President Donald Trump returned from a mid-May trip to Beijing for talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, portraying the visit as a success and pointing to what he described as new trade commitments involving Boeing aircraft and large purchases of U.S. agricultural goods, including soybeans. The discussions unfolded against the backdrop of the war with Iran and renewed scrutiny of U.S. policy toward Taiwan, as Trump weighed whether to proceed with a major arms package for the island.
Trump described the trip as “an incredible visit” and said China had agreed to buy American-made airplanes through Boeing and to purchase “billions of dollars” in U.S. farm goods, including soybeans.
“The farmers are going to be very happy. They’re going to be buying billions of dollars of soybeans.”
The trip had been delayed because of the war with Iran, according to NPR’s account of the visit. Trump’s return to Washington also came as he faced domestic political pressure tied to inflation and gasoline prices, issues discussed in the same NPR segment.
Beyond trade, the summit drew attention for its implications for Taiwan. NPR reported that Trump did not commit during the trip to moving ahead with a multibillion-dollar U.S. arms package for Taiwan and said he would decide “shortly,” a stance that prompted concern among supporters of robust U.S. backing for the island.
On Iran, NPR said China did not publicly offer the help the administration had sought to pressure Tehran, though Trump said he discussed Iran with Xi and claimed Xi privately offered to help without providing details.
Separately, the White House later issued a fact sheet describing the Beijing meetings as producing “historic deals,” including an “initial purchase” approval for 200 Boeing aircraft and agricultural purchase targets extending beyond soybeans. Independent reporting has noted that some of the trade pledges were described publicly in broad terms, with limited detail released at the time about timing and implementation.
