The first course was yellow squash, wild mushrooms and crispy pancetta, served on red tablecloths because red signals luck in China. Between the sesame-crusted sea bass and the vanilla crémeux, two presidents said warm things to each other and left almost every hard question alone.
Donald Trump toasted a future of “harmony, peace and success” for both nations at the White House state dinner on Thursday, Xi Jinping’s first visit to the United States in over a decade. Though the two countries had “different systems,” Trump said, they had “never gotten along better.” Xi called it a “historic juncture” and said the leaders’ ambitions could “surely be mutually reinforcing.” He added that both countries must act “as responsible major countries,” and that AI should stay “under human control.” That last point was nearly the only substance on offer.
Taiwan, earlier in the day
Hours before, in a closed-door meeting, Xi had urged Trump to take the “correct position” on Taiwan, according to Chinese state media, and advised Washington to handle the island “with prudence.” Washington had not commented publicly. Trump has paused a $14 billion arms package for Taiwan since Xi warned in May that mishandling the issue could cause the two countries to “collide or even enter into conflict.” Trump called the delay a “very good negotiating chip.”
China believes the US is trying to contain its rise and wants Washington out of its way on trade, technology and Taiwan. Trump was expected to seek deals on tariffs, rare earth imports and US farm exports. Xi said the two had held “in-depth exchanges and reached common understanding on many issues,” but named none.
Who was in the room
Tim Cook and Jensen Huang sat at the same table as the two leaders, along with Elon Musk. Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Yass, a billionaire with a stake in TikTok, were also there, as were executives from General Motors, Visa, Paramount Skydance and ExxonMobil. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, chief of staff Monica Crowley and Jared Kushner attended. “Everybody wanted to be there,” Trump said beforehand. One absence stood out: Anthropic. The BBC asked whether it was invited or declined.
Outside the gates, protesters shouted as guests arrived, and some were arrested. Inside, Trump gave Xi a bald eagle sculpture that Melania Trump helped design, saying it embodied “the free and soaring spirit of America.”
On Friday morning Xi said he and Trump were “charting the course for the great shift of China-US relations.” He confirmed two more meetings this year, at the Apec leaders’ meeting in Shenzhen in November and the G20 in Florida, also in November.
