Winners and Losers From Trump and Xi’s Beijing Summit Talks

Boeing airplanes at the company’s manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, US.Photographer: M. Scott Brauer/Bloomberg

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By Jeff Mason and Skylar Woodhouse

May 15, 2026 at 9:31 AM UTC

Updated on

May 15, 2026 at 1:13 PM UTC

Donald Trump got the pageantry he craved during his trip to China. But the US president concluded the summit largely where he began, receiving little help from his self-described “friend” Xi Jinping in dealing with a messy war in Iran and a challenging political climate at home.

The two presidents put on a display of warmth and respect during their two-day summit in Beijing. Trump praised China as a beautiful place and called his counterpart a great leader. Xi, for his part, welcomed Trump with military honors, flag-waving children, a gift of rose seeds and a toast to his health.