Five takeaways from Trump and Xi's high-stakes White House summit
US President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House on Thursday for talks on trade, artificial intelligence, and strategic rivalry, yielding a short two-month extension of the trade truce but no durable agreement. The extension, announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, postpones central issues like tariffs, Chinese purchases, rare-earth supplies, and technology restrictions to further negotiations. Beijing is meeting soybean commitments but lagging on other agricultural goods and rare-earth deliveries, leaving companies facing continued policy instability. Xi pressed Trump on Taiwan, urging "prudence" and opposition to independence, while invoking the "Thucydides Trap" to warn of conflict risks and call for military dialogue. The leaders diverged on AI, with Trump favoring no new guardrails and Xi advocating for managed development under human control.