Trump Greets Xi on Tarmac, Extends Trade Truce to January — SkimNews
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- Trump took the unusual step of greeting Xi Jinping on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening, rather than welcoming him at the White House as is customary, traveling to the Maryland military base with First Lady Melania Trump.
- Xi's arrival featured a 100-foot red carpet flanked by US service members, a flyover by two B-1 bombers, and a presentation of both nations' flags and national anthems — pageantry reciprocating Trump's earlier visit to China.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US and China agreed to extend the "Busan agreement" trade truce until January 10, two months past its scheduled expiry, after meeting Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng earlier on Wednesday.
- Thursday's White House state dinner for Xi will host major tech executives from OpenAI, Apple, xAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Meta, formally placing the AI competition on the bilateral agenda alongside trade.
- Trump visibly winced at the sound of a military jet during the flyover while Xi remained impassive — a moment widely mocked online that was captured on the White House livestream but excluded from edited highlights released by Trump's aides.
- Trump dismissed AI safety concerns on Truth Social, writing "There is a SICK conspiracy going on against AI and Data Centers" and insisting "WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS" as the US leads China in the technology race.
Why it matters: The two-month extension of the Busan agreement pushes the US-China tariff standoff past the holiday season and into early 2026, while the deliberate inclusion of top US AI executives at Thursday's state dinner elevates AI dominance from tech-industry concern to formal bilateral agenda item — a signal that the next phase of US-China competition will be negotiated at the presidential table, not just in trade ministries.
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