President Donald Trump had nothing but effusive praise for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening of a major two-day summit.
Trump’s visit to China marks the first such visit by a sitting U.S. president since his last visit to China in 2017, and the first meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart since their meeting at the APEC summit in Busan, South Korea, in October.
Trump was greeted by Xi in Beijing with a welcome ceremony complete with a red carpet, a cannon salute, an honor guard, and children waving flags. The two leaders then posed for photos outside the Great Hall of the People before heading inside to begin talks.
Once the delegations had moved inside, President Xi delivered opening remarks, followed by a response from Trump. Xi welcomed Trump back to China after nine years, telling him, “The whole world is watching our meeting.”
“The world has come to a new crossroads. Can China and the United States overcome the Thucydides Trap?” he added, referencing the theory that war is inevitable when a rising power threatens to eclipse an established power. “Can we meet global challenges together and provide more stability for the world?”
Trump responded to Xi’s remarks with glowing praise, thanking him for the warm welcome and complimenting the ceremony, particularly the children, who he said were “happy and beautiful.”
“Those children were amazing, and they represent so much.”
He continued by praising Xi himself, describing his relationship with the Chinese leader as “the longest relationship of our two countries that any president and president has had” which he added was “an honor.”
“We’ve had a fantastic relationship, we’ve gotten along, when there were difficulties, we worked it out,” he continued. “I would call you, and you would call me, and whenever we had a problem, people don’t know, whenever we had a problem, we worked that out very quickly.”
“We’re going to have a fantastic future together. I have such respect for China, and the job you’ve done—you’re a great leader, I say it to everybody, you’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway because it’s true. I only say the truth,” the 79-year-old said.
Trump also acknowledged the delegation he was traveling with, which included CEOs like Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, as well as senior Trump officials like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, State Secretary Marco Rubio and Trade Secretary Scott Bessent.
“I just want to say on behalf of the great delegation that we have, we have the greatest businessmen, the biggest... I guess, the best in the world, we have amazing people, and they’re all with me,” Trump told Xi.
“Every single one of them. We asked the top 30 in the world, every single one of them said yes. I didn’t want the second or the third in the company, I wanted only the top, and they’re here today to pay respects to you and to China,” he added.
The summit between the two leaders is expected to last for two days and will include talks, a banquet, and a visit to the Temple of Heaven.
It is expected that a key focus of the summit will be trade, particularly in light of Trump’s controversial tariff policies, which triggered a trade war between the U.S. and China last year.
Technology is also expected to be discussed, given the presence of major Silicon Valley players like Musk, Cook and Huang. CNN reported that as the CEOs were leaving the Great Hall of the People, they said the morning had been productive so far.
Asked by reporters how the meetings had gone, Musk said, “Wonderful,” adding that “many good things” had been achieved. “Meetings went well,” Huang, who was invited on the trip at the last minute, said. “Mr. Xi and President Trump were incredible,” he added.
The delegations will also discuss geopolitical issues such as Taiwan and Iran, with Trump telling reporters on Tuesday that he planned to have a “long talk” with Xi about Iran.
He noted that Iran was not likely to be a focus of their talks, however, “because we have Iran very much under control.”
Pool reports indicate that the talks lasted for 2 hours and 15 minutes before the leaders traveled to the Temple of Heaven. The Associated Press reported that Xi warned Trump that differences over Taiwan could bring their countries to clashes or conflict during the morning’s talks.
Before leaving for Beijing, Trump described Xi as a “friend” and “somebody we get along with,” telling reporters, “I think you’re going to see that good things are going to happen.”
He also boasted on Truth Social that President Xi would give him a “big, fat hug” for permanently opening the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday, Xi greeted Trump with a firm, 15-second handshake instead.
