U.S. President Donald Trump has wrapped up his visit to Beijing after a crucial series of meetings with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the Iran war, trade, technology and Taiwan. The presidents claimed important progress in stabilizing U.S.-China relations even as deep differences persist between the two biggest world powers.
Taiwan remained the most important issue for China in the talks. Xi privately warned Trump that differences over the self-governed
island, which Beijing claims as its own territory, could bring the U.S. and China into clashes or conflict.
Trump told reporters that he had not yet made a determination on whether a major U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan can move forward.
On Iran, Trump said Xi told him that China wants to help negotiate an end to the war and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has previously expressed hope that China would use its leverage as Iran’s biggest trading partner to prod Tehran into a deal on U.S. terms. Trump also said Xi assured him that China wouldn’t provide Iran with military equipment.
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The Justice Department has announced a surge of law enforcement in the nation’s capital this summer timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence.
Officials made the announcement at a news conference at the Justice Department headquarters on Friday, saying there would be extra personnel on city streets and additional resources such as drones.
“It’s an embarrassment to our country what we just did to Poland,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said during Friday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing.
“They called me yesterday. They did not know. They were blindsided. These are some of our best allies, and they had no idea,” Bacon said. “They still don’t know what the plan is.”
Bacon said the committee needs to hold Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accountable for the decision.
“It’s wrong,” Bacon said.
Speaking Friday during the House Armed Services Committee hearing, Republican Rep. Austin Scott of Georgia noted how advanced elements of an Army brigade were already overseas and equipment was in transit.
Scott pressed Army leaders on when the cancellation was made. Army Secretery Dan Driscoll and Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s chief of staff, said discussions occurred over the last two weeks while the decision was made in the last couple days.
Scott questioned the truth behind a Pentagon statement that it was not a last-minute, unexpected decision. Driscoll said the decision was not unusual because discussions over troop deployments are happening throughout the year.
“These are major decisions that appear to many of the members of this committee to be last-minute decisions,” Scott said.
Elias Rodriguez faces federal hate crime and murder charges in the killings of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim as they left an event at a Jewish museum last May, prosecutors said in a court filing Friday.
Rodriguez shouted “Free Palestine” during the shooting and later told police, “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza.”
The charges against Rodriguez include a hate crime resulting in death. His indictment also includes notice of special findings, which allows prosecutors to pursue the death penalty.
The hate crimes charges mean prosecutors will have to prove that Rodriguez was motivated by antisemitism when he opened fire on Lischinsky and Milgrim, a young couple who were about to become engaged. Milgrim was a U.S. citizen. Lischinsky was an Israeli citizen working in the U.S.
His career was upended by the redistricting battles that are sweeping the country after last month’s Supreme Court decision.
Earlier this month, Republicans in Tennessee enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up a Cohen’s majority-Black district, reshaping it to the GOP’s advantage as part of President Trump’s strategy to hold on to a slim majority in the November midterm elections.
“I don’t want to quit. I’m not a quitter. But these districts were drawn to beat me,” Cohen told reporters in his Washington, D.C. office.
Cohen is challenging the state’s redistricting effort in court and said he would reenter the race if that lawsuit succeeded in restoring his old congressional district.
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The Texas Supreme Court on Friday refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers who briefly fled the state in 2025 to block a vote on new congressional voting maps pushed by President Trump had vacated their office.
The all-Republican court dealt a blow to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state Republicans in their efforts to severely punish the more than 50 Democrats who bolted for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts in a bid to stop a vote on the maps during a special session. State Republicans had sought their arrest and threatened fines to bring them back to the state Capitol.
Abbott had argued in a lawsuit filed directly to the state’s highest civil court that state Rep. Gene Wu, the leader of the House Democratic caucus, and others had effectively abandoned their office.
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The two countries agreed to establish boards on trade and on investments to address each other’s concerns on agricultural goods’ market access and to promote expanded trade under a framework of reciprocal tariff reductions, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
The two sides have yet to announce any concrete trade deals, but the boards are expected to serve as a channel of communications to address economic and trade issues.
Wang said the economic and trade teams from the two sides have reached results that are “overall balanced and positive.”
President Trump extended a Sept. 24 invitation to Xi and his wife during his reciprocal toast at a banquet Thursday.
According to a readout about Wang’s briefing to media outlets on the summit, Wang said Trump and Xi agreed to keep close contact through meetings, phone calls and letters, the Chinese official news agency Xinhua reported.
Wang said both sides should work together to make thorough preparations for the leaders’ interactions and create an appropriate atmosphere to accumulate more results.
Merz on Friday said he spoke to Trump on the phone as the U.S. president traveled home from China.
“We agree: Iran must come to the negotiating table now. It must open the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons,” Merz wrote on X. “We also discussed a peaceful solution for Ukraine and coordinated our positions ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara. The U.S. and Germany are strong partners in a strong NATO.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday said he wouldn’t recommend that his children work in the U.S. because of its “social climate.”
