On Capitol Hill today, we can expect a series of votes in the House and Senate.

Lawmakers in the lower chamber will vote for the third time to advance a war powers resolution that curbs military action in Iran. Much like yesterday’s failed Senate vote on the resolution, this is also expected to fall short, but we’ll be watching to see if any more Republicans defect and vote in favor.

In the upper chamber today, we can expect final passage on legislation that would withhold senators’ pay during a government shutdown. On Wednesday, the bill advanced by a unanimous vote, and will head to the Senate floor this afternoon.

As I reported earlier, we were watching for more opinions from the supreme court today. The justices didn’t hand down any decisions that we were watching closely.

However, it’s also worth saying that a case we’ll still be watching closely today, as the court is also poised to announce next steps in a case about granting nationwide access to mail-order mifepristone – an abortion medication.

On Monday, Justice Samuel Alito extended a temporary order that allows the pill’s distribution by telehealth and mail until at least 14 May. Two mifepristone manufacturers filed an emergency appeal to the supreme court after a federal appeals court ordered a ban on shipping the pill earlier this month.

A group of Miami residents has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and the state of Florida over a land giveaway for his proposed presidential library.

Almost three acres of prime waterfront land that once belonged to Miami Dade College (MDC) was illegally gifted to the US president by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, the lawsuit states.

It cites the domestic emoluments clause of the US constitution that prohibits a sitting president from receiving any personal gain, profit or advantage from their position.

The action was brought in US district court for the southern district of Florida by the Washington DC-based Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) on behalf of plaintiffs including an MDC student, a Miami non-profit, and residents, who state the land “is no longer available to serve MDC’s student community and downtown Miami”.

Instead, the filing states, “the land will house a Trump hotel that brings riches to the President”.

Plans for the “gaudy” project were unveiled in March, to be built next to Miami’s iconic Freedom Tower, the historical landmark and community art museum. A giant golden statue of the president will stand before a 50-story tower block that will feature the controversial $400m Boeing “flying palace” jumbo jet gifted to him by Qatar, but not yet in service, in its cavernous lobby.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said Washington and Beijing are able to discuss artificial intelligence guardrails because the US is “the undisputed leader in the world” of AI.

“The two AI superpowers are gonna start talking. We’re gonna set up a protocol in terms of how do we go forward with best practices for AI to make sure non-state actors don’t get a hold of these models,” he told CNBC.

He added: “The reason we are able to have wholesome discussions with the Chinese on AI is because we are in the lead.

“I do not think we would be having the same discussions if they were this far ahead of us.”

Donald Trump, accustomed to eating McDonald’s, is being forced to expand his palate at tonight’s state banquet in Beijing.

The menu includes lobster in tomato soup, crispy beef ribs, Beijing roast duck, stewed seasonal vegetables, slow-cooked salmon in mustard sauce, pan-fried pork bun and trumpet shell-shaped pastry.

The dinner caps a first day of talks between Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping that appear to have gone smoothly but offered little by way of substance.

It is being held in a huge hall in the Great Hall of the People beneath giant chandeliers, blue and gold balconies and an orange backdrop with pagoda-style roofs saying ‘Welcoming banquet’ with US and China flags.

Xi toasted Trump by saying the relationship between China and the US is the most important in the world today and we “must make it work and never mess it up”. He added that the “rejuvenation of China” and “make America great again” can go hand in hand.

Then Trump delivered a flat speech with few of his usual digressions. He said he had invited Xi to visit the White House on 24 September. Toasting the enduring ties between the American and Chinese people, he described it as “very special relationship” – a phrase that might be painful to British ears.

But both of them are at risk of being upstaged by tