Trump Brings Elon Musk, Tim Cook and CEOs to Beijing Meeting With Xi Jinping

President Donald Trump is expected to travel to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday, and a White House official says he will bring a delegation of business and technology executives including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The list of invited executives includes BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach and Visa CEO Ryan McInerney, along with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and other chief executives.

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The BBC reports that in total 17 U.S. executives will join Trump on the trip, and it says the summit agenda is expected to cover trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan and the Iran war.

The Independent adds that the delegation is expected to include prominent figures such as David Solomon of Goldman Sachs Group, Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone, BlackRock's Larry Fink, Jane Fraser of Citigroup and Dina Powell McCormick from Meta Platforms, and it says the companies will accompany Trump for his summit with Xi Jinping.

The Independent also notes that China said Trump will make a state visit from May 13 to 15, according to the Xinhua official news agency.

The Hill frames the trip as high-stakes because Trump is traveling to Beijing to meet Xi Jinping as the conflict with Iran threatens to weigh on the meeting, and it says the Beijing trip was postponed from early April amid the U.S. war with Iran.

CBS News ties the delegation to global oil markets and supply chains, saying Trump is meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing as uncertainty over the war with Iran roils global oil markets and supply chains.

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Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, "I have a great relationship with President Xi," and he said, "We're doing a lot of business, but it's smart business."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is described as not expected to attend, with the Independent saying Huang is reportedly not expected to attend and that Huang told CNBC last week he would join Trump on the trip if invited.

CNBC adds that Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins was invited but is unable to attend due to the company's earnings schedule, while it lists the other executives expected to join Trump for meetings with Xi.

Multiple outlets say Trump hopes the China trip will unlock business deals and purchase agreements with Beijing, with the Independent saying the U.S. president hopes this visit will unlock a series of trade deals and purchase agreements with Beijing.

“Elon Musk and Tim Cook among CEOs expected to accompany Trump on China trip US President Donald Trump is expected to bring a host of top business and technology industry executives on his trip to China this week”

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RTTNews similarly says the aim is to ease strains between the two nations and push forward on commercial agreements, while it lists expected delegation members including Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Larry Fink and Kelly Ortberg.

The BBC reports that Trump is expected to push China, which relies on Iran for cheap oil, to help facilitate an agreement between Tehran and Washington to end the war, and it says China also wants the conflict to end.

Forbes says the summit comes amid tensions over trade, the war in Iran and the future of artificial intelligence, and it reports that Tesla’s Elon Musk, Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Apple’s Tim Cook, General Electric’s Larry Culp and BlackRock’s Larry Fink are among the billionaires expected to travel to Beijing with Trump.

The Chinese Embassy wrote on X that Xi and Trump will discuss "major issues concerning bilateral relations and world peace and development," and it added, "China and the U.S. need to expand cooperation and manage differences in the spirit of equality, respect and mutual benefit."