{"id":225361,"date":"2026-09-24T14:46:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-xi-summit-is-set-to-be-high-in-pageantry-and-low-in-substance-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:46:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T14:46:23","slug":"trump-xi-summit-is-set-to-be-high-in-pageantry-and-low-in-substance-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-xi-summit-is-set-to-be-high-in-pageantry-and-low-in-substance-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump-Xi summit is set to be high in pageantry and low in substance – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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HONG KONG \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s strong rapport with Xi Jinping<\/a> is set to <\/strong>be on display in Washington this week as the Chinese leader makes his first U.S. state visit in more than a decade. But below the surface-level pageantry at the White House, little is likely to be resolved as the world\u2019s two biggest economies continue to spar over trade, Taiwan<\/a>, AI and more.
Since a trade war shook <\/strong>the global economy last year, U.S.-China relations have been at an effective standstill, experts say, buying both sides time to reinforce their strengths and address their vulnerabilities.
Trump, who usually meets with foreign leaders at the White House, was at the tarmac to greet Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, when they arrived at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, outside Washington on Wednesday.
Trump will be greeting Xi in a weaker position than when they last met four months ago, said Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, <\/strong>as he faces mounting inflation<\/a>, falling approval ratings<\/a>, an unpopular war with Iran<\/a> and a potentially disastrous midterm election result<\/a> for his Republican Party.
The main issue for Thursday\u2019s summit \u2014 whether to extend a fragile trade truce that Trump and Xi agreed to last fall \u2014 was resolved before the two leaders had an official meeting.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on Fox News Wednesday that the U.S. and China have agreed to extend the bilateral trade truce<\/a> that was set to expire in November through Jan. 10.
The announcement came after Bessent and China\u2019s vice premier, He Lifeng, held an unscheduled meeting in Washington.
Another key issue is artificial intelligence, which is increasingly at the center of U.S.-China competition. Warnings from American AI leaders that the technology could pose an existential threat<\/a> have raised fears about the ability of the world\u2019s two leading AI powers to work together to contain its potential dangers<\/a>.
Bessent said Sunday after preparatory talks with Chinese officials that the U.S. had proposed exchanging safety alerts<\/a> with China for AI-related incidents that could affect national security. But experts say it\u2019s unlikely that this week\u2019s summit will produce any major security agreement on AI.
That leaves the focus on the White House state visit itself, Xi\u2019s first since 2015.
Trump, who has referred to the U.S. and China as the \u201cG2,\u201d<\/a> often touts his personal relationship with his \u201cgood friend\u201d Xi, and the two leaders appeared warm and friendly<\/a> at their last meeting in Beijing in May.
\u201cIt was quite astounding to see the chemistry between those two. And it\u2019ll be even more astounding when Xi comes to the White House,\u201d said Orville Schell, the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, a global nonprofit based in New York.
Trump welcomes Xi at Joint Base Andrews
As he meets with Xi this week, Trump wants \u201cthe ability to declare victory, regardless of the substance,\u201d Carlson said.
That has raised concerns about what Trump might offer Xi in exchange for a perceived win, particularly when it comes to the Beijing-claimed island of Taiwan. Trump has described a pending $14 billion U.S. arms package<\/a> for Taiwan as a potential \u201cnegotiating chip\u201d with Xi, who has ramped up military pressure on the self-ruling island democracy.
Ideally, China would like the U.S. to end Taiwan arms sales and express clear opposition to Taiwan independence. But \u201cwe\u2019re realistic,\u201d said Zhao Hai, vice president of the Chinese Institute of Hong Kong, a think tank that serves as a branch of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a Chinese government research institution.
\u201cSo far, the outcome has been quite good for China, which is the pause on U.S. export of military equipment,\u201d he said. \u201cIf we can extend that pause and even cancel some of the more offensive weaponry, that would be better.\u201d
Writing Wednesday in the Chinese Communist Party\u2019s official People\u2019s Daily newspaper, China\u2019s ambassador to the U.S., Xie Feng, said Taiwan was one of China\u2019s \u201cred lines\u201d in any discussions with the U.S., along with human rights.
A senior administration official told NBC News that Trump will make a determination about a new Taiwan arms package \u201cin a fairly short time.\u201d
The official also noted that Trump approved $11.1 billion in arms sales<\/a> to Taiwan in December, the largest arms package Taiwan has received.
