War and inflation put pressure on Trump’s presidency, as Trump meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump Arrives in Beijing on Wednesday for much-anticipated talks with China’s president Xi Jinping exist iran wartrade, and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

The substance of the summit does not begin until Thursday, when the leaders will hold bilateral talks, visit the Temple of Heaven, where Chinese emperors once prayed for a good harvest, and attend a formal banquet. But the Chinese gave Trump a grand welcome, rolling out a red carpet for him after Air Force One landed in the Chinese capital.

The president was greeted by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng; Chinese Ambassador to Washington Xie Feng; Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu; and U.S. Special Envoy to Beijing David Perdue.

The welcome ceremony included a military honor guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths, who waved Chinese and American flags and shouted “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” as Trump walked to a waiting limousine. The young ushers were dressed in white and Robin egg blue to match the paint of the iconic presidential plane.

“We are two superpowers,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday as he left the White House and boarded a long-haul flight to Beijing. “Military-wise, we are the most powerful country on earth. China is considered second.”

While Trump likes to project a sense of power, the visit comes at a delicate moment in his presidency, as His popularity in the country The U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran and rising inflation resulting from the conflict have put pressure on the country. The Republican president is seeking victory by signing deals with China to buy more U.S. soybeans, beef and aircraft and said he would discuss trade with Xi “more than anything else.”

The Trump administration hopes to begin establishing a trade committee with China to resolve differences between the two countries. The committee can help prevent trade war After Trump raised tariffs last year, China fought back by taking control of rare earth mines. This led to a year-long layoff last October.

But when Trump was visiting Beijing Iran continues to dominate his domestic agenda. The war effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, stranded oil and gas tankers, and sent energy prices soaring to levels that could undermine global economic growth. The US president declared that Xi Jinping did not need to help resolve the conflict, even though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Beijing last week.

“We have a lot of things to discuss. Honestly, I wouldn’t say Iran is one of them because we’ve got Iran pretty well under control,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

Taiwan’s status will also be a major topic as China is unhappy with U.S. plans to sell arms to the self-ruled island, which the Chinese government claims as part of its territory.

Trump told reporters on Monday he would have discussions with Xi Jinping $11 billion weapons package Sanctions against Taiwan that the U.S. government authorized in December but have not yet begun to implement. This is the largest arms sales plan ever approved by Taiwan.

But Trump has Show greater ambivalence toward TaiwanThis approach raises questions: Is the US leader willing to reduce support for the United States? island democracy.

At the same time, Taiwan—— The world’s leading chip manufacturer — Crucial to the development of artificial intelligence, the United States has imported more goods from Taiwan than China so far this year. Trump is trying to leverage the Biden-era plan and his own deal to bring more chip manufacturing to the United States.

The Chinese Communist Party’s news outlet People’s Daily published a strongly worded editorial ahead of Trump’s arrival, emphasizing that Taiwan was “the first insurmountable red line in Sino-U.S. relations” and the “biggest risk point” between the two countries.

Trump had already painted the visit as a success before leaving the White House. He publicly reflected on Xi Jinping’s planned reciprocal visits to the United States later this year and lamented White House Ballroom Projects under construction will not be completed in time to properly celebrate China’s leaders.

“We’re going to have a great relationship for decades to come,” Trump said of the United States and China.

Trump boarded Air Force One for a large meeting with a group of aides, family members and business tycoons, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk. En route to Beijing, he posted on social media that his “first request” to Xi Jinping during his visit would be for the Chinese leader to increase the presence of U.S. companies in China.

“I’m asking President Xi Jinping, an exceptional leader, to ‘open up’ China and let these talented people work their magic and help the People’s Republic of China move to the next level!” Trump wrote.

Scott Kennedy, senior adviser on China business and economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, said that despite Trump’s apparent confidence, China appeared to be coming into the meeting from “a stronger place.”

Among other goals, China wants to reduce technological restrictions on access to computer chips and find ways to reduce tariffs.

“But even if they don’t get a lot of progress on these things, as long as there’s no bickering at the meeting and President Trump doesn’t leave and seek to re-escalate, China will basically become stronger,” Kennedy said.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met Wednesday at Incheon International Airport west of the South Korean capital Seoul to discuss economic and trade issues, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

Trump also intends to raise the idea of ​​the United States, China and Russia signing an agreement that would limit the nuclear weapons in each country’s arsenal, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters ahead of the visit. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with ground rules set by the White House.

Previously, China had been lukewarm about signing such an agreement. Beijing’s nuclear arsenal has more than 600 operational warheads, according to Pentagon estimates, far from comparable to that of the United States and Russia, which are each estimated to have more than 5,000 warheads.

the last one nuclear weapons treatyThe New START treaty between Russia and the United States expired in February, lifting caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. With the treaty set to expire, Trump rejected Russia’s call to extend the deal between the two countries for another year and called A “new, improved, modernized” deal that includes China.

The Pentagon estimates that by 2030, China will have more than 1,000 usable nuclear warheads.

Bock reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Washington, Huizhong Wu in Bangkok, Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea and Kanis Leung in Hong Kong contributed reporting.