Trump prepares to host Xi as tech titans, industry leaders and top officials gather for high-stakes summit

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

America's most powerful tech moguls are set to dine with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a White House state dinner on 24 September, as Trump plans to welcome Xi personally at Joint Base Andrews on his arrival Wednesday. NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, Google's Sundar Pichai, Dell's Michael Dell and Citigroup's Jane Fraser are also on the guest list, alongside Tim Cook, who stepped down as Apple CEO last month. A senior administration official described the formal dinner as "the hottest ticket in town," with fierce competition among prominent political, business and technology figures for a "very limited number of seats."

Xi's summit meetings with Trump are scheduled for Thursday, with the state dinner to follow — only the second state visit of Trump's current term.

The US and China are reported to be in talks over cutting tariffs on American LNG exports ahead of the visit, with Treasury Secretary Bessent also set to take up AI and rare earths in talks with his Chinese counterpart.

BYD, CATL and Xiaomi executives may join Xi's delegation, even as US automakers are urging Trump to keep Chinese carmakers locked out of the American market.