President Donald Trump on Thursday hailed the “truly great friendship” he's forged with Xi Jinping as the Chinese leader began his highly anticipated state visit . While Trump has many thorny issues to discuss with the president of America’s biggest economic rival, he focused on his long relationship with Xi as the two gathered with aides for opening remarks before formal talks. Trump is holding a state dinner for Xi with a tech industry-heavy guest
list.
Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to the White House Thursday afternoon, hours after a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban of three news outlets. Despite the ruling, the journalists were initially denied access Thursday morning. The back-and-forth was the latest in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes.
Trump’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration voiced support for the safety of long-established vaccines at a hearing Thursday, even as senators questioned her about the White House’s efforts to upend childhood immunizations.
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In a statement, 19 Senate Democrats criticized the pageantry of the Trump-Xi summit for failing to deliver for the American people.
“Rather than confronting China’s unfair trade practices, technology theft, complicity in attacks against our troops or economic and military aggression against our allies, President Trump opted for pageantry over purpose—trading tough diplomacy for a ballroom tour and a lavish dinner with his billionaire friends,” read the statement by the senators, including all Democratic members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Democratic senators criticized Trump for trading away the U.S. technological dominance for commercial gains, decimating the U.S. education and research and alienating its allies.
In his toast at the state dinner, Xi said Trump’s pledge to “Make America Great Again” and his call for China to achieve great national rejuvenation are both ambitious and can “help each other achieve” their respective goal.
“China and the United States must act as responsible major countries, meet the expectations of our peoples,” Xi said.
The U.S. president invited Xi and other government officials to tour his under-construction White House ballroom.
That could be a national security problem.
Trump has described the building as more than a place for entertainment. He has said that “the military is building a big complex under the ballroom” — and he has now invited Chinese officials to tour an incomplete site that Trump has described as essential for national security. The ballroom, once completed, is also slated to have drone ports to fend off attacks.
The White House list of more than 130 invited guests for the state dinner includes plenty of American tech giants, but Chinese CEOs are conspicuously missing.
U.S. and Chinese planners did discuss including several executives from some notable Chinese companies, according to a person familiar with the planning for the state visit who was not authorized to comment publicly.
One obstacle that came up during the negotiations for the state visits was that the U.S. side was slow to suggest protocols and clarify what roles the Chinese CEOs would have in the state visit, the person said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
—Aamer Madhani
A few hundred protesters gathered at a park near the White House on Thursday afternoon to “unwelcome” Xi during his state visit to the U.S.
Many waved Tibetan flags and called for a “Free Tibet.” Some carried flags bearing words for “freedom” and “democracy” in Chinese, along with signs reading “Keep Taiwan Free” and “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times,” the slogan from Hong Kong’s massive 2019 protests.
“I hope Emperor Xi won’t remain in power. I hope he can give Chinese people real freedom — freedom of speech and religion,” said Zhang Na, dressed as Winnie the Pooh, a character often used to mock Xi in China.
Yang Fan, a 39-year-old Christian, held a handwritten sign calling for “freedom of religion” and an “end to dictatorship.” He said he wanted to stand up for Christians in China and hoped Xi would release those jailed for their religious beliefs
At tonight’s state dinner, Trump is surrounding Xi with the one group in which America leads the world — billionaires.
The tuxedoed soiree is a far cry from the Republican candidates attempting to brand themselves as being a party for workers.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and LVMH’s Bernard Arnault are roughly worth a combined $680 billion.
Add in OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and the financiers Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink and that number keeps going up.
Of course, Trump is worth about $7 billion, helped out in large by gains in crypto tied to his political resurgence.
Trump, clad in a tuxedo, and first lady Melania Trump, in a tuxedo-style jumpsuit with a large necktie bow, greeted Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan in front of the White House.
Xi, in a black suit, and Peng, in a red gown, emerged from their limousine onto a red carpet at the North Portico, where they shook hands with the Trumps.
The four then posed for pictures before going inside.
The crowd standing behind a fence along Lafayette Park held flags and signs and appeared to have speakers that carried their voices across the park and all the way to the North Portico of the White House, where an honor guard and red carpet were laid out for guests attending the state dinner.
