US President Donald Trump hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, for a lavish state dinner at the White House on Thursday night, which included the attendance of many high profile officials and tech giants, including Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
US and Chinese planners did discuss including several executives from some notable Chinese companies, according to a person familiar with the planning for the state visit who was not authorized to comment publicly, AP reported. AI emerged as a key focus, Reuters reported. The dinner, hosted by Trump and First Lady Melania Trump in the White House’s East Room, was a part of Xi’s three-day US visit, who is visiting with his wife Peng Liyuan. Follow LIVE updates from Xi’s visit The dinner was also attended by several prominent Indian-origin personalities, including leaders of top companies based in the US. Among the prominent names were vice president JD Vance, secretary of state Marco Rubio, treasury secretary Scott Bessent, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, chief justice John Roberts, justice Amy Coney Barrett and justice Brett Kavanaugh. The business and technology contingent included Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Lisa Su, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzman, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Bernard Arnault, among others President Donald Trump First Lady Melania Trump Chinese President Xi Jinping Peng Liyuan, wife of Xi Jinping Vice President JD Vance Secretary of State Marco Rubio Jeanette Rubio, wife of Marco Rubio White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles US Ambassador to China David Perdue Bonnie Perdue, wife of David Perdue Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent John Freeman, husband of Scott Bessent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer Marlo Greer, wife of Jamieson Greer Cai Qi, member of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee and chief of staff to Xi Jinping Wang Yi, member of the Communist Party’s Politburo and China’s foreign minister Vice Premier He Lifeng Zheng Shanjie, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Commerce Minister Wang Wentao Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice foreign minister Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the US Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump Lara Trump, wife of Eric Trump Tiffany Trump, daughter of Donald Trump Michael Boulos, husband of Tiffany Trump Viktor Knavs, father of Melania Trump Arabella Kushner, daughter of Ivanka Trump Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp. Lori Huang, wife of Jensen Huang Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc. Lisa Su, chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Daniel Lin, husband of Lisa Su Tim Cook, executive chairman of Apple Inc. John F.W. Rogers, executive vice president and secretary to the board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange Linda Mills, president of New York University Eric Yuan, chief executive officer of Zoom Communications Inc. Tang Fangyu, director of the Communist Party Central Committee’s Central Policy Research Office Finance Minister Lan Fo’an Wang Dan, wife of Xie Feng Zhou Hongxu, deputy director of the Communist Party Central Committee’s General Office and director of the Central Security Bureau Lyu Luhua, secretary to Xi Jinping Hong Lei, assistant foreign minister and director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Protocol Department Cai Wei, assistant foreign minister and director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs Mao Ning, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy Zhang Quan, secretary to Peng Liyuan Zhang Yongchao, deputy director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs Kelly Ortberg, chief executive officer of Boeing Co. Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc. Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive officer of Blackstone Inc. Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Greg Brockman, president and co-founder of OpenAI Anna Brockman, wife of Greg Brockman Miriam Adelson, controlling shareholder of Las Vegas Sands Corp. Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, partner of Sergey Brin Jim Taiclet, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp. Larry Culp, chairman and chief executive officer of GE Aerospace Cristiano Amon, president and chief executive officer of Qualcomm Inc. Jeff Bezos, executive chairman of Amazon.com Inc. Lauren Sánchez Bezos, wife of Jeff Bezos Jeff Yass, co-founder of Susquehanna International Group and investor in ByteDance Ltd., TikTok’s developer Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Technologies Inc. Mary Barra, chair and chief executive officer of General Motors Co. David Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Jane Fraser, chief executive officer of Citigroup Inc. Elon Musk, chief executive officer of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp. Chief Justice John Roberts Jane Sullivan Roberts, wife of John Roberts Justice Amy Coney Barrett Jesse Barrett, husband of Amy Coney Barrett Justice Brett Kavanaugh Ashley Estes Kavanaugh, wife of Brett Kavanaugh House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana Kelly Johnson, wife of Mike Johnson Bret Baier, Fox News anchor Amy Baier, wife of Bret Baier Laura Ingraham, Fox News host Representative Richard McCormick, a Republican from Georgia Jesse Watters, Fox News host Emma Watters, wife of Jesse Watters David Ellison, chairman and chief executive officer of Paramount Skydance Corp. Kennedy Jr. Education Secretary Linda McMahon Interior Secretary Doug Burgum Kathryn Burgum, wife of Doug Burgum Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy Rachel Campos-Duffy, wife of Sean Duffy Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling Brad Gerstner, founder and chief executive officer of Altimeter Capital Management Anthony Barra, husband of Mary Barra Kathy Woods, wife of Darren Woods Albert Bourla, chairman and chief executive officer of Pfizer Inc. David Sacks, co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Small Business Administration Administrator Kelly Loeffler Jeff Sprecher, husband of Kelly Loeffler Katie Simpson, fiancée of Brad Gerstner Representative Jason Smith, a Republican from Missouri Senator Steve Daines, a Republican from Montana General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE Alexandre Arnault, son of Bernard Arnault and an executive at LVMH Ryan McInerney, chief executive officer of Visa Inc. Michael Miebach, chief executive officer of Mastercard Inc. Sandra Lynn Ellison, wife of David Ellison Cheryl Hines, wife of Robert F. Chinese CEOs were conspicuously absent from the state dinner While some of America’s biggest technology and business leaders were invited. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about the absence of Chinese business leaders. This was Xi’s first visit to Washington in more than a decade and his second summit with Trump this year. The two leaders discussed artificial intelligence, trade, Taiwan, the Gulf and the Russia-Ukraine war as they sought to manage ties between the world’s two largest economies. Xi called for its development to remain under human control.
five Indian-origin guests were invited: -Second Lady Usha Vance -Satya Nadella, chairman and chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp. -Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc. and Google -Sanjay Mehrotra, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Micron Technology Inc. -Sangeeta Mehrotra, wife of Sanjay Mehrotra The guest list featured more than 130 people, including senior members of the Trump administration, US lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, business leaders, media personalities and members of the Trump family While no Indian government official was on the guest list. Susan Dell, wife of Michael Dell Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh Jane Lauder, wife of Kevin Warsh Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Allison Lutnick, wife of Howard Lutnick Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe Michelle Ratcliffe, wife of John Ratcliffe Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Katie Miller, wife of Stephen Miller Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff Erin Scavino, wife of Dan Scavino Attorney General Todd Blanche Kristine Blanche, wife of Todd Blanche Meredith O’Rourke, national finance director for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign Energy Secretary Chris Wright Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F.
One obstacle that came up during the negotiations for the state visits was that the US side was slow to propose protocols and clarify the roles the Chinese CEOs would have during the state visit, the person said. China said the leaders also discussed the Korean Peninsula, while giving no details of their conversation. Xi’s visit will wrap up on Friday after a visit to the US National Archives, home to the Declaration of Independence, which marks its 250th anniversary this year.
The Archives has a special exhibit marking the sesquicentennial, titled “The American Story,” which highlights the country’s accomplishments and advances, along with images depicting its darker moments. (With inputs from AP)
