Trump confirms Xi Jinping will visit U.S. before year’s end, with reciprocal trip to China in April. Trade, Taiwan, and global tensions top agenda.
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit the United States before the end of 2026, with Trump himself scheduled to visit China in April. The visit aims to address a wide range of bilateral issues, particularly trade.
"He's coming to the White House, yeah -- toward the end of the year," Trump said in an interview with NBC, parts of which aired Sunday.
"These are the two most powerful countries in the world, and we have a very good relationship."
According to state broadcaster CCTV, Chinese President Xi expressed that "By tackling issues one by one and continuously building mutual trust, we can forge a right way for the two countries to get along."
Trump also described the conversation with Xi as "excellent" and said that "we both realize how important it is to keep it that way," confirming that the two maintain regular communication on economic and global matters.
In their most recent phone call, they reportedly discussed expanding Chinese purchases of US agricultural products, oil, and gas, as well as key geopolitical issues such as Iran, Taiwan, and the war in Ukraine.
Trump trade moves spur Western leaders to recalibrate China ties: NYT
The New York Times on Saturday published an analysis examining renewed diplomatic outreach by Western leaders to China, a trend the paper links to the economic and political fallout of US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and the resulting strain on Washington’s relations with its allies.
The analysis argues that after Trump imposed sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs, Beijing declined to soften its stance toward countries unsettled by US protectionism. Instead, it describes China as warning governments against cooperating with Washington’s efforts to curb Chinese trade and restricting exports of strategic materials such as rare earths. NYT frames these actions as part of a broader strategy aimed at increasing pressure on US partners.
However, this reading attributes strategic intent to Beijing without presenting direct evidence of a coordinated effort to coerce Western governments. China has consistently characterized its trade measures as responses to unilateral tariffs, export controls, and technology restrictions imposed by Washington, policies that disrupted global supply chains and affected US allies as much as its competitors.
Interpreting China engagement
NYT cites analysts who interpret China’s approach as an attempt to force US allies to weigh the economic risks of defying both Washington and Beijing. One expert quoted argues that Beijing sought to demonstrate that cooperation against China would carry costs. Yet such interpretations rely largely on inferred motives rather than documented policy statements or formal demands from Chinese officials.
Recent visits by Western leaders to Beijing are presented as proof that China’s approach is succeeding. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer traveled to China this week, the first such visit by a UK leader since 2018, with discussions focused primarily on trade and investment. Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney also visited Beijing this month, announcing a reset in relations after years of diplomatic tensions.
The paper suggests these engagements reflect Western leaders “tiptoeing” around sensitive political issues in pursuit of economic gains. Critics of this framing argue that it downplays the extent to which Western economies remain structurally intertwined with China and overstates the notion that Beijing is extracting political concessions. Neither London nor Ottawa publicly announced policy shifts on security or ideology as a condition of renewed economic dialogue.