Trump-Xi state visit: pageantry, pandas, and a trade truce

President Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit this week, the first since 2015, marked by pageantry and a two-month extension of a trade truce on rare earth elements and semiconductor chips. The meetings produced no details on trade and investment boards, Boeing purchases, or agricultural deals, with both leaders offering cordial remarks. Xi emphasized geopolitics and invoked the "Thucydides trap," while Trump highlighted his personal relationship and planned to attend summits in China and Miami. Significant differences remain, including Taiwan and AI regulation, though discussions opened a possible cooperative path on AI incident alerts. Critics questioned the red-carpet treatment, while others said the pageantry creates stabilizing breathing space in the tense relationship.