USA · 22 September, 2026 · 2 min read
Trump and Xi Begin Oval Office Talks After B-2 Spirit Flyover and F-22 Raptors
Xi Jinping arrived in Washington and was greeted by Trump at Joint Base Andrews. A B-2 Spirit flyover and F-22 Raptors accompanied the arrival ceremony.
How much concrete dealmaking is expected.
6 of 8 outlets skipped it: trump greeted Xi on the tarmac instead of at the White House.
113outlets compared
Same story, two versions
tap a side to read it in full
ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
“Most of this will be theatre … [I'm] not expecting large deliverables.”Read the original ↗
It signals whether the meeting is treated as substantive diplomacy or performance.
Oval Office, with honors
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping began formal talks in the White House Oval Office after Trump greeted Xi with a handshake and a flyover by a B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptors. Trump told reporters that the United States and China could achieve much by focusing on common interests, invoking US-Chinese WWII collaboration, and Xi called for both countries’ artificial intelligence leaders to keep AI under human control.
Xi urged Washington and Beijing to stay away from “conflict and confrontation” and to reinforce crisis communication and prevention mechanisms as the summit unfolded. Trump later called the Oval Office discussions a “great meeting” lasting more than three hours, and he accompanied Xi through the residence’s gardens where he showed the new heliport and the construction of a future ballroom.
Press access dispute
A federal judge ordered the credentials of CNN, MS NOW, and Politico reinstated after the Administration revoked them, and Trump described the meeting as a “great gathering” after more than three hours at the White House.
Judge Timothy Kelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered early this morning to immediately restore CNN, MS NOW, and Politico’s access, finding that the veto occurred without due process.
The White House maintained restrictions in the morning despite the court order, and the major American networks avoided live broadcasts in solidarity with the three barred outlets.
The Associated Press reported that the bilateral Oval Office meeting between Trump and Xi was scheduled to be closed press, but the White House allowed only still photographers into the Oval Office and denied requests from the rest of the pool, including reporters who would be asking questions.
Trade, Taiwan, AI
The summit agenda centered on trade, Taiwan, artificial intelligence, and the war on Iran, with Trump and Xi seeking to preserve a fragile trade truce while tensions continued across technology and national security. Trump praised Xi and said, “Since my first election in 2016, President Xi and I have forged a truly extraordinary friendship, built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our peoples,” while Xi warned, “China and the United States must not cross the line into conflict and confrontation.”
The two governments sought to stabilize a relationship shaped by trade and tariff disputes, technology restrictions, access to rare earths, and competition for global leadership in artificial intelligence. The White House staged a military review in the Rose Garden, and the AP reported that Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan toured the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art as the first ladies visited the museum together while the leaders met.