Story
September 26, 2026
Trump and Xi Put On a Summit Show, but Left the Hard Deals Unmade
Washington and Beijing presented the summit as a constructive reset, extending a trade truce and keeping AI talks alive. Critics saw ceremonial warmth masking unresolved disputes over Taiwan, technology, Iran and the wider balance of power.
In the hours before Xi Jinping’s arrival, Donald Trump signaled that artificial intelligence—or, in his preferred phrasing, “Super Intelligence”—would feature in the talks, while also saying he wanted to leave the technology’s development broadly where it stood. Beijing’s account later struck a more cooperative note: Xi said the two countries could compete but also cooperate, keep talking about AI’s risks and benefits, and prevent its misuse.1
The visit then unfolded in the register of a state occasion. Trump hosted Xi at a White House dinner packed with technology leaders including Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman and Tim Cook; Musk amplified a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the event on X.
2 The display underlined how central AI has become to the relationship—and how little either government publicly settled about export controls, safety rules or a proposed emergency communications channel.
After nearly two days of meetings, Trump called the summit “tremendous” and said the powers had made “great strides”; Xi said they had added “new substance” to the relationship. Yet the public record offered scant policy breakthroughs on AI, Taiwan or Iran.3 The clearest concrete step was a two-month extension of a trade truce that had been due to expire in November, with no disclosed details on farm purchases or other promised economic gains.4
That gap drives the competing readings. Supporters argue the meeting itself matters: David Sacks shared the case that dialogue between “the TWO SUPERPOWERS” is vital, invoking the Kennedy-Khrushchev relationship during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
5 Critics counter that Trump’s emphasis on rapport risks mistaking atmosphere for strategy. Julian Gewirtz, a former Biden National Security Council China official, said Trump had reduced the “vast challenge” of the relationship to his personal ties with Xi, while appearing indifferent to Beijing’s effort to turn today’s stability into future constraints on U.S. policy.3
On Taiwan, Xi reportedly pressed Trump to oppose independence; no public U.S. concession emerged. The leaders are expected to meet again later this year, leaving the summit’s central question unresolved: whether the warmer tone becomes a durable mechanism—or merely a pause in a rivalry neither side has meaningfully narrowed.