Trump-Xi takeaways: White House touts progress on artificial intelligence, Iran and exports

The stakes were high during the meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, with the White House later claiming progress was made on talks related to artificial intelligence and global concerns, including the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran, despite initially remaining silent on any tangible victories.

It's remains uncertain what went on behind closed doors, but many Republicans had clear expectations that Trump would put pressure on Xi.

Those expectations may have been tempered by the lavish welcome the Chinese dictator received from Trump for Xi's first visit to the United States in more than a decade.

The president traveled to Joint Base Andrews to greet Xi and his wife in person as American service members literally rolled out the red carpet minutes before the Chinese leader stepped off the plane. A military choir serenaded Xi and a who's who guest list of American business leaders, billionaires and Washington elite at a glitzy state dinner in the East Room of the White House.

Trump took Xi on a tour of his construction projects, including his White House ballroom and helipad, exclaiming Xi "loves good granite."

"I want to thank the honorable president and the first lady for everything they've done for myself and my wife during this visit. Everything is down to the highest order of perfection," Xi said through a translator at the White House on Friday. "And there is thought in every little detail. And it's greatly appreciated."

Trump's take at the end of the visit was, "We've had a tremendous visit from two spectacular people, and we've really enjoyed it. And I think we've made tremendous strides. We've made great strides, very positive for both countries."

Trump did not elaborate. He echoed those sentiments on his social media platform and added only that he and Xi plan to meet in person twice more before the end of the year.

When asked by a reporter if the two leaders discussed the war in Iran, Trump said, "We did, we did," and adding "I think we're going to do great," when pressed on potential progress in the Strait of Hormuz.

David Perdue, the U.S. ambassador to China, said in an interview on Fox News on Friday the U.S. has evidence China "directly or indirectly" has supported Iran in the war, and that Trump challenged Xi on the issue during this summit.

"President Trump made it clear it is unacceptable to us to have any interaction with Iran with support of the war," Perdue said. He insisted China made a "commitment not to engage in assistance."

At one point, Trump told reporters the U.S. and China will continue "speaking a lot" before suggesting potential action between the two countries in the agriculture industry without offering any specifics.

"We'll be speaking a lot. I think our farmers are going to be very happy. A lot of very positive things happened," he said.

On the topic of artificial intelligence, Trump was less focused on making public assurances that the two technology leaders could fend off warnings about the end of humanity from tech leaders, and more interested in getting Xi to go along with his plan to rebrand the industry as "super intelligence."

In another social media post, Trump said Xi "seemed to like calling the poorly and inaccurately named Artificial Intelligence to a far more accurate and important name, SUPER INTELLIGENCE. That would be "SUPER!," Trump wrote.

Chinese state media reported Xi told Trump that AI must be kept under human control.

According to Xinhau, Xi told Trump that a people-centered approach should be upheld, and AI should be developed for the positive and for good, so that AI will serve the progress of humanity.

Some Republicans had hoped that Trump would exert pressure on Xi on some of these matters.

"China is an adversary, and we have to be very clear-eyed about that. And we have to press them on issues whether its military, whether its trade, whether its AI or anything else we have to be very clear-eyed and we have to press them hard," Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Thursday.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott said he understands that Trump has to be diplomatic, "but Xi's a despicable person that is killing us with fentanyl and building a military to try to defeat us."

Overnight, the White House published a fact sheet on its website, marking what it says were some of the accomplishments from the meeting.

It included commitments from China to purchase 10 million metric tons of American coal in 2026 and 2027 and noted progress on China's export controls on fentanyl precursor chemicals.

The readout also said "the two leaders discussed on-going global concerns, including Russia, North Korea, and Iran."

And, according to the fact sheet, the two countries "also agreed to establish a bilateral communication channel" for issues related to artificial intelligence.

The fact sheet also lauded the expected arrival of two giant pandas, leased by China to the Atlanta Zoo.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated with the White House's fact sheet detailing what it says were accomplishments from the meeting.