WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump departed Washington on Tuesday afternoon for China, where he will meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a high-stakes summit.
Trump’s May 13–15 trip marks the first U.S. presidential visit to China since his 2017 state visit during his first term.
Trade is expected to dominate discussions between the two leaders, though several sensitive issues, including the Iran war, human rights, and Taiwan, are also likely to take center stage.
Speaking to reporters ahead of his departure, Trump expressed optimism ahead of his meeting with Xi.
“We’re going to have a very good meeting,” he said.
The president said he and Xi will have “a long talk” about the Iran war, given China’s significant oil imports from the region.
Among those traveling with the president on Air Force One to China were his son Eric Trump, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. First Lady Melania Trump is not accompanying the president on this trip, according to the White House.
Trump’s two-day itinerary includes a packed schedule of official events. He is expected to arrive in Beijing on the evening of May 13.
On May 14, Trump will attend a welcome ceremony and hold a bilateral meeting with Xi in the morning. In the afternoon, the two leaders are scheduled to tour the Temple of Heaven before attending a state banquet that evening.
On the morning of May 15, Trump will meet with Xi again for a bilateral tea and working lunch before departing China.
Trump is expected to urge the Chinese leader to support U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil transit corridor closed by Iran. Beijing has so far remained unresponsive to the U.S. calls.
Washington has recently sanctioned Hengli, China’s largest supposedly independent oil refinery. It also imposed sanctions on three Chinese companies accused of providing satellite imagery to Iran during the war.
Taiwan remains another contentious issue in U.S.–China relations.
The White House has indicated that it doesn’t expect any shift in U.S. policy toward Taiwan despite Xi’s continued opposition to American arms sales to the island.
“I‘ll have that discussion,” Trump told reporters on May 11 when asked about his position on arms sales to Taiwan. “That’s one of the many things I’ll be talking about.”
“He will bring up Taiwan, I think, more than I will,” Trump said.
China’s human rights violations are also expected to be raised during the summit. On May 11, Trump said he planned to discuss the cases of media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai and pastor Ezra Jin Mingri with Xi.
Lai, a longtime critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has been imprisoned in Hong Kong for more than five years. He was among the first prominent pro-democracy figures arrested under Hong Kong’s sweeping national security law, imposed by Beijing in June 2020 after months of anti-government protests.
Chinese authorities also arrested Jin in 2025 for his Christian activities and his leadership role as a pastor at Zion Church.
Trump is also bringing a delegation of business executives to Beijing, representing sectors including aerospace, agriculture, finance, and technology.
Among the 16 executives joining the trip are Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Cargill’s Brian Sikes, and Citi’s Jane Fraser.
The United States is seeking purchase commitments from Beijing worth tens of billions of dollars, a senior administration official told reporters during a call on Sunday.
Hours before his departure, Trump struck an optimistic tone about the Beijing summit in an interview with Sid Rosenberg on WABC Radio.
“I think it’s going to be good,” Trump told the host of “Sid & Friends in the Morning.”
“China is strong, but we’re stronger than China. We’re stronger than any other country militarily.”
Travis Gillmore and Jackson Richman contributed to this report.
