White House to roll out the red carpet for historic Xi Jinping visit

US President Donald Trump will host Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week in Washington, with everything from AI to trade and Taiwan on the agenda for the leaders of the global superpowers. Xi is expected to be greeted personally by Trump at Andrews Air Force Base on Wednesday, followed by a White House welcoming ceremony on Thursday featuring a military flyover and nearly 500 military personnel. The trip marks Xi’s first state visit to the US in just under a decade and his third meeting with Trump since the US president began his second term in office. Adding to the high-stakes state visit, a US-China trade agreement reached last year is set to expire in November. The trade truce – reached in October 2025 as Trump and Xi met in South Korea – saw Washington suspend steep tariff increases on Chinese goods while Beijing eased back from restricting rare earth exports critical for manufacturing.

Experts said they will be watching for some sort of announcement around an extension of this agreement during the upcoming state visit. Xi’s trip to Washington, which ends on Friday, will have plenty of pomp and pageantry, and includes lavish dinners, private tours and performances. David Sacks, a fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, described the planned extravagant welcome by Trump as “really unprecedented”. “From meeting Xi Jinping at Andrews Air Force Base to having a flyover for Xi as well, this is not something afforded to any US ally,” Sacks said, “much less an adversary like China. “It’s quite, quite stunning,” he continued. Trump is expected to address several issues as he meets Xi, particularly on tariffs and trade. The US president has long criticised his country’s trade deficit with China, which stands at more than $91bn (£68. 2bn), according to the…