Trump taps Tim Cook, Musk, Jensen Huang for Xi summit as leverage

Donald Trump is heading into two days of meetings with China’s Xi Jinping in Beijing this week with minimal leverage, experts say. His hopes to resolve Ukraine, stabilize Gaza, and diversify supply chains have largely failed, while escalations in Iran handed China more bargaining power. To compensate, Trump invited a trio of top US tech executives: Apple CEO Tim Cook (whom Trump calls “Tim Apple”), Elon Musk, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The AI race and chip supply chains have been added to the agenda after China blocked Meta’s acquisition of Chinese firm Manus. Huang’s presence is especially notable—he previously convinced the US to allow certain high-end chip sales to China, and now hopes to finalize those deals. But China has resisted buying Nvidia chips, prioritizing domestic alternatives.

Scott Kennedy of CSIS noted that both countries rely on each other: Nvidia’s chips are peerless, while China holds rare-earth exports critical for US tech. Trump posted on Truth Social that it’s an “honor” for these “brilliant people” to help bring China “to an even higher level,” alarming China hawks who fear Trump may trade away too much. Former Biden official Chris McGuire said any deal allowing Nvidia to sell more chips to China means fewer chips for US firms and a smaller US AI lead. China’s top priority is pressing Trump on Taiwan—specifically, changing US language from “does not support” independence to “opposes,” which could shift the military balance. The summit will test whether Trump’s tech diplomacy can achieve US goals without ceding strategic advantage.