Trump arrives in Beijing for summit with Xi
News agencies have reported Donald Trump has arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese president Xi Jinping.
People gather to get a view of Air Force One, carrying US president Donald Trump, arriving at Beijing Capital Airport. Photograph: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images
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Updated at 13.58 CEST
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Donald Trump to discuss ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during meetings with Xi Jinping, AFP reports.
“We are in constant contact with our American partners. We are thankful and we are expecting that the issue of ending of the Russian war against Ukraine will be raised now as well, while the president of the United States is in China,” Zelenskyy said in a speech during a summit in Romania.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with Donald Trump following a meeting at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida in December. Photograph: Alex Brandon/APShare
The Guardian’s picture editor Matt Fidler has compiled a few pictures from previous US presidential visits to China, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama. The gallery offers a visual history of one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships, featuring tea receptions at the Forbidden City and tours of the Great Wall of China.
Richard Nixon and his secretary of state, William Rogers, touring the Great Wall of China during Nixon’s historic 1972 presidential visit. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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Updated at 13.32 CEST
There is much for Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to discuss, but a few key issues are likely to dominate the agenda, Mark Saunokonoko reports.
In his explainer, Mark explores the high-stakes diplomatic summit between the US president and Chinese leader, focusing on tensions over trade, Taiwan, AI, fentanyl trafficking and the ongoing Iran conflict. You can read that here:
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US and China trade envoys hold talks on ‘resolving’ economic and trade issues, state media reports
Top Chinese and US negotiators held talks in South Korea on “resolving” trade friction between their economies ahead of the Trump-Xi summit, according to Chinese state media.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese vice premier He Lifeng “conducted candid, in-depth, and constructive exchanges on resolving economic and trade issues of mutual concern and further expanding practical cooperation”, China Central Television (CCTV) reported, without elaborating on the specific issues discussed.
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed on a year-long truce in October last year after a frenzy of tit-for-tat trade tariffs. They are expected to expand on that deal in their meetings in Beijing this week.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent is in South Korea for talks with president Lee Jae Myung and Chinese vice premier He Lifeng. Photograph: YONHAP/EPAShare
Updated at 13.49 CEST
Rachel Leingang
Back in the US, a Democratic challenger who said she intends to drop out of November’s race for the Senate in Nebraska to clear the way for an independent candidate has won the state’s Democratic primary.
Cindy Burbank ran against William Forbes, who Democrats contended was a Republican plant in the race, with the intent to drop out if she won. Forbes, a pastor who has voted for Trump and opposed abortion access, is currently registered as a Democrat.
While the state Democratic party endorsed Burbank for the primary, it has backed Dan Osborn for the general election.
Osborn, an independent, is seen as the best hope to beat the Republican senator Pete Ricketts in November. Burbank wants to clear the field to give Osborn and Ricketts a head-to-head matchup, she has previously said.
And in the state’s second congressional district, known as the “blue dot” of Omaha and its surrounding suburbs, the state senator John Cavanaugh remained locked in a tight race with Denise Powell that remained too close to call late Tuesday night.
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Here are some pictures on the newswires from Beijing ahead of Donald Trump’s visit:
A police vehicle parked near the Great Hall of the People. Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty ImagesChinese paramilitary police officers stand guard outside a hotel expected to be used for US president Donald Trump’s visit. Photograph: Ng Han Guan/APPolice officers stand guard outside Tiananmen Gate. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty ImagesUS and Chinese flags line a street near the airport. Photograph: Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesShare
Trump takes tech leaders on mission to ‘open up’ China
Accompanying the US president on his trip to China are a host of tech leaders, including Elon Musk of Tesla and Tim Cook of Apple, with hopes of securing a series of business deals.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump said:
double quotation markI will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to “open up” China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level! In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!
The inclusion of Musk signals a reconciliation between the world’s richest man and the president after a public spat last year. Musk had been appointed to lead the Trump administration’s cost-cutting team known as the “department of government efficiency” (Doge), but he quit after clashing with the president over US federal spending policies.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk in the Oval Office in May last year. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
The delegation of chief executives joining Trump on his China trip include:
Tim Cook of Apple
Larry Fink of BlackRock
Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone
Kelly Ortberg of Boeing
Brian Sikes of Cargill
Jane Fraser of Citi
Jim Anderson of Coherent
Larry Culp of GE Aerospace
David Solomon of Goldman Sachs
Jacob Thaysen of Illumina
Michael Miebach of Mastercard
Dina Powell McCormick of Meta
Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron
Jensen Huang of Nvidia
Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm
Elon Musk of Tesla
Ryan McInerney of Visa
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Trump says he doesn’t ‘think about Americans’ financial situation’ as he travels to China
Morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics.
Donald Trump is set to land in Beijing today for high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, with the war on Iran expected to loom large over the summit.
Before departing for his trip to China, the US president told reporters he does not consider the economic impact the war is having on Americans and that stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon was his top priority.
“Not even a little bit‚” Trump said when asked to what extent “Americans’ financial situations” were motivating him to reach a deal with Iran.
“The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran – they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody,” he said.
“I think about one thing: we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”
US president Donald Trump speaks to the press before departing for China. Photograph: Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images
US inflation rose 3.8% in April from a year earlier, according to the data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest jump since 2023 as conflict in the Middle East continued to drive energy prices and everyday costs for Americans. In March, the consumer price index, which measures the price of a basket of goods and services, rose 3.3%, up from 2.4% in February.
Since Trump began the war on 28 February, gas prices in the US have surged past $4.50 a gallon, with fears it could stay elevated for longer as the strait of Hormuz, which carried about a fifth of global oil supplies before the conflict, remains effectively shut.
Trump attempted to allay those fears by insisting his policies “are working incredibly”.
He said: “If the stock market goes up or down a little, the American people understand.
“When this war is over, oil is going to drop, the stock market is going to go through the roof, and truly, I think we’re in the golden age right now. You’re going to see a golden age like we’ve ever seen before.”
Trump has sought help from China, a close ally of Iran and the world’s biggest buyer of Iranian oil, to convince Tehran to reopen the strait of Hormuz and end the war. But he told reporters yesterday that he won’t “need any help with Iran” and the war will be won “one way or the other – peacefully or otherwise”.
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Updated at 11.40 CEST
