Trump hosts Xi for high-stakes talks on AI, trade, and geopolitics
President Trump is hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a state visit in Washington, beginning Thursday with high-stakes meetings covering artificial intelligence, rare earths, trade, and geopolitics like Iran and Taiwan. Trump personally welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday with a ceremony featuring 479 military personnel and a flyover, and plans a state dinner with U.S. executives including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai, and Jensen Huang. The leaders will discuss AI safety warnings, while China dismissed a U.S. proposal to slow AI development as unfair. The visit occurs amid a U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports affecting China's oil imports, with Trump potentially seeking Xi's help in peace talks. Trade talks continue after a truce extension to January, though both nations still impose tariffs averaging over 30% on each other's goods.