Trump greets Xi on tarmac as US-China trade truce extended — SkimNews
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- Donald Trump greeted Xi Jinping on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, joined by Melania Trump — an unusual move, since US presidents typically receive foreign leaders at the White House.
- The arrival ceremony featured a 100-foot red carpet and a flyover by two B-1 bombers, and Trump visibly recoiled at the jet noise while Xi remained impassive — a moment widely mocked online and cut from the White House's edited highlights.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced on Fox News that the US and China agreed to extend the Busan trade truce until January 10, two months past its scheduled expiration.
- The White House invited tech executives from OpenAI, Apple, xAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Meta to a state dinner for Xi on Thursday, with AI competition between the two powers a stated agenda item.
- Xi Jinping skipped the UN General Assembly in New York, having attended the meeting only once since becoming president in 2012 — a choice that, per the International Crisis Group's Richard Gowan, implicitly raises the question of where global decision-making power now sits.
- Thursday's events include a formal South Lawn welcome, private tea with the Trumps, and a National Archives tour, reciprocating the treatment Trump received during his earlier visit to China.
Why it matters: The extension gives the US and China two more months of trade stability — but tariffs, AI competition, and geopolitical tensions remain unresolved, per the article. Bessent confirmed the Busan agreement extension on Fox News, while Trump's pageantry, from the tarmac greeting to inviting OpenAI, Nvidia, and Meta executives to the state dinner, puts AI rivalry at the center of the bilateral agenda.
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