Boeing lost China. Trump—and 500 jets—may be about to win it back

President Trump has declared that the main focus of the China Summit is trade, specifically unveiling big transactions for signature U.S. enterprises that further swell our flow of exports, and Washington-Beijing accords that mark a defrosting of the icy standoff between the world’s two biggest economies. The stateside player most likely to land a trophy coup is Boeing. In the week or so prior to Trump’s departure for China, leading a retinue of seventeen super-prominent CEOs, sundry media outlets reported that the aerospace colossus is negotiating a giant sale to China’s three major carriers, naturally shepherded by Beijing. Two factors suggest that what might appear a rumor’s really a done deal. First, it’s probable that the news arose from a publicity-enhancing leak from the Administration. And the President wouldn’t put the plum out there if it stood the remotest chance of not happening, a scenario that would serve his critics grist for declaring the conclave a flop. Second, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg is making the trip—as far as we know, he’s accompanying Trump alongside the other grandees on the Air Force One provided by the government of Qatar (which is, by the way, a custom version of the Boeing 787). Ortberg’s an extremely careful operator who would never even hint at an order that wasn’t going to happen, a prime reason to believe that the Trump team’s behind the buzz. Boeing could indeed soon be taking a victory lap, argues Richard Safran, an analyst at Seaport Global Securities. “The Administration doesn’t effectively pre-announce a deal unless it’s a fait-accompli,” Safran told Fortune. “That Ortberg is going over there is a pretty good sign the reports are correct. The primary reason for him to go is for a photo-op with Chinese officials. Trump loves to trumpet when he brings business to the U.S.” Safran adds that “getting Boeing’s formerly biggest