The protesters could be heard chanting “Xi Jinping has got to go” and “Shame! Shame Xi Jinping!” as their chants grew louder.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez Bezos, arrived at the White House for the state dinner.
Trump has bragged about the wealth gathering in the East Room for the meal, and Bezos brings with him a net worth of $369.3 billion, according to Forbes.
First lady Melania Trump has ordered a three-course meal that will be served on the red china dishes from Ronald Reagan’s presidency.
The meal will open with a starter of yellow squash velouté and wild mushroom fricassee with crispy pancetta beneath a drizzle of scallion oil.
It will be followed by an entrée of sesame-crusted sea bass with braised baby bok choy, roasted eggplant and herb sauce.
The meal will be capped by a vanilla crémeux with a sour cherry confit center on top of a walnut frangipane and a serving of ice cream made using honey from bee houses at the White House.
Nvidia founder Jensen Huang, famous for wearing black leather jackets at public events worldwide, came to the White House with his wife, Lori, looking far more formal in a well-tailored tuxedo.
The chipmaker whose products power AI is worth an estimated $192.7 billion, according to Forbes.
Open AI CEO Sam Altman autographed baseballs and other items as he arrived at the White House. Altman has warned about AI models creating major risks for the world, but he’s coming to the state dinner as something of a celebrity.
The buildout of AI has been powering U.S. economic growth, and Altman is worth $3.3 billion, according to Forbes.
Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, lambasted Trump’s deferential treatment of Xi and said Trump hadn’t pressed China hard enough to keep its commitments on trade.
“In return for China breaking nearly every trade promise it has made, Trump is rolling out the red carpet for President Xi,’’ Wyden said in a statement. “Trump has not even succeeded in forcing China to live up to the weak deal that he struck.”
Wyden referred to unfulfilled promises made by China to buy more U.S. farm goods and release rare earth minerals, which he said is “harming our manufacturers and American jobs.”
“There is no evidence that Trump is using this opportunity to push back on the Chinese government policies that hurt our workers and businesses, from forced labor to state subsidies,” Wyden said.
Danny Russel, a former U.S diplomat serving in the Obama administration, expressed concern that the two leaders spent more time on social and ceremonial events than the actual talk, which was about 90 minutes.
“Pageantry and protocol don’t add up to progress. Pandas are cute, but what America needs are rare earths,” said Russel, now a distinguished fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
“What we’re seeing isn’t diplomacy so much as ‘diplotainment,’ which won’t do much to solve the serious problems in the U.S.-China relationship,” Russel said. “No amount of flattery and pomp translates into leverage over China.”
The president posted online that TV networks “refused to cover one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years.”
He added, “The event was magnificent — Actually made for Television” but no network covered it “because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to “TRUMP.”
The event actually wasn’t covered because the White House’s five-network television pool rotation has refused to cover Trump’s events after he moved to ban one of its members, CNN, along with MS Now and Politico, from the White House grounds.
A judge issued a temporary order on Thursday allowing the three outlets back at the White House. But the network pool has continued not to cover Trump because CNN hasn’t yet had its place in the pool rotation covering presidential events restored.
The two leaders exchanged views on global and regional issues such as the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Chinese government readout of the meeting at the White House.
Xi and Trump also confirmed their mutual support for hosting regional meetings in the coming weeks, the statement said.
China is to host the annual summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation grouping in November, and the U.S. is holding this year’s G20 summit in Florida. The statement didn’t say if the leaders will attend each other’s summit.
Xi also said the two leaders decided to build a “constructive strategic and stable China-U.S. relationship.” Such a relationship benefits not only the Chinese and American people, but the people of the world, the statement said.
In meeting with Trump, Xi said China supports the U.S. and Iran returning to an interim deal that was signed in June in an effort to wind down the war, according to the Chinese state broadcaster China Central Television.
Xi said China hopes the two sides can return to dialogue and negotiations as soon as possible for an eventual, comprehensive deal, including on Iran’s nuclear program.
The interim deal broke down soon after it was signed as the sides traded renewed fire over control of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for energy shipments. China is Iran’s biggest oil buyer and its largest trading partner.
The Chinese state broadcaster is authorized to release official statements.
An international body known for monitoring elections in 57 countries says it has not been invited to observe the U.S. midterm elections, as it has for every federal election there since 2002.
