans see China's territorial ambitions as a threat to the US. That number is down from 52% in 2022.
More than half of Americans - 57% - believe the US should co-operate and engage with Beijing. Notably, that statistic cuts across the American political spectrum.
Of Republicans who do not identify as Maga, 57% favoured co-operation, as did most Democrats, both moderate and liberal.
However, most of Trump's loyal base - 63% - favoured limiting US relations with China.
Aside from the arrival ceremonies at the White House, First Lady Melania Trump has also planned a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art to show her Chinese counterpart the cultural connections between the two countries.
The landmark visit will end on a historical note at the National Archives building where the couples will view important records including those of "significance to the American and Chinese relationship", the White House has said.
With additional reporting from Brandon Drenon
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China Has Been Sending Components For Drones And Missiles To Iran During The War With The U.S.: Report
Beijing sent dual-use technology, which can be used in both drones and missile guidance systems.
China has sent about 1,300 air shipments with parts that can be used for drones and missiles over the course of the year, which has been largely marked by the country's war with the U.S., according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal detailed that one shipment arrived in the country on June 17 and contained "dual-use" technology for the two weapons. Other ones include GPS devices, electric motors and aircraft engine parts.
The report went on to detail that cargo flights from China to Iran have surged over the past months, helping Tehran get key equipment to maintain hostilities as Washington maintains its blockade of the country's ports.
Mahan Air, an Iranian airline sanctioned by the U.S., increased flights to China after the war began and was operating over two dozen ones by late April.
Washington and Tehran continue exchange in the meantime, even as officials from both countries also met in the U.S. on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian challenged the U.S. during his address to the UNGA, saying the country "seeks no one's permission to defend itself."
During his address, Pezeshkian also claimed the country is not looking to obtain nuclear weapons and framed the country's actions during the war as defensive.
"We only seek to live independently," the president claimed. "We need strength to be able to defend ourselves" and "don't seek anyone's permission to defend our country."
Earlier, Iran said President Donald Trump's most recent threats against the country if a deal to end the war is not reached soon are a sign of "strategic desperation."
Iran's General Staff said that "such words demonstrate America's strategic dead end in its aggression against the Iranian nation, and the repetition of baseless claims and threats, given the exhaustion of the U.S. military, is not a sign of power but a sign of their strategic desperation."
In a statement published in the country's semi-official news agency Merh, the force added that the threats are also a tool for domestic propaganda rather than something based on realities on the ground.
Trump said on Tuesday that U.S. and Iran officials met for three hours to discuss whether it is possible to end hostilities. Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner represented the Trump administration, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led the Tehran delegation.
Secretary of State of State Marco Rubio also claimed that discussions were positive, but were not a major breakthrough, adding that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is an impediment to any deal.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, on his end, said the meeting focused on Iran's terms to revive diplomacy. They include an end to the U.S. blockade, all wars in the region and the release of frozen or restricted assets, as well as its control of the Strait of Hormuz.
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