“I am a great admirer of America. My admiration isn’t growing at the moment,” he said during a panel discussion at the Catholic Congress in Wuerzburg, Germany. “So, I wouldn’t recommend to my children today that they go to the U.S., get an education there, and work there. Simply because of a social climate that has suddenly developed there.”
He added: “by the way, the question of what well-educated young people can achieve used to be answered very differently in America up until a year ago than it is today. Today, the best-educated in America have great difficulty finding a job.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One that China would buy 200 planes from Boeing with the possibility of expanding the deal to 750 “if they do a good job with the 200, which I’m sure they will.”
The order would represent Boeing’s first major sale to China in nearly a decade, and it would mark a significant breakthrough for the plane maker in a market that was once central to its long-term growth.
China has high demand for new aircraft as they expand and modernize fleets, while giving Trump a high-profile win for his trade agenda.
Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg joined Trump on his trip to Beijing.
Trump also said China would purchase 400 to 450 engines from General Electric. He did not offer a more precise number.
Trump said Xi would consider the case of Ezra Jin Mingri of the Zion Church, who has been detained since October.
On Monday, Grace Jin Drexel, the pastor’s daughter, asked Trump to help bring back her father and other jailed activists on his trip to Beijing.
“We really plead the president will continue to raise the political prisoners, like my father, and like many of the family members here today, and bring them home,” she said. “We just would love for him to just be part of the family and, like, eat nice food with us and watch movies with us, and just, like, have a have, just live normal lives again.”
The Kremlin said Thursday that President Vladimir Putin is set to visit China shortly.
Asked about a report that Putin is coming to China next Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the visit indeed will take place “very soon,” adding that Moscow and Beijing will announce its date.
Asked to comment on President Donald Trump’s visit to China, Peskov emphasized the importance of contacts between the world’s two biggest economies, adding that Russia expects to get firsthand information from China about its talks with the U.S. when Putin visits Beijing.
President Donald Trump says he’s not yet made a determination on whether a major U.S. sale of arms to Taiwan can move forward, following his three-day visit to China.
Speaking to reporters as he flew back on Air Force One on Friday, Trump said he’d not decided on the sale, but added, “I will make a determination.”
The Trump administration has authorized the sale but it has yet to move forward. China opposes the deal and has suggested that Washington’s relationship with the self-governing island is the key factor in China-U.S. relations.
Activist Jimmy Lai, a prominent critic of Beijing, was sentenced to 20 years in prison under a national security law in February in Hong Kong. His family and supporters hope Trump could help free the 78-year-old, who has spent over five years in custody.
“He told me that would be a tough one,” Trump said, referring to Xi.
Lai’s daughter Claire told The Associated Press that she was so grateful to Trump for the commitment shown to his father’s release.
“He has earned his reputation as liberating the unjustly detained and I am confident he and his administration will be the ones to free my father,” she said.
She said this is an opportunity for Xi to do “the only just and honorable thing” for a man who has given so much to Hong Kong and show a gesture of goodwill to the rest of the world.
Trump wants the three countries to sign a pact that would cap the number of nuclear warheads each one has in its arsenal.
China has previously been cool to entering such a pact. Beijing’s arsenal, according to Pentagon estimates, exceeds more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is far from parity with the U.S. and Russia, which each are estimated to have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads.
But Trump suggested Xi was receptive to the idea when he raised it in their private talks.
“I got a very a positive response,” Trump said. “This is the beginning.”
The last nuclear arms pact, known as the New START treaty, between Russia and the United States expired in February, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.
George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said the summit felt like a political reality show at times and unfolded almost exactly as scripted, but it delivered symbolism, clarity and a roadmap for the months ahead.
Chen noted both sides have highlighted what they care about most: For Xi, Taiwan. For Trump, deals.
“The readouts from Beijing and the White House differ in tone and emphasis, but neither side contradicted the other’s account. That alone reflects a rare moment of mutual respect,” he said.
While the list of concrete deliverables remained limited for now, Chen said the most important development might be Xi and Trump having spent extended time together again.
“Personal rapport between leaders can shape the tone of an entire bilateral relationship,” he said.
However, Taiwan could feel uneasy after Xi warned the U.S. over it. Taipei will be watching closely for signs of Trump’s responses, he added.
Elon Musk said his son is learning Chinese. The message in a public post on X Thursday quickly drew attention on Chinese social media and began to trend.
But what the state media outlets omitted was who Elon Musk responding to. He replied to Teacher Li, or Li Ying, whose X account posts news and videos submitted from users about uncensored news in China and has some two million followers.
Li himself noted the irony that Musk’s response to him was now trending on Weibo, which is managed by censors. He shared on Friday that many of the accounts that originally wrote up Musk’s comments have now deleted the posts.
A search on Weibo and local media showed that while the topic was still searchable, some websites had indeed deleted their coverage.
Jensen Huang is trying all of Beijing’s delicacies, the good and others which may be more of an acquired taste.