The United States is a founding member of the group, the Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe, which was created during the Cold War to help ease East-West tensions.
Maria Telalian, the director of OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said the office had built a constructive relationship with U.S. authorities and electoral stakeholders over the years. She said the organization regrets not being able to continue that work.
The State Department said: “The United States is one of the world’s oldest constitutional democracies. ODIHR should focus its limited resources on elections where it can have the greatest impact.”
A key Senate committee has delayed a vote on the nomination of Trump’s choice for surgeon general, Dr. Nicole Saphier, a radiologist and former Fox News Channel contributor.
Saphier’s nomination, which is Trump’s third pick for the role, was expected to move this week out of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
However, a committee statement says her nomination vote has been postponed and will not take place this week. A new date has not yet been set.
Meanwhile, the nomination of Chris Klomp to serve as deputy secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services has advanced out of the Senate Finance Committee — on a 14 to 13 vote. It’s unclear, however, when a full Senate vote will take place on that nomination.
The Energy Department said Thursday that it will spend almost $2 billion to try to squeeze more electricity out of the nation’s aging and stressed power grid.
That announcement comes as the Trump administration steps up efforts to avoid blackouts amid skyrocketing energy demand spurred by artificial intelligence.
Officials say the money will go toward 31 projects across 26 states that are expected to produce enough additional electricity to power 16 million homes. The projects are to use new technologies such as sensors to ensure safe transmission or direct power away from congested or overloaded paths.
The Energy Department says the upgrades could improve power reliability and lower electricity costs for about 100 million Americans. It comes as electricity bills rise faster than inflation in many parts of the U.S.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told world leaders at the United Nations that attacking Iran “was one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
He denounced as “moral cowards” a mass of delegates who walked out of the U.N. General Assembly when he took the podium to speak. When Netanyahu walked to the rostrum, a mix of cheers, boos and mass walkouts erupted.
The Palestinian delegation had called for a mass walkout.
Netanyahu also thanked Trump for taking decisive action against Iran, and he insisted Israel would prevail: “We will continue to win because we have no other choice.”
The Chinese leader left from the North Portico of the White House around 1:30 p.m.
Before he climbed into his limo, Xi shook hands with Trump and the men briefly spoke about the meeting they had.
Xi will return later Thursday evening for the state dinner.
In his remarks at the White House, Xi said the two countries “may also increase direct flights to facilitate two-way travel and trade.”
The number of direct flights between the U.S. and China fell during the COVID-19 pandemic and has yet to recover to the pre-pandemic level.
Xi also said China is willing to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. on counternarcotics and law enforcement and that the two militaries “should maintain regular dialogue, and improve mechanisms for crisis communication and prevention.”
The president’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration faced questions Thursday from senators who will vote on her nomination to lead the federal agency.
A physician and top White House adviser, Dr. Heidi Overton has worked on administration health efforts. That included a plan from Trump announced last month to break up longtime combination vaccines for children over safety concerns.
Overton said Thursday that FDA-approved vaccines remain safe and effective. She also responded to questions about FDA’s oversight of the abortion pill and vaping products.
The committee with vote on her nomination later.
In her current role as a domestic policy adviser, Overton also worked on White House health initiatives including the revamped food pyramid. Previously she was an executive at the America First Policy Institute, authoring papers critical of abortion and transgender care.
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The agency is laying out potential threats to election systems and listing services it can offer to election officials to protect the vote.
Its report comes just 40 days before Election Day in the midterms and after state election officials have complained that they’ve not been getting the level of cooperation from the agency they’ve had in previous elections.
The Trump administration gutted the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s election work last year. It cut some 1,000 employees and slashed $10 million from two cybersecurity initiatives. That forced state and local election officials to pay for private services to ensure they were prepared for this year’s midterms.
CISA, as the agency is known, is housed under the Department of Homeland Security. Since its founding in 2018, it has helped warn state and local election officials about potential threats from foreign governments.
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After the previous U.S.-China summit in May, the White House announced that China agreed to buy $17 billion annually in American agricultural products. That was atop China’s earlier commitment in October 2025 to purchase soybeans.
