Trump-Xi dinner guests included Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and more
It was just a fun little dinner for the people deciding the future of humanity. The amount of power concentrated at the head table alone was dizzying. The US president and the Chinese president, dining by candlelight with Elon Musk , Jensen Huang and Tim Cook , all of them sitting in the state diningroom of the White House at this moment that many in Silicon Valley warn could be the last before humanity stumbles into the AI apocalypse. Standing before a room chockablock with AI moguls, billionaires and politicians, US president Donald Trum p decided to depart from his prepared remarks. Now that he finally had these people together in one place, he could talk about his important plans. The ones he’s been working on nonstop ever since he returned to the White House. “If I could go off-script, just for a second,” he said. The sound of rich people clapping filled the room. Suspense! “I just want to say ...” the president continued. “ ... I’d like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back – The door, it’s all lit up, and looks beautiful. It’s one year away from completion, the new ballroom that you’ve heard about.” Oh. He was inviting them to take a walk through the construction site in back of the house. Donald Trump and Xi Jinping strike warm tone at White House as US-China tensions remain “You’ll be the first people to step foot on that,” he told guests including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman, “and we’ll do that maybe after we’re finished with the entertainment tonight.” There was not a single mention of AI in his speech. Trump doesn’t buy into the AI panic. He insists it’s mostly just a problem of branding. AI needs better PR. If any of the tech titans and members of Chinese Politburo who showed up to the White House used the state visit to get on the same page about the direction of this terrifying new technology, they haven’t shared their designs with the public. This was a roomful of people who have many disagreements about the way forward. The US president, for his part, just seemed happy to be playing maître d’ to the mighty. “You will see something that I think you will really love,” Trump told them about the ballroom site. “Tonight, if we had it, we would have had way more than a thousand people, with standing room only. And this room has about 145, that’s about it.” “Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honour to have you do so,” he said. “This is in honour of president Xi, madam Peng.” Trump never seems more pleased than when he is hosting wealthy and powerful people at his table. The aspects of the job that so clearly delight him concern pageantry and set design, and Xi’s visit provided opportunities for plenty of it. Earlier in the day, Trump took Xi around the back to show off a new helipad and the slick new driveway. “He’s an expert on stone, aside from many others, and he loves good granite,” Trump told reporters as the pair walked back inside. Xi announced a gift of two giant pandas, named Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, who will live at the Atlanta zoo. At the dinner, Trump unveiled a rather large statue of a bald eagle to give to the Chinese autocrat. “We hope it’ll find a nice place, a wonderful place, in Beijing,” Trump said. Sadly for Trump, almost none of this made it on to the television networks he watches so closely. The Chinese state visit has collided with the consequences of the decision he made in a fit of pique last Friday to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House campus. A judge ordered the Trump administration to let the banned reporters back Thursday, but the TV networks are still refusing to take Trump’s carnival live. Until his administration formally agrees to let CNN back into the White House TV pool rotation, he is not going to see those blinking red lights he loves so much. Shortly before the dinner began, he posted one of his diatribes on his website. CNN and MS NOW were “fake,” he wrote, because they wouldn’t cover “one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years, the arrival at the White House of the Highly Respected President of China, Xi Jinping, and his beautiful wife, Madam Peng.” The president continued: “The event was magnificent – Actually made for Television but, because they’re Fake News, and because they knew how good it would be, they didn’t want credit to be given to ‘TRUMP,’ they refused to be there. That’s why they have such poor Ratings.” He concluded: “Tonight’s State Dinner at the White House, for President Xi, will be spectacular! The Media will be in attendance.” Yes, the White House complex was crawling with journalists Thursday evening as Xi pulled up to the front door of the residence. But, in the spirit of solidarity with those targeted by Trump’s ban, some just ignored the spectacle. Who was at the state dinner for president Xi? American tech executives and Chinese officials were among the more than 130 guests at a state dinner for President Xi Jinping’s visit to White House on Thursday. Tech titans including Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman and Tim Cook made appearances at the event, hosted by President Donald Trump and Melania Trump. Here is the list of invitees provided by the White House: US president Donald Trump and Melania Trump China’s president Xi Jinping of China and Peng Liyuan US vice president JD Vance and Usha Vance US secretary of state Marco Rubio and Jeanette Rubio Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff David Perdue, ambassador to China, and Bonnie Perdue US treasury secretary Scott Bessent and John Freeman US defence secretary Pete Hegseth Jamieson Greer, US trade representative, and Marlo Greer Cai Qi, chief of staff to Xi Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs He Lifeng, vice premier of state council Zheng Shanjie, chair of the National Development and Reform Commission Wang Wentao, minister of commerce Ma Zhaoxu, executive vice minister of foreign affairs Ambassador Xie Feng, Chinese ambassador to the United States, and Wang Dan Ivanka Trump Eric Trump Lara Trump Tiffany Trump and Michael Boulos Viktor Knavs Arabella Kushner Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, and Lori Huang Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, and Daniel Lin Tim Cook, executive chair of Apple John FW Rogers, executive vice president of Goldman Sachs Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange Linda G Mills, president of New York University Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom Tang Fangyu, director of the Central Policy Research Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Lan Fo’an, China’s finance minister Zhou Hongxu, director of the Central Security Bureau Lyu Luhua, secretary to Xi Hong Lei, director general, Protocol Department Cai Wei, director general, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs Mao Ning, director general, Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zhang Quan, secretary to Peng Zhang Yongchao, deputy director general, Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, and Anna Brockman Miriam Adelson, investor and philanthropist Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft James Taiclet, CEO of Lockheed Martin Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron CEO, and Sangeeta Mehrota Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm Jeff Bezos, Amazon chair, and Lauren Sanchez-Bezos Jeff Yass, ByteDance and TikTok investor Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase Michael Dell, CEO of Dell, and Susan Dell Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors, and Anthony Barra David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, and Kathy Woods Chief Justice John Roberts and Jane Sullivan Roberts Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Jesse Barrett Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Ashley Estes Kavanaugh Speaker Mike Johnson and Kelly Johnson Bret Baier, Fox News anchor, and Amy Baier Laura Ingraham, Fox News host Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga. Jesse Watters, Fox News host, and Emma Watters David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance, and Sandra Lynn Ellison Kevin Warsh, Fed chair, and Jane Lauder Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Allison Lutnick John Ratcliffe, CIA director, and Michele Ratcliffe Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff, and Katie Miller Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff, and Erin Scavino Attorney General Todd Blanche and Kristine Blanche Meredith O’Rourke, political fundraiser and leader of the O’Rourke Group Energy Secretary Chris Wright Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cheryl Hines Education Secretary Linda McMahon Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Kathryn Burgum Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Rachel Campos-Duffy Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget Lee Zeldin, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Keith Sonderling, acting secretary of labour Brad Gerstner, CEO of Altimeter, and Katie Simpson Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer David Sacks, co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology Kelly Loeffler, administrator of the Small Business Administration, and Jeff Sprecher Representative Jason Smith, (Republican, Missouri) Senator Steve Daines, ((Republican, Montana) General Dan Caine, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jay Clayton, director of national intelligence Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH Alexandre Arnault Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa Michael Miebach, CEO of Mastercard - This article originally appeared in The New York Times .