Donald Trump’s state visit to China is one of his most important foreign policy moments during his entire presidency, but he headed to Beijing with some unusual guests aboard Air Force One.
Trump arrived in Beijing early on Thursday morning (UK time), shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping and inspecting Chinese troops on a red carpet in front of the Great Hall of the People.
Trump called Xi a great leader and friend during the welcome ceremonies.
“You’re a great leader, sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway,” Trump told Xi as they sat face-to-face.
“There are those who say this may be the biggest summit ever … It’s an honour to be with you. It’s an honour to be your friend and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People. (Picture: Alex Wong/Getty Images)What is the purpose of Trump’s trip?
With his poll numbers slumping as of late, Trump is aiming to secure economic wins, maintain a fragile trade truce and navigate thorny issues such as the Iran war and arms sales to Taiwan.
This week’s meetings will provide plenty of face time between Trump and Xi.
After the talks at The Great Hall of the People, they will tour the UNESCO heritage site Temple of Heaven and attend a state banquet on Thursday, before taking tea and lunch together on Friday, according to the White House.
Both sides are eager to maintain a trade truce struck last October in South Korea, in which Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of rare earths.
“The trip to China is, in part, a trade mission – probably in large part. It’s also a distraction from Trump’s war with Iran,” said Dr John Hart, former head of the department of political science at the Australian National University and a specialist on American government.
“China has an incentive to get Trump to lower current tariffs. I doubt that they will have to yield that much in return. But there’s no chance that China will change its position on Taiwan in order to secure better trading arrangements with the US,” Hart said.
For Xi, American arms sales to Taiwan, the democratically governed island claimed by China, will be a top priority. China reiterated on Wednesday its strong opposition to the sales.
US President Donald Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People. (Picture: Mark Schiefelbein/AP)Who is attending the trip with the US president?
It’s not often that a US president leaves his wife at home on such an important trip, but takes his friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend again Elon Musk with him.
But Trump has never done anything by the book, and this trip is no different.
The value of the passengers aboard Air Force One as it landed in Beijing was well over a billion dollars.
Alongside Trump himself and cabinet members, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, were a crew of business titans, including Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Members of the US delegation including Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, listen to the US national anthem. (Picture: Mark Schiefelbein/AP)Joining them is Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang, a late addition who came aboard during a refuelling stop in Alaska en route to the Chinese capital at Trump’s request.
In a Truth Social post, Trump slammed reporting from US TV network CNBC saying Huang had not been invited.
“In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!” Trump said.
Also on the trip are Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump and film director Brett Ratner, reportedly to scout locations for his upcoming movie Rush Hour 4, starring Chinese action star Jackie Chan and American comedian Chris Tucker.
“(Lara Trump) could just be accompanying her husband (Trump’s son Eric), but it’s probably more to do with the Trump family business and the deals that they want to do with China … I wouldn’t expect that she’d be dispensing advice to the President on how to handle China,” said Hart.
Is Trump there for dealing or diplomacy?
Trump’s foreign policy reputation has taken a battering in recent times thanks to the war in Iran.
“The emphasis would surely be on deal-making. Trump is not a diplomat. He doesn’t have the knowledge or skill to do diplomacy. And, judging by his appalling management of the war in Iran, he has little patience for diplomacy,” said Hart.
“I can’t see that he’s going to get any deal with China over Taiwan. That’s the major problem in US-China relations and Trump just doesn’t have the ability to negotiate that particular problem, nor does China have any reason to change its position on Taiwan.”
Will there be any MAGA backlash?
Trump has not always been so warn and effusive about China. In the past, he has frequently accused China of “ripping off” the US in trade deals, and was also scathing of the country’s handling of the Covid pandemic.
“We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country and that’s what they’re doing. It’s the greatest theft in the history of the world,” he told a campaign rally in 2016.
!!“Mr. Trump and Xi Jinping are reportedly considering a deal to allow China to invest $1 trillion in the U.S. largely to build factories on American soil.” Trump on verge of making massive error — against aides' advice: report t.co/Xn6woCDJDU
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) May 11, 2026Anti-China rhetoric was a big part of Trump’s early political campaigning, and now some of his own supporters, like pro-Trump TV host Laura Ingraham, sounded the alarm when reports emerged that Trump and Xi were considering a deal to allow China to invest $1 trillion into the US, largely to build factories.
In response, former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene, who was once a staunch ally of Trump’s before they had a bitter falling out, tweeted: “I’m old enough to remember when MAGA was demanding China not be allowed to own any land in America. But MAGA is whatever Trump says it is, according to him, so now it’s for foreign wars and China. Shocking.”
Hence then, the article about inside trump s travelling circus in china featuring musk but no melania was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Inside Trump’s travelling circus in China featuring Musk but no Melania )
Also on site :