The deal restored an export market for farmers struggling with high fuel and fertilizer prices. But while soybean purchases have doubled since last year, China had only bought $3.9 billion worth of other U.S. agricultural products in the first seven months of 2026, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
That rate is only slightly higher than during the trade war in 2025, and it’s unclear if China will reach the committed level by the end of the year. The USDA forecasts that China will purchase $21.5 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products in the fiscal year starting in October.
Reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico have returned to the White House, hours after a federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s ban of three news outlets.
The judge said early Thursday that CNN, MS NOW and Politico must have their access restored.
Early Thursday afternoon, CNN and MS NOW journalists were back at the White House after the latest back-and-forth in an extraordinary showdown between Trump and media outlets whose coverage he dislikes.
The president announced Friday he was banning the outlets, assailing what he called “fake news.” The outlets argued they were singled out over the content of their coverage.
White House Press Operations Director Micah Stopperich wrote in a court filing that officials were notified at 7:10 a.m. Thursday to restore access, and the reporters got their badges back shortly after 10 a.m. once the Secret Service located and reactivated them.
Increasingly anxious about the Iran war, senators are set to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution seeking to halt Trump’s military action, which has been largely blamed for the spike in fuel prices and become a flashpoint in the midterm election.
The Senate vote, days after Trump’s bombastic address to the United Nations in which he threatened to “annihilate” Iran, is likely to be the last chance for lawmakers to go on record about the war ahead of November. More Republicans are peeling way from the president as the war drags on, a rare slap back to Trump, as they campaign for control of Congress.
“They have been carrying water for this ridiculous and illegal war for months and months and months and not listening to their constituents,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, who pushed the war powers resolution forward. “And now they finally are.”
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In the late morning, Trump and Xi participated in a military review in the Rose Garden that was smaller in scale compared to the troop review Xi prepared for Trump in May.
With military band members positioned on the roof of the West Wing, the two leaders and their spouses watched as other musicians played, dressed in colonial wear and white wigs in homage to America's 250th anniversary. Twelve Marines later performed rifling tossing and formations. The military review concluded with a flyover of a B-2 bomber and four fighter jets soaring over the White House.
The Chinese president announced that as a measure of good faith, China would send two pandas to Zoo Atlanta after Beijing reclaimed four pandas in 2024 as diplomatic tensions between China and the U.S. intensified.
China and the zoo first announced in April that two pandas, male Ping Ping and female Fu Shuang, would be coming to the U.S. as part of a giant panda conservation agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
He called the panda loan programs with the U.S. “an envoy of friendship.”
Xi touched on artificial intelligence in his opening remarks, saying the two superpowers have a responsibility to ensure that humans always operate AI.
“We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that a development of AI is always under human control and serves the well being of the people,” the Chinese leader said.
The two countries’ finance ministers earlier this week met, with the U.S. proposing a new “notification mechanism” for AI incidents between the two nations.
The U.S. president noted that he and the Chinese leader have met all over the world, including in China and in Palm Beach, Florida, at the president’s club.
But this is actually the first time the two are meeting at the White House proper, Trump noted.
“We have spent time together all over the world,” he said.
During those visits, Xi and Trump have “forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually,” the U.S. president said.
Trump noted that a lot has changed at the White House since Xi was last there for an Obama-hosted state visit — a nod to his renovation projects.
Just after 10 a.m. ET, the official state visit by China’s Xi Jinping was underway.
To the blare of trumpets, Trump and first lady Melania Trump walked out of the White House residence onto the South Lawn, where they were to greet Xi and Madame Peng.
China’s leader and his spouse then walked out of a black vehicle, where they warmly shook hands with the Trumps. Then the four posed for the cameras.
The presidents of the U.S. and China are scheduled to deliver remarks Thursday morning at the White House and again in the evening as part of a state dinner.
The schedule does not include a news conference, and it’s unclear whether Trump and Xi will take questions from either American or Chinese reporters.
In a 2015 meeting, Xi and President Barack Obama held a joint news conference as part of a White House summit. In the Rose Garden, which Trump has since turned into a patio, each president made opening remarks. Then they each answered one question from a U.S. reporter and another from a Chinese reporter before taking additional, nation-specific questions.
The Trump-Xi summit comes as U.S. networks are boycotting White House pool coverage in protest of Trump stripping credentials from MS Now, Politico and CNN.
