President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state summit this week, featuring pageantry that included a 30-meter red carpet and a military flyover by B-1 bombers. The visit, which began with Mr. Trump greeting the Chinese leader on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, marked the first time a U.S. president has personally welcomed a foreign leader at the base since 1962. During the summit, the two leaders toured the National Archives Museum and attended a state dinner where Mr. Trump offered guests tours of the White House ballroom.
The diplomatic event comes as the Republican party prepares for midterm elections scheduled in fewer than 40 days. Mr. Trump stated following the meetings that President Xi agreed with his proposal to rebrand Artificial Intelligence (AI) as "super intelligence." The summit also included meetings with prominent technology executives, including NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman of OpenAI, and Google’s Sergey Brin.
The reception for President Xi drew criticism from members of the president's own party. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, characterized the Chinese leader as a "brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator" and urged the president to press him on human rights and military threats against Taiwan. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) questioned the hospitality given reports that Chinese companies assisted Iran with targeting information during the ongoing Iranian conflict. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) offered a more reserved response, stating he counted on the president to remain "tough on China."
Internal Republican polling and recent data show the party facing challenges ahead of the midterms. An NBC News poll currently shows Democrats with a nine-point advantage on the generic congressional ballot. While Republicans previously sought to flip seats in Michigan and Georgia, they are now focused on defending seats in Kansas, Iowa, and Texas. In Texas, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) noted that Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who was endorsed by Mr. Trump in the primary, currently trails Democrat James Talarico in most polls.
For the American public, the administration's focus on AI rebranding and its relationship with tech CEOs occurs amid reported public mistrust of the technology industry. While House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the House last week without moving to regulate AI, the president has characterized concerns regarding the technology as a "hoax." A person living in the U.S. would notice these policy choices primarily through the lack of new federal AI regulations and the continued economic pressure of rising fuel costs.
The precedent of the summit itself is significant, as it broke a 64-year diplomatic protocol regarding how U.S. presidents receive foreign dignitaries. This shift in optics comes at a time when China has consistently avoided other international forums, such as the UN General Assembly. What happens next depends on the midterm results in November 2026, which will determine if the current administration maintains the legislative support necessary to continue its foreign policy and military initiatives in the Middle East and Asia.