Trade, Taiwan and Iran cast shadows on Trump’s China summit with Xi

Iran warTrade, Taiwan and Iran cast shadows on Trump’s China summit with XiThe two leaders will discuss a U.S.-China trade board and agreements on aerospace, agriculture and energy, though aides say no comprehensive deal is on the table.Add NBC News to GoogleTrump heads to high-stakes summit in China03:37Get more newsLiveonShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 13, 2026, 1:00 AM EDTBy Katherine Doyle, Jennifer Jett, Dan De Luce and Andrea MitchellBEIJING — President Donald Trump will begin a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday as the world’s two biggest economies look to stabilize a trade truce against the backdrop of the simmering U.S. conflict with Iran.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Trump’s visit, the first by a U.S. president since his own trip nine years ago, will be “a wild one,” he promised this year, recounting at an event in Washington that he had told Xi “to put on the biggest display you’ve ever had in the history of China.”Trump has consistently framed his relationship with Xi in personal and warm terms, but this trip carries more pressure than either side will publicly acknowledge. Trade will be at the forefront of discussions, and Trump is bringing more than a dozen chief executives with him to Beijing, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, who ran Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined Trump on the tarmac in Alaska for the second leg of the flight to China.The goal this week will be to return to Washington with positive economic headlines and a reinforced personal relationship that both governments regard as the most consequential bilateral tie in the world. The possibility of extending the trade truce reached between Washington and Beijing last fall is on the agenda as well. Yet expectations for the summit’s outcomes are muted, with both leaders facing setbacks at home and a...