Trump approved more arms sales to Taiwan during his first term than any other president in history, the official said.
Trump\u2019s comments on Taiwan have unnerved key U.S. allies in Asia who depend on Washington for security in the face of growing Chinese aggression. In a joint statement<\/a> Monday, the U.S. reiterated its commitment to the defense of South Korea<\/a> and Japan, and the three countries expressed support for Taiwan.
Xi has his own domestic problems<\/a>, especially an economy weighed down by slowing growth, a property crisis and sluggish consumer spending. But on the international stage, Carlson said, he \u201cdoesn\u2019t have to do anything to be in a stronger position because the American position keeps on eroding\u201d as Trump alienates long-standing allies<\/a>.
In the weeks leading up to his U.S. visit, Xi has had his busiest foreign travel schedule since before the pandemic, shoring up ties with countries from Kyrgyzstan<\/a> to Egypt<\/a> to India<\/a>. His flurry of diplomacy comes as he <\/strong>tries to portray China as a more stabilizing global influence than the U.S., whose war against Iran has caused an international energy crisis<\/a>.
The Iran war, now in its seventh month, has significantly depleted U.S. munitions<\/a> \u2014 underscoring Washington\u2019s dependence on Beijing, which has a near-monopoly on the rare-earth and critical minerals<\/a> that are crucial for replenishing U.S. weapons stockpiles<\/a> and is using it as leverage.
\u201cThe United States doesn\u2019t hold all the cards \u2014 in fact, maybe not even the preponderance of the cards,\u201d Schell told NBC News last month.
Schell, who was in Beijing for the May summit<\/a>, said Trump, who campaigned on aggressive levies against China, has gone \u201cfrom bullying mode into pander mode.\u201d That reflects the \u201cpower shift\u201d that has occurred between Beijing and Washington since Trump\u2019s first term in office, he said.
\u201cChina has chokeholds now,\u201d Schell said, citing rare earth minerals, electric vehicle technology and other strategic areas that Beijing dominates. \u201cAnd I think Trump recognized that.\u201d
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told NBC News that the Iran war had not significantly depleted U.S. munitions.
\u201cThe United States Military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and stockpiles to serve all of the Commander-in-Chief\u2019s strategic goals and beyond,\u201d she wrote in an email message.
Trump\u2019s openness to diplomacy with Beijing is increasingly reflected in American public opinion. According to poll results<\/a> released Monday by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, more than half of Americans support cooperation and engagement with China, including 4 in 10 Republicans.
There remains strong unease, however, around Chinese investment in the U.S., particularly Trump\u2019s suggestion that he would not oppose Chinese automakers\u2019 building cars<\/a> in the country. On Monday, more than two dozen Democratic lawmakers urged Trump to maintain an effective ban<\/a> on Chinese automakers in the U.S. market, which their American rivals are pushing to make official.
It\u2019s unclear whether Xi will be accompanied by business leaders as Trump was when he went to Beijing. On the U.S. side, Nvidia\u2019s Jensen Huang <\/a>and Apple\u2019s Tim Cook, both of whom were in Beijing, are among the executives expected to attend<\/a> a state dinner for Xi on Thursday.
Chinese companies are strongly interested in U.S. investment, Zhao said, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Monday that China was making progress on its May pledge to buy 200 Boeing jets, the American plane maker\u2019s first major Chinese deal in almost a decade. But little progress has been made on the board of trade and board of investment that Trump and Xi agreed to establish in May.
\u201cIt\u2019s very unpredictable for Chinese investment at this point,\u201d Zhao said. \u201cSo without a political guarantee, I don\u2019t see there\u2019s any potential of large-scale investment.\u201d
Experts say Trump and Xi may feel less pressure to make major commitments at this week\u2019s summit because they are set to meet two more times this year: once in November when China hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and again in December when the U.S. hosts the Group of 20 summit.
\u201cI think best-case scenario is it\u2019s a blip,\u201d Carlson said, \u201cand we move on, and the broader sort of issues that both countries are confronting continue to unfold.\u201d
Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong and Janis Mackey Frayer from Beijing.<\/em>
Jennifer Jett is the Asia Digital Editor for NBC News, based in Hong Kong.
Janis Mackey Frayer is a Beijing-based correspondent for NBC News.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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