Trump greets Xi Jinping in Washington for three-day summit amid trade and security tensions

U.S. President Donald Trump received Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife on the tarmac at the Maryland base that serves Air Force One on Wednesday evening. The visit, Xi’s first to the United States in nearly three years, will include a state dinner with technology leaders, a White House military ceremony with jet flyovers and a tour of the National Archives.

Analysts say the summit is intended to signal stability between the world’s largest consumer and its biggest manufacturing hub, even as the two countries remain at odds over trade, technology, Taiwan, narcotics and rare-earth minerals. The existing 11-month trade truce is set to expire in November, and officials expect Xi to press Beijing’s claim to Taiwan while Trump is likely to maintain current U.S. export controls.

Talks scheduled for Thursday could produce limited agreements, such as sector-specific tariff reductions, cooperation on drug trafficking and expanded military-to-military dialogue. Trump is also expected to seek the release of Americans and other detainees held in China, and both sides may discuss artificial-intelligence cooperation amid competitive pressures.

"The president very much believes that over time the US economy is going to grow, the US will get stronger," said Edgard Kagan, a former White House official now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "When Xi Jinping sits down with Donald Trump, he very much believes the US is in hurtling decline, and that time is on China's side."

The visit follows Trump’s recent trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly and comes as his administration faces declining approval ratings and a contentious war in Iran. Xi, while confronting domestic economic challenges, arrives with China’s trade sector performing strongly. Both leaders are expected to issue separate statements after the meetings, aimed at domestic audiences.

Future engagements between the two presidents are being considered for later this year, potentially on the sidelines of the APEC summit in China or the G20 meetings in the United States.