Donald Trump welcomes Xi Jinping to White House for state dinner amid tech and trade talks

U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed China's leader Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday for a grand state dinner. The event followed a full day of military pageantry that masked deep underlying tensions between the two economic power superpowers. Major U.S. technology leaders attended the banquet, including Elon Musk of Tesla, Tim Cook of Apple, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, and Sam Altman of OpenAI. Their presence highlighted that trade and artificial intelligence were major topics during the visit. Outside the building, protesters gathered to chant slogans against the Chinese leader and to demand freedom for Hong Kong. Earlier, Mr. Trump stated that he and his guest had made big progress while showing off a military parade, a jet flyover, and a new White House helipad. During dinner, Mr. Trump told the visitor that even though their political systems differ, ties between their citizens remain strong. Mr. Xi adopted a more cautious tone, asking both nations to live together in peace while setting firm limits on artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and the ongoing conflict in Iran. As a present, Mr. Trump gave his guest a custom statue of a bald eagle. The menu featured yellow squash soup, sea bass with sesame crust, and vanilla ice cream with honey from the White House. After the meal, the host invited guests to tour his new $400 million ballroom construction site. Despite the high-profile gathering, expectations for major diplomatic deals were low. The two sides only managed a two-month extension of their trade truce, falling short of the two-year pause Beijing wanted. During their formal meetings, the leaders dodged shouted questions from reporters regarding Iran, Taiwan, drug trafficking, and jailed media figure Jimmy Lai. Before the visit concludes on Friday, the two leaders are scheduled to visit the U.S. National Archives.