China’s Xi set to arrive in Washington for high-stakes Trump summit as AI supremacy battle looms large

China's President Xi Jinping is set to arrive on U.S. soil later Wednesday for what is expected to be a tense showdown between President Donald Trump and the communist leader.

A red carpet rollout is planned for when Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, arrive at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday evening, replete with an arrival ceremony for the man who has found himself at odds with Trump on issues ranging from artificial intelligence and intellectual property theft, trade practices, rare-earth minerals to the communist county's support for Iran during America's military conflict there. Xi hasn't visited the nation's capital in more than a decade.

AI will be a major topic of discussion during the two-day summit, which officially begins Thursday morning and ends Friday evening, according to a senior administration official. Thursday will begin with a prestigious State Arrival Ceremony, including 479 military personnel from all branches on the South Lawn, State Floor and Rose Garden of the White House.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping while leaving after a visit to the Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing, China, on Friday, May 15, 2026. (Evan Vucci/AP)

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According to the official, a wide-ranging deal on possible tariff reductions on non-strategic goods is an expected topic of discussion, who also said the nation's leaders will discuss rare-earth exports and possible export controls. Trump is also expected to press China to do more to curb fentanyl precursor chemical exports.

Trump is also likely to press for the release of an American who has been wrongfully detained in China, Gulshan Abbas, who has languished in a Chinese prison for eight years. The country accused her of "participating in a terrorist organization" after her sister spoke out about China's genocide of Uyghurs, according to Forbes. House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans have expressed confidence that Trump will push for her release.

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President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing the White House for a trip to Beijing, to meet with China's President Xi Jinping, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

First Lady Melania Trump is expected to accompany Peng to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, "to explore works spanning centuries of artistic achievement and Sino-American cultural exchange."

The day will end with an elaborate state dinner with high-profile guests, including many from the tech world.

Those guests will include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, SpaceX founder and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Apple board of directors Chairman Tim Cook.

Trump boasted about American AI supremacy over China during an address to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Tuesday, using his newly-minted term for the technology, "superintelligence."

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The Trump administration’s Gold Eagle program uses artificial intelligence to help uncover software flaws and coordinate security patches. (iStock; Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)

"Every major new technology brings challenges, and superintelligence is no exception," said Trump. "Whoever wins superintelligence wins. That's the group that wins. And we're leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. And we're going to keep it that way."

Trump traveled to Beijing in May where he met with Xi, and the two sides agreed to a "constructive" trade truce, pausing a tit-for-tat tariff battle, but only for non-strategic goods. That deal has tentatively held, but during that visit, China also agreed to purchase billions more in American agricultural products like soybeans, and 200 Boeing aircraft. Boeing confirmed the order.

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The 47th president said at the time that he struck "fantastic trade deals" that were "great for both countries."