Published: 12:23 AM, 16 May 2026
Trump leaves China without breakthroughs on Iran, Taiwan
Donald Trump left China on Friday after a much-hyped summit of the world's two major powers that was rich in pageantry and promises of stability, but offered little by way of tangible progress.
The US president had gone into the two-day talks with China's Xi Jinping weakened by his prolonged war in Iran, and did little to change the perception that he and his nation are diminished on the global stage, the Guardian reports.
Instead it was Xi who delivered the sharpest rhetoric of the meeting - over the future status of the self-governing island of Taiwan, with Trump notably failing to push back.
In his final remarks in Beijing on Friday, Trump did claim that the US and China struck "fantastic trade deals", although details were scarce, and that he and Xi settled "a lot of different problems".
But critics are likely to suggest that the carefully choreographed summit - attended by tech executives including Elon Musk of Tesla and Tim Cook of Apple, as well as Trump's son, Eric - was more performative than substantive, with no major breakthrough on Iran, Taiwan or the countries' AI arms race.
Instead, as he departed, Trump posted on his Truth Social network: "China has a Ballroom, and so should the U.S.A.!" - a reference to his long-running campaign to build a $400m ballroom at the White House.
But he will return to Washington to find that the war in Iran still poses a major political headache. There is much speculation about how much pressure the US is putting on China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, to use its leverage with Iran to encourage the country to reopen the strait of Hormuz. And there is a question mark over whether or not Beijing would be willing to accede to that pressure.
Speaking alongside Xi at the Zhongnanhai garden in Beijing on Friday, Trump said: "We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar about [how] we want it to end. We don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open."
He added: "We want them [Iran] to get it ended because it's a crazy thing there, a little bit crazy. And it's no good, it can't happen."
The White House readout of the more than two hours of talks between Trump and Xi on Thursday said the leaders "agreed that the strait of Hormuz must remain open to support the free flow of energy" and that "President Xi also made clear China's opposition to the militarisation of the strait".
Later on Friday, Trump said he is considering lifting sanctions on Chinese companies that buy Iranian oil. He told Fox News that Xi assured him China will not supply Iran with military equipment, adding: "But at the same time he said they buy a lot of their oil there, and they'd like to keep doing that. He'd like to see Hormuz strait opened … I said, well, we didn't stop it. They did it."
China's foreign ministry on Friday again called for a ceasefire in Iran and said the strait of Hormuz should be opened "as soon as possible".
About half of China's crude oil passes through the waterway, but the bigger threat for the Chinese economy is if the conflict in the Middle East causes a global recession that dents demand for its exports.
But many in Beijing feel that the crisis in Iran is not China's responsibility.
Zhou Bo, a retired senior army colonel and a senior fellow in the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said: "On Iran, China definitely wants to help but I read what Rubio said: he actually seems to shift the burden to the Chinese side. In China, we have a saying: it is like, 'Why should I clean your shit?'"
Meanwhile, Beijing made it clear that Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims as part of its territory, was a top priority during this week's meeting. Xi warned Trump that their countries could have "clashes and even conflicts" if Taiwan was not handled properly, calling it the most important issue in US-China relations.
On Friday Trump insisted that "nothing's changed" about the US policy on Taiwan, while admitting that he may not approve a major arms sale for the self-governing island. Speaking to Fox News on the flight back to the US, the president said he made no commitment regarding the island, adding: "I don't think there's a conflict on Taiwan."
Xi sees unifying Taiwan with China as a core part of his legacy and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve that goal. Top of Beijing's wishlist regarding Taiwan is for the US to stop supplying the island with defensive weaponry.
Trump said on Air Force One he has not determined whether to move forward on major arms package for Taiwan that is planned for this year.
Last year, the US approved a record $11bn arms package for Taiwan, sparking outrage in Beijing. There are plans for another package worth $14bn to be passed this year, but the White House reportedly stalled the plans ahead of Trump's trip to Beijing.
Trump was making the first US presidential visit to China in nearly a decade and revelled in the hospitality, including an immaculate arrival ceremony, tour of Temple of Heaven and lavish state banquet in the Great Hall of the People, where Xi told Trump that China's "great rejuvenation" could go "hand in hand" with "Make America great again".
Meeting for a working tea and lunch in the Zhongnanhai garden on Friday, Trump admired the roses, and said that Xi had promised to send him some seeds for the White House rose garden.
"This has been an incredible visit," he said as the men sat together in an opulent wood-panelled room with a huge golden carpet. "I think a lot of good has come of it. We've made some fantastic trade deals - great for both countries … we've really done some wonderful things, I believe."
Trump added: "We've settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn't have been able to solve."
