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Trump floats Sept. 24 date for Xi visit
The timing would align with a high-level United Nations General Assembly session; 2 leaders last met in China in May
Key Takeaways:
- President Donald Trump said July 6 that he expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping around Sept. 24.
- Trump cited Xi’s possible visit while discussing a White House ballroom, saying a larger venue would accommodate crowds wanting to see him.
- The potential visit would coincide with the U.N. General Assembly. Trump and Xi last met in May in China.
President Donald Trump said he expected to meet with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping around Sept. 24, which would coincide with the United Nations General Assembly in New York that month.
Trump floated the date as he discussed the construction of a White House ballroom during an event July 6, citing a possible visit by the Chinese president as a reason for building the new structure.
“For instance, President Xi is coming here in the — toward the end of Sept. 24, I believe,” Trump said. “What we need is a big ballroom; we could hold thousands of people to see him. Everyone wants to see him.”
A visit on that date in Washington would happen alongside the annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. Trump, who is set to give his speech to the General Assembly on Sept. 22, typically spends a few nights in New York to meet other world leaders. Xi has only attended the event once since taking office in 2012.
While Trump has said before that he expected to host Xi in September, he had not yet offered a potential date for the visit.
Trump and Xi met in May of this year during a high-profile summit in Beijing that saw the nations seek to bolster ties after tensions fueled by the Iran war.
Despite initiatives to strengthen links between the world’s two largest economies and some progress on trade, a number of geopolitical flashpoints remain, including the Middle East, the status of Taiwan and Trump’s efforts to rebuild his tariff wall.
