SNAPSHOTS

Xi-Trump Talks Fail To Move the Needle on Major Issues

May 15, 2026 | 21:12 GMT

U.S. President Donald Trump (right) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026.
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026.

(Kenny HOLSTON / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

The Trump-Xi summit produced few immediate results and showed that, despite a mutual desire to steady ties, future tariff escalations, export restrictions and other coercive measures remain on the table, while U.S. regional treaty allies will continue to build up their military capabilities and prepare for and occasional related trade spats with China. U.S. President Donald Trump visited Beijing from May 14-15 for a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a long-awaited follow-up to their October 2025 summit in Busan, South Korea. Public events largely focused on ceremony and the personal relationship, but official readouts from both sides provided few details about the two leaders' combined four-and-a-half hours of closed-door meetings over two days. After the summit, Trump claimed on Fox News that China had agreed to purchase 200 Boeing jets, although China's foreign ministry has not yet confirmed this. Trump also claimed China would likely purchase U.S. oil...

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