WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his state visit to Washington on Friday by announcing that he will meet President Donald Trump two more times before the end of the year, doubling the number of face-to-face discussions between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies in 2026.
The promise of more meetings to come capped off a three-day state visit that has been criticized by some in the U.S. for being heavy on pomp and light on substance, though Trump said they discussed the war in Iran. The two leaders have made a show of working to preserve harmony, but there were no major breakthroughs this week on issues such as trade or the safety of artificial intelligence.
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Some trade analysts were struck by how few tangible accomplishments seemed to come from the meeting. Little was announced outside of the promise of more meetings and Washington and Beijing agreeing as Xi landed in the U.S. to extend their trade truce only a few months until January.
“A lot of pomp and circumstance or sound and fury but signifying nothing. There’s just not a lot there,” said Scott Lincicome, vice president of general economics at the Cato Institute.
“Another summit without tangible results merely allows China to run out the clock on Trump’s second term without significant concessions,” said Jeff Moon, a former U.S. trade official and diplomat in President Barack Obama's administration who runs the China Moon Strategies consultancy.
The two leaders met behind closed doors for 90 minutes on Thursday, when they discussed issues such as the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, according to the official Chinese government readout of the meeting. Trump told reporters on Friday that he and Xi discussed the Iran war, but did not offer additional details.
“We had a great meeting. We had a really great meeting. Great for the farmers. Great for everybody,” he said.
Though Trump administration officials have played down the impact of any assistance that China may be providing to Iran as the war stretches to nearly seven months, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue said Friday that Trump asked Xi to avoid providing help to Tehran.
“We made it very clear to them weeks ago that, you know, any help that they would give Iran — whether it be direct or indirect, whether it be intelligence or parts or military equipment — was totally unacceptable,” Perdue told CNBC in an interview Friday. “President Trump made that very clear again yesterday.”
Xi extended an invitation for Trump and first lady Melania Trump to go to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November and noted that they could meet again a month later at the G20 summit at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club in Florida.
“We do welcome Mr. President and the first lady to visit China,” Xi said.
Trump responded, “We will, and we’ll be speaking a lot.” He later confirmed the two meetings in a post on social media.
Trump on Friday took Xi to visit the National Archives, showing off the sacred texts of U.S. democracy to the leader of the world’s most powerful communist country.
Trump, a Republican, has been seeking to demonize Democrats as communists during the run-up to the November midterm elections, a message that has been muddied by the red-carpet treatment he has given Xi this week.
Inside the nation’s vault of records, where the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are kept, Xi peered at the documents behind protective glass as a guide spoke about them.
After viewing the Constitution, Trump told reporters waiting nearby that the two leaders discussed how old their nations are.
“We’re just comparing,” Trump said. “Ours goes 250 years, which is great, and we’re proud of it. But theirs goes 6,000 years.”
He added: “There’s a little difference between 6,000 and 250, but we’re very proud of our 250.”
The Trumps feted their guests Thursday night with a black-tie state dinner attended by technology industry titans. Earlier in the day, Trump gave Xi a personal tour of his White House flourishes, including a gallery wall of presidents and a new 100-foot-long (30-meter-long) granite helicopter landing pad — and pointed out his ballroom, still under construction. Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan toured the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.
On Friday, Xi's day began at the White House, where Trump and the first lady hosted the Chinese leader and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for tea in the White House’s Red Room.
Their visit fell during China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday when families traditionally gather to celebrate the end of harvest, sharing mooncakes, round pastries filled with a sweet paste, over tea.
Xi thanked the Trumps for the visit. "The highest courtesies, the most meticulous arrangements,” Xi said in Chinese. “This visit is very successful, and we also feel very satisfied.”
Trump grinned when an interpreter relayed what Xi had said.
“We’ve had a tremendous visit from two spectacular people, and we really enjoyed it, and I think we’ve made tremendous strides,” Trump said.
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AP writers Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Didi Tang, Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman in Washington contributed to this report.
