Trump’s Meeting With Xi Carries Major Risks as Arms Race Heats Up

Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Washington on Wednesday for a state visit that began with a rare tarmac greeting from President Trump. Trump met Xi on the runway at Joint Base Andrews, a gesture that has not happened for a U.S. president since John F. Kennedy greeted British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962.

The welcome was lavish, and the summit included a state dinner. Two experts tracking U.S.-China relations — Nicholas Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to China, and Samm Sacks, a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University — offered differing perspectives on whether the relationship is actually improving.

Burns’s Take on Xi

Burns, now a professor of diplomacy at Harvard, spent time in meetings with Xi over the past couple of years. He describes the Chinese leader as “hardheaded and pragmatic” and “very cynical about the United States.” That cynicism, he says, drives a strategy aimed at undermining the United States.

Burns told PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz that Xi sees the U.S. as a competitor and wants to undermine it. He adds that the Chinese leader is pragmatic in his approach.

Burns also notes that at President Biden’s last summit with Xi nearly two years ago, Biden convinced Xi to publicly commit that human beings should remain in control of nuclear weapons, not AI systems. That agreement shows what can be achieved through direct engagement, he argues.

Sacks’s Take on the Summit

Sacks was in China for much of July and says expectations were very low for this summit, particularly on artificial intelligence. She argues that both sides have focused more on an AI race than on shared vulnerabilities.

“We have a very competitive relationship with China,” Burns said, pushing back on Trump’s claim that “we have a great relationship with China.”

Sacks notes that “Trump is much cozier with autocrats than he is with like-minded democratic leaders, and that’s a problem.” She says the U.S. approach treats allies poorly while flattering adversaries.

To address shared vulnerabilities in AI, Sacks argues the U.S. must treat China as a peer. “We have to coexist with China,” she says, and “treat China like a peer.”

The Unwritten Rule of Diplomacy

Burns cites an “unwritten rule in American diplomacy that we ought to be nicer to our friends and allies than we are to our adversaries.” That rule appears broken with Xi, who got the tarmac treatment while Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is also in the United States this week.

The contrast is stark. Trump went to meet Xi at the airport; Takaichi, meanwhile, is also in the U.S. this week.

The AI Warning From Chinese Experts

Sacks says Chinese experts she has spoken to through track two channels believe the U.S. insistence on American primacy would “set to fail” any AI discussions. That warning suggests Beijing sees the AI arena as one where American dominance is unacceptable.

The summit’s stated goals touch on AI safety. But the underlying dynamic — a U.S. administration that flatters adversaries while treating allies coolly — complicates that work.

The Communication Channel

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said a communication channel was important, noting that neither country wants to see a terrorist group use AI to build a biological weapon. That practical interest in coordination cuts across the political noise.

Burns points to the nuclear control agreement as evidence that direct engagement works. Sacks pushes for a peer-to-peer approach on AI. Their assessments of the relationship differ on how to engage, but both see the current competition as real.

What the Experts Differ On

1. The nature of the relationship — great vs. competitive.
2. How to engage — flatter or treat as a peer.
3. Who gets the warmest welcome — Xi or Takaichi.
4. Whether the U.S. treats allies better than adversaries.

The Bottom Line

The tarmac greeting was a spectacle. The summit is a test. The U.S. and China are competitors, and the summit’s stated goals — cooperation on AI safety — sit atop a relationship defined by mutual distrust.

Burns’s point about the unwritten rule of diplomacy is worth remembering. When the U.S. treats an adversary better than an ally, it weakens its position everywhere.

The summit will end. The relationship continues. The question is whether the U.S. can hold two truths at once: compete fiercely, and communicate clearly.

Key Facts Box
– Xi arrived in Washington on Wednesday
– Trump greeted Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews
– Last U.S. president to greet a leader at the airport: 1962
– Last summit with Xi: Biden, nearly two years ago
– Treasury Secretary: Scott Bessent
– Japanese PM in the U.S. this week: Sanae Takaichi

Source material: “Experts analyze what's at stake in the Trump-Xi summit,” PBS.

AI arms race · diplomatic tensions · Trump · US-China relations · Xi Jinping