President Donald Trump personally welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington for a three-day state visit featuring extensive military ceremony and a White House state dinner even as the two governments remain divided over trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, Iran and human rights.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
President Donald Trump personally greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, beginning a three-day state visit marked by unusually elaborate ceremony despite continuing disputes between Washington and Beijing over trade, technology, Taiwan and China’s relationship with Iran.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump met Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on the tarmac, an uncommon gesture for a U.S. president and one intended in part to reciprocate the formal reception Trump received during his May visit to Beijing. Xi’s visit is his first state visit to Washington in more than a decade.
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Melania Trump said Wednesday that her husband decided to meet Xi personally because “they have a great relationship.”
“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said during an interview with Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends.”
The welcoming ceremonies are scheduled to expand Thursday at the White House, where Xi and Peng will participate in a formal state arrival involving 479 U.S. military personnel representing every branch of the armed forces.
According to the White House, the ceremony will include U.S. and Chinese flags, military bands and drill units, a Rose Garden military review and a flyover by a B-2 Spirit bomber accompanied by four F-22 Raptors. Trump and Xi are scheduled to deliver remarks before beginning their formal discussions.
A state dinner in the East Room is planned for Thursday evening, followed Friday by tea at the White House and a joint visit by the two couples to the National Archives before Xi’s departure.
The display of diplomatic hospitality contrasts with the substantial policy disagreements confronting the world’s two largest economies.
Trade is expected to be near the top of the agenda as Washington and Beijing approach the Nov. 10 expiration of a tariff truce negotiated last year. U.S. and Chinese officials have also been discussing rare earth supplies, tariffs, artificial intelligence and restrictions involving advanced technology.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said the administration is open to extending the trade arrangement or pursuing broader economic agreements. China, meanwhile, remains a dominant supplier of rare earth minerals and magnets used in electronics, automobiles and defense technologies, making access to those materials an important point in negotiations.
Artificial intelligence has emerged as another major area of competition. American officials are seeking to maintain U.S. advantages in advanced semiconductors and AI technology while the two governments explore whether they can establish channels for discussing AI risks and safety.
Taiwan is expected to present one of the most difficult subjects.
Beijing considers democratically governed Taiwan part of China and has repeatedly opposed U.S. military and political support for the island. The government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim, and the United States maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan while providing defensive weapons under longstanding U.S. policy and the Taiwan Relations Act.
Xi is expected to press Trump over American arms sales, with Beijing pointing to the 1982 U.S.-China communiqué addressing weapons transfers to Taiwan. Washington has maintained that subsequent U.S. policy and law tie changes in arms sales to the security situation surrounding the island.
China previously warned that mishandling Taiwan could lead to “clashes and even conflicts.”
The Trump administration announced an $11.1 billion package of proposed arms sales to Taiwan in December 2025, the largest such U.S. package announced for the island. The eight proposed sales included HIMARS rocket systems, howitzers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, drones and other equipment.
China responded later that month by imposing sanctions on 20 U.S. defense-related companies and 10 executives, including Anduril Industries founder Palmer Luckey. The measures included asset freezes and restrictions on business dealings in China.
Luckey mocked the sanctions and the prospect of China seizing his “non-existent Chinese assets.”
The Taiwan dispute remains unresolved ahead of Thursday’s summit, and Reuters reported this week that Xi is expected to urge Trump to restrict or halt additional weapons sales.
China’s dealings with Iran are also likely to surface.
The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have criticized Beijing’s economic relationship with Tehran, including Chinese purchases of Iranian oil and allegations involving Chinese entities and intelligence assistance.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., raised those concerns in a Senate floor speech Tuesday while criticizing the decision to provide Xi with such an elaborate state visit.
“Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party,” Wicker said.
Wicker urged Trump to confront Xi about China’s military expansion, religious persecution and ties with Iran.
“The president might inquire about the purposes of China’s massive military build-up, or about China’s clear support for Iran,” Wicker said.
“This summer, it was all over the press that China gave Iran satellite imagery intelligence, and that intelligence led to the death of American troops.”
That assertion concerned reporting that Chinese entities supplied satellite imagery before an Iranian attack on a U.S. base. The reporting did not establish that the Chinese government itself provided the imagery, and Beijing rejected what it called unsupported accusations. Trump publicly downplayed the report when questioned about it earlier this month.
Wicker also used his Senate speech to criticize Xi personally.
“I know the president intends to discuss trade and artificial intelligence with the Chinese leadership—and rightfully so. Perhaps some progress will be made. But, Mr. President, during every minute of dialogue, our commander-in-chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America.”
Wicker’s descriptions reflected his assessment of Xi and the Chinese government.
Other lawmakers have urged Trump to raise human rights issues and cases involving Americans detained in China, along with Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai and other political prisoners.
A senior U.S. official said ahead of the visit that Trump was expected to discuss detention and human rights cases with Xi, as he has during previous meetings.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision to host Xi despite the disagreements and criticism surrounding the ceremony.
“The idea that we would not interact with them at the highest levels is irresponsible. It’s outrageous. We have to,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t have strong disagreements. Of course we do. But even at the height of the Cold War, even in the midst of the threat of nuclear annihilation and life ending on the Earth, the United States had communications and meetings often with Russian officials,” he said.
Rubio described the United States and China as the world’s two largest economies and among its most powerful militaries, arguing that maintaining direct communication at the leadership level is necessary even when the governments disagree.
Trump has similarly emphasized his personal relationship with Xi. During his May trip to China, he called Xi a “great leader” while arguing that their relationship helps the two countries work through disputes.
Another economic concern likely to arise is China’s industrial production capacity and its effect on international markets.
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said China’s ability to produce far more goods than its domestic economy consumes is creating pressure on manufacturers elsewhere.
“I think he knows he has a massive capacity problem, and he needs to figure out a way to cut his domestic capacity,” Moreno said.
“In America, we make about 10 million cars. China makes almost 38 million, and their domestic market is going down 25 percent. So you can imagine, the amount of excess capacity is absurd. So he’s got to come to a reckoning.”
The issue is part of a broader U.S. concern that Chinese industrial subsidies and production capacity can result in large quantities of inexpensive exports reaching foreign markets, creating competition for domestic manufacturers.
The state visit therefore combines unusually warm personal diplomacy with unresolved strategic disputes.
Trump is giving Xi one of the administration’s most elaborate welcomes — personally greeting him at the airport, deploying hundreds of service members for Thursday’s state arrival and hosting a formal dinner — while his administration continues negotiating with Beijing over tariffs, rare earths and AI and maintaining major disagreements over Taiwan and Iran.
The central purpose of the summit, according to administration officials, is to keep direct communication open between Washington and Beijing while seeking agreements where possible without suggesting that the broader competition between the two countries has ended.
As Rubio put it, high-level talks do not mean the United States and China no longer have “strong disagreements.” Thursday’s meeting will put those disagreements directly before Trump and Xi against the backdrop of one of the most elaborate diplomatic receptions Washington has offered a foreign leader in recent years.
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