Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump started a crucial series of meetings in Beijing on Thursday in a U.S.-China summit where stability in the relationship is the main goal of the two days of discussions.
The White House and Chinese state media said the leaders concluded their meeting Thursday morning after about two hours. Trump is expected to leave just after midday Friday after a final private meeting with Xi. But few breakthroughs are expected on divisive issues ranging from the Iran war, trade, technology and Taiwan.
Trump hopes to focus the summit talks on trade and deals for China to buy more agricultural products and passenger planes, setting up a board to address their differences and avoid a repeat of the trade war ignited last year after Trump’s tariff hikes.
In their closed-door meeting, Xi told Trump that if Taiwan is handled well, U.S.-China relations “will enjoy overall stability.” If not, the two countries risk “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Xi said, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.
Trump in December authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, a self-governed island that Beijing claims as its own territory. The U.S. has not yet moved forward with delivery.
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China fetes Trump with one of his favorite songs, The Village People’s ‘Y.M.C.A’
At the state banquet in Beijing, the Chinese military band broke into a tune the president has made his signature walk-off song, the disco hit, “Y.M.C.A.”
The song was played during a private portion of the dinner, a White House official confirmed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details of the private portion of the dinner.
Trump closes his campaign rallies and most official events with the song, which he dances to while throwing slight fist pumps into the air.
In 2017, “The Stars and Stripes Forever” was played when Trump and Xi inspected Chinese honor guards at the welcome ceremony, an unusual choice intended to impress Trump.
— Michelle L. Price and Didi Tang
Military leader in Middle East says US no longer using high-end munitions to take out Iran’s drones
Adm. Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday that American forces have stopped using high-end munitions to shoot down Iran’s drones.
The nation’s limited stockpiles of expensive weapon systems, including advanced missile interceptors, have become a lightning rod during the Iran war. American forces were using them to defend against Iranian drones. But Cooper says the U.S. military is now using lower-cost munitions.
The admiral said Iran only has 10% of its drones left. Despite a fragile month-long ceasefire, skirmishes have flared between Iranian and American forces.
Congressional leaders begin hearing on military posture in the Middle East and Africa
Senators opened the hearing into the state of forces in the Middle East and Africa by expressing concern about the future of the Iran war and the American presence in Africa.
“We are 75 days into this war with Iran and I am concerned the president does not have a credible strategy to win,” Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday.
Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the committee, also said Africa has “increasingly become the epicenter of global terrorism” and stressed that he felt U.S. Africa Command should remain an independent combatant command.
Selfie-taking moment between tech CEOs Elon Musk and Lei Jun is going viral on Weibo
The hashtag “Lei Jun and Musk photo together “ drew more than 20 million views on the Chinese social media platform.
Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of the social media platform X, while Lei is CEO of Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.
Some users said Musk’s wink while taking the picture stole the spotlight, with others saying Lei nailed his celebrity chase.
Discussion of US weapons sales to Taiwan ‘did not feature prominently’ in talks, Rubio says
Rubio said Xi has raised the issue with Trump in the past, however.
Rubio also told NBC that the U.S. laid out its position on Taiwan with “strategic ambiguity” because they won’t want to see a conflict over the island, which China wants to reunify with the mainland. It hasn’t ruled out using force to do so.
“We think it would be a terrible mistake to force that through force or anything of that nature. There would be repercussions for that, globally, not just in the United States. And we kind of leave it there,” Rubio said.
Rubio says Trump won’t let the Iranians use US gasoline prices as ‘leverage’ for ending the war
He tried to clarify Trump’s comments that he wasn’t thinking about gasoline prices and U.S. consumers with regard to the Iran war.
“We’re not going to let Iran use that as leverage,” Rubio told NBC News in an interview. “I think what the president is making clear is, if the Iranians think that they are going to use our domestic politics to pressure him into a bad deal, that’s not going to happen.”
Rubio said the U.S. is taking “extraordinary measures” to keep gasoline prices lower than in other parts of the world.
Rubio says nothing changed in US policy toward Taiwan
He said in an interview with NBC news that China always raises the issue of the self-governing island, but the U.S. stance did not change in Trump’s meeting with Xi.
“U.S. policy on the issue of Taiwan is unchanged as of today and as of the meeting that we had here today. It was raised. They always raise it on their side. We always make clear our position and we move on to the other topics,” Rubio said.
US treasury secretary says the public will hear from Trump this evening or tomorrow on Taiwan
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked in a CNBC interview about whether China was pushing the U.S. to limit arm sales to Taiwan, the self-governing island China considers to be part of its own territory.
Bessent said he’s confident Trump “understands the issues” and will be “very resolute” in his response.
The treasury secretary did not preview what that response would be as the administration has authorized an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan.
“I’m not going to get out ahead of the president,” Bessent said. “You’ll be hearing more from him either this evening, tomorrow.”
Rubio says Trump raised Iran in talks with Xi but ‘he didn’t ask him for anything’
“We’re not asking for China’s help. We don’t need their help,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with NBC News.
He said China agreed with the U.S. that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon and brought that up in their meetings.
He said the Chinese told the U.S. team in meetings that, “they are not in favor of militarizing the straits of Hormuz, and they’re not in favor of a tolling system.”
“It’s good that we have alliance, or at least agreement on that point,” Rubio said.
Wall Street heads for gains before the bell as Trump and Xi meet
Wall Street is poised to open with gains Thursday following another record-setting day and developments emerging from President Trump’s summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing.
S&P futures rose 0.3%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.7%. Nasdaq futures gained 0.2% early. The S&P and Nasdaq both hit record highs Wednesday.
Oil prices were effectively unchanged, with no clear ending to the Iran war after more than two months. Some were hoping the Trump-Xi meeting could bring results, after U.S. officials said Beijing could use its close economic ties with Tehran to press Iran to reopen the Strait or Hormuz.
On Thursday, the White House said Trump and Xi discussed enhancing U.S.-China economic cooperation. Both sides also agreed the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened.
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