Trump is on a charm offensive ahead of President Xi meeting—and he wants Elon Musk and Tim Cook in tow

When President Trump lands in Beijing this week, he’ll be bringing with him the might of U.S. commerce. The U.S. and Chinese leaders meet after steadily escalating tensions over the past year—including a tit-for-tat trade battle following the announcement of the White House’s “Liberation Day” tariffs a little over a year ago.But it seems President Trump is keen to thaw tensions ahead of the meeting. Writing on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns, last night, the president said: “I am very much looking forward to my trip to China, an amazing country, with a leader, President Xi, respected by all.” He added that “great things” will happen for both countries. Trump has long insisted he has a “great relationship” with China’s President Xi, though relations have been barbed in recent months. China accused the U.S. of “typical … double standards” and insisted it was not afraid of a trade war after Trump threatened further tariffs in October. Meanwhile, Trump claimed China had “totally violated” the terms of the agreement made after Liberation Day, quipping this may not be a surprise to some. The White House rhetoric that trade partners woukd “eat” the tariff increases (as opposed to U.S. consumers) hasn’t quite worked in the case of China. The rival global superpower appears to simply have shifted its focus away from the U.S. According to trade figures released by the Chinese government for April, exports surged by 14.1% year on year. China’s export growth isn’t coming from the U.S., according to reports from The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC). The OEC wrote that in February 2026, year-on-year growth was primarily driven by increased demand from Hong Kong, Germany, and South Korea. This might mean Trump has a weaker hand in negotiations than in previous meetings, with Beijing now less reliant on the U.S. as a trading partner. Br