Trump, Xi end state visit that was long on pomp, but short on progress - National Post
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump with President of China Xi Jinping and first lady of China Peng Liyuan outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 25, 2026. Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty ImagesArticle contentU.S. President Donald Trump took Chinese leader Xi Jinping to see the founding documents of American democracy on Friday, capping a state visit full of pomp and pageantry but with no major breakthroughs.
Trump said he discussed the stalled Iran war with Xi, and the two leaders confirmed that they would meet for a third and fourth time this year at international summits in China and the United States.
But as Trump showed Xi around the National Archives in Washington — home to the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution — it underscored that the summit was more about spectacle than substance.
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The summit produced no major policy announcements on flashpoints like artificial intelligence, Taiwan or trade, apart from a two-month extension of a tariff truce between the world’s two largest economies.
The only other reveal was that two Chinese pandas would soon arrive at a U.S. zoo.
The message from the U.S. and Chinese sides was that the summit had nevertheless helped smooth tensions between the rival superpowers over a host of issues.
Trump said the meeting was “one of Friendship, Strength, and Success, for both China and the U.S.A.”
“We’ve made great strides, very positive for both countries,” Trump told reporters as he had tea with Xi at the White House on Friday before the archives trip.
Trump has rolled out the red carpet throughout the visit, treating Xi to a state banquet full of U.S. tech titans, plus military parades, a flyover and even a tour of his new White House helipad and ballroom.
For his part, Xi said his Washington trip had added “new substance” to his summit with Trump in Beijing in May.