Huang was spotted by the public and local media at No. 69 Fangzhuanchang Noodles, for a bowl of “zhiangmian” -- a Beijing specialty that features noodles covered in a thick soybean-paste sauce mixed with vegetables and meat.
“It’s so good,” he said, as he dug into the bowl.
But it’s the “douzhi’er,” a fermented mung bean drink that’s slightly sour and gray-green in color, that made the Nvidia CEO wince. Videos of his reaction were trending on Weibo Friday afternoon. Huang then quickly reached for a sweet drink from Chinese beverage chain Mixue Bingcheng.
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This post has been updated to reflect that douzhi’er is made with fermented mung beans and not soybeans.
China said the two leaders agreed to a new vision for dealing with their relationship issues: “a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability.”
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the framework would shape ties for at least three years — the rest of Trump’s term — and would focus on cooperation, competition within proper limits, and managing differences.
The idea is “to keep the relationship on an even keel,” said Helena Legarda of the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.
George Chen, a partner at The Asia Group consultancy, said it can be seen as progress from the Biden era, which framed the relationship as a strategic competition.
Schoolchildren dressed in some of Air Force One’s light blue and white colors waved American and Chinese flags in a coordinated movement as the U.S. president arrived to board the plane.
“Farewell, farewell,” they chanted. “Warm farewell!”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saw a smiling Trump off at the airport.
Trump turned at the top of the stairs and pumped his fist and waved before entering the aircraft.
He didn’t speak again before departing for home.
Trump has boarded Air Force One for his flight out of China.
Trump and Xi both said they made progress in stabilizing U.S.-China relations. But deep differences persist.
The leaders spent a lot of time together the past two days.
They met for about two hours at the Great Hall of the People, toured the Temple of Heaven and attended a banquet on Thursday. On Friday they walked the grounds of Zhongnanhai and had a working tea and lunch.
China has nonetheless shown little public interest in getting more involved in solving the war in Iran.
Xi also suggested differences over Taiwan could put his country and the U.S. on the path toward conflict.
Threats of each side imposing steep tariffs also still loom.
While little has been announced about any potential deals as Trump and Xi held a closed-door lunch in Zhongnanhai on Friday, Xi spoke of a positive turn between the two countries.
“This visit is a historic and landmark visit. Together, we affirmed the new position of a constructive, strategic and stable China-U.S. relationship,” the Chinese president said, according to a readout from CCTV.
“The visit is also beneficial to promoting mutual understanding, deepening trust in each other, and increasing the well-being of the people of both countries,” Xi said.
The Chinese leader said both countries should carry out the “important consensus” reached during Trump’s visit and keep the relationship on the right track.
Trump and Xi feasted on Chinese delicacies in the Chun’ou Zhai building in Xi’s presidential Zhongnanhai compound Friday.
The name of the historic building translates to “Spring Lotus Roots” and the structure carries farm-related significance: Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century would go there to admire the ancient Chinese “Five Cattle” painting every year after the imperial sacrifice to the god of agriculture.
The two leaders on Thursday also visited the Temple of Heaven, another venue with deep agrarian symbolism
as the imperial site for rituals for agricultural prosperity.
Trump has been expected to announce business deals with China in areas such as agricultural purchases, beef exports and aviation but no concrete announcements have been made yet.
Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung thanked the U.S. on Friday for the support expressed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio the previous day.
Lin thanked the U.S. for “its continued support and valuing of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Rubio told NBC News on Thursday that U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged and it would be a “terrible mistake” for China to take Taiwan by force.
The U.S. is Taiwan’s biggest unofficial supporter and main supplier of arms for the island’s defense.
“As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities,” Lin said.
While folks outside their closed lunch chowed down on McDonalds, the menu for Trump and Xi was far more formal.
The two leaders had minced codfish in seafood soup, crispy and stir-fried lobster balls and pan-seared beef fillet stuffed with morel mushrooms, according to the White House.
They also ate kung pao chicken and scallops, braised seasonal greens, bamboo shoots, mushrooms and beans, as well as stewed beef in a bun and steamed pork and shrimp dumplings.
Dessert was chocolate brownies and fruits and ice cream. Coffee and tea also was served.
After lunch, Trump is not expected to make any more public appearances before heading to the airport to fly back to Washington.
Before their closed-door lunch, Xi gave Trump a tour of Zhongnanhai, the former imperial gardens and now the seat of power.
“Zhongnanhai is where the CPC Central Committee and the State Council work, and it is also where I work and live,” Xi said. “After the founding of New China, Chinese leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and others all lived here.”
In the highly manicured garden, the two men walked with their interpreters as they admired the greenery.
“All these trees are 200 to 300 years old. There’s a big one that’s about 400 years old,” Xi said as he pointed out specific trees to Trump, who expressed his admiration.
“There’s even one that’s 1,000 years old. It’s somewhere else,” Xi said.
Xi said he invited Trump to the quarters in response to the hospitality Trump showed by inviting him to Mar-A-Lago in 2017.
