Trump is expected to personally greet the Chinese leader at the plane's steps upon arrival at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington. This high level of honor is unusual, the AP emphasized, as Trump typically receives world leaders at the White House, leaving other senior American officials to greet international delegations at the airport.
The culmination of the visit comes on September 24 when the U.S. president and first lady Melania Trump welcome Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan at an arrival ceremony in the White House.
A military ceremony is also scheduled for that day, during which Trump and Xi will participate in a review of troops in the White House Rose Garden before retreating behind closed doors for their talks. In parallel, the first ladies will hold a separate engagement.
On the third day of the visit on September 25, Xi and Peng Liyuan are scheduled to return to the White House for a private tea with the Trumps, who will then take them on a tour of the National Archives, the home of some of the United States’ most important founding documents as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary of independence.
Trump and the first lady will also host the Chinese delegation for a state dinner in the East Room on September 24. Both leaders are expected to deliver speeches at the gala dinner.
Trump, whose administration is currently constructing a lavish ballroom at the White House, publicly lamented having to turn away “a lot of very good friends of mine” who wanted to attend the state dinner.
Among the executives scheduled to attend the state dinner are Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai of Google and Michael Dell, the CEO of Dell Technologies, the White House said. Also on the guest list are Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Jane Fraser, the CEO of Citigroup, and Tim Cook, who recently stepped down as the CEO of Apple.
This heavy tech presence during Xi’s visit is no coincidence. In the past few days, artificial intelligence (AI) has shot to the top of the U.S.-China agenda, according to Melanie Hart, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
“The United States and China are locked in an intense AI competition,” Hart noted. “Both sides see AI as a strategic technology that will impact the overall power balance across both the economic and security domains. Both sides are concerned about safety risks, but they see those risks differently, making collaboration difficult.”
She clarified that the U.S. has two main complaints against Beijing: first, Chinese firms are using American models to train their own systems. Second, Washington wants China’s AI companies to adopt better safety guardrails, share more information about the safety parameters they are using, and provide more transparency around how their models perform in pre-release safety testing.
Washington is also worried that rogue actors could misuse Chinese AI to carry out cyberattacks, develop biological weapons, and so on. Beijing, on the other hand, views U.S. complaints about diffusion and guardrails as an attempt to hinder China’s AI development.
Consequently, the field of artificial intelligence is poised to become a central topic in the upcoming negotiations between Trump, Xi, and their respective delegations in the United States.
Another traditionally contentious topic during Xi's visit is expected to be global trade and the ongoing struggle between Beijing and Washington for economic dominance.
“The U.S. is not only trying to balance trade but also maintain its tech dominance to protect national security and global leadership,” the Associated Press wrote. “China, which has amassed tremendous economic, technological and military power over the past several years to close gaps with the U.S., is seeking to solidify its place in the global order.”
The AP emphasized that Trump and Xi Jinping, who last met in Beijing in May 2026, will convene in Washington “after their countries climbed down from last year’s intense trade war, where they traded tit-for-tat sky-high tariffs that threatened the global economy.” China also maintains a powerful economic lever: it controls the lion's share of the world's supplies of critical minerals essential for manufacturing high-tech products – ranging from smartphones and electric vehicles to advanced fighter jets.
“Beijing has used its near-monopoly on the minerals to bring the United States to the negotiating table in a trade war started by Trump’s tariffs and other sanctions on China,” AP highlighted.
No major agreements are expected to be signed following Xi's state visit, though Washington and Beijing may ease some tariffs on specific non-strategic goods.
Political commentator Leonid Shvets told Radio NV that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are highly likely to raise the issue of Russia's war against Ukraine during their talks. He noted that China “currently holds the strongest position of any major global power regarding these active conflicts, both in the Middle East and in Ukraine.”
“And this wait-and-see approach remains the most advantageous for him right now,” Shvets stated. “I think China will wait for the results of the midterm elections [in the U.S.]. Right now, Trump is a ‘lame duck,’ as they say.”
“Secondly, unfortunately, China will likely wait for the results of the autumn-winter campaign in Ukraine. After that, it will engage in more significant steps, where it will try to play a major role.”
He also noted that Donald Trump recently signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which gives the administration authority to levy up to 100% tariffs on goods from nations trading energy with Russia.
“And here, China occupies a near-leading position,” Shvets explained. “China is interested in ensuring that as few of its companies as possible appear on these lists.” He added that within 30 days, the Trump administration must “prepare the official lists of legal entities and individuals that will be subject to these sanctions.”
“And there's no way to avoid this anymore,” Shvets concluded. “There's a bargaining chip here with China, right now, at this very moment. I don't rule out the possibility that they might ask the Chinese for some kind of assistance, at least in getting Russia to suspend military operations. Although the chances are slim, China will weigh whether to agree to this. It looks like they won't, although we'll see.”
Xi Jinping last traveled to the United States for an official state visit in September 2015, during the administration of President Barack Obama.