Trump did not skimp on pleasantries. It was a “great privilege” to have visited Xi in Beijing and therefore an “honor” to receive him in Washington, he said. The US President spoke of a “truly great friendship” that connects him with his guest and announced a collaboration that would “shape a better future”. Trump even picked up Xi at the airport on Wednesday evening, an honor that previous US presidents in recent history have only bestowed on the Pope. On Thursday evening he hosted a state banquet for Xi and on Friday he will tour the National Archives, where the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights are on display. In advance, Trump refrained from criticizing China, which, according to US intelligence reports, is helping Iran with satellite images to attack US soldiers and carrying out cyber attacks against American companies.
Subtle affront
In return, Xi did Trump a favor and flattered him. “President Trump and I have respect for each other,” he said, thanking the “warm hospitality” and congratulating the “beautiful country” on 250 years of independence.
Meanwhile, Trump sat smiling on a chair behind him and didn't seem to really notice the criticism that came between Xi's lines. China's president poked fun at its zero-sum logic in foreign policy. “We should sincerely cooperate,” he said. He acknowledged that there is a competition between the two countries, but warned that it should be “a race in which one catches up with each other, and not a battle in which one wins and the other loses”.
Xi sounded as if he viewed the United States and China as equal countries, each with the opportunity to win the race for dominance—all while avoiding confrontation. If you listened closely, you could hear from a subtle sentence that he considers the USA to be the weaker country: “The Thucydides Trap can be overcome,” said Xi. China and the US should coexist in peace, he said.
The concept of the Thucydides Trap goes back to the Greek historian Thucydides, who analyzed the Peloponnesian War between the rising power Athens and the established Sparta, which had to fear for its position due to Athens' rapid rise. He came to the conclusion that a military conflict was therefore inevitable. The American political scientist Graham Allison interpreted this dynamic between two powers as a trap that had often led to wars in history. The old power's fear of losing its status and the challenger's growing self-confidence create tensions in which misjudgments can quickly lead to military escalation - and in 12 out of 16 cases of historical rivalries this has led to war, Allison noted.
Xi has often used the term in the past to describe relations between China and the US - which has always been a cipher to describe his country as the one on the rise and the US as the one on the verge of decline. The fact that he used the term on Thursday in the presence of the US President was a subtle affront.
Little new in this matter
The fact that Xi believes the trap can be overcome can also be read as a message to Washington: A conflict can be avoided - if the USA lets Beijing have its way in Taiwan. At the summit in Beijing in May, Xi had already warned that mishandling Taiwan could lead to clashes and even conflict. According to the Chinese summary, in the conversation with Trump, Xi then expressed the "hope" to Trump that he would handle the "Taiwan issue" with "prudence."
Beyond that, the visit brought little new on the matter - the most important things had already been settled beforehand. Shortly after Xi's landing on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the agreement on a two-month extension of the tariff suspension, which would have expired on November 10. The result of artificial intelligence was also clear in advance: both sides had already agreed on a hotline for AI security incidents on Sunday. Trump didn't want to go any further; He had previously stated that he wanted to leave everything with the AI as it is. Xi, on the other hand, called for joint action against the misuse of the technology. An American summary of the conversation was not available until the evening.
Xi can be satisfied with the visit. He has succeeded in reassuring Trump of a sense of genuine friendship - which should deter the US president from pursuing confrontational policies that slow China's rise. Trump, in turn, had his pompous event. Only most Americans didn't see it.
Gregor Schwum has been reporting for WELT as a US correspondent from Washington, D.C. since July 2026. Previously he was a foreign policy correspondent in Berlin.
