Trump pageantry for Xi will mask feud over U.S.-China AI race

Members of a U.S. Military Honor Guard gather near the White House during rehearsals before a visit by President of China Xi Jinping in Washington on Sept. 19. | BLOOMBERG

Bloomberg

Sep 23, 2026

Donald Trump welcomes Xi Jinping to Washington for a state visit focused more on pageantry than policy, looking beyond long-standing feuds between the world’s biggest economies.

Xi and his wife, former military singer Peng Liyuan, will be greeted by Trump on Wednesday evening, marking the first time in recent memory that a U.S. president has received his Chinese counterpart on an American airport tarmac. Meetings spanning thorny issues including trade and Taiwan will follow, along with a state dinner — the second of Trump’s current term — before farewells on Friday.

The trip is Xi’s first to the U.S. capital since 2015. Both sides have lowered expectations for either breakthroughs or bust-ups. Preliminary bilateral talks in New York on Sunday were hailed as positive, but failed to reach an agreement on extending a tariff truce expiring in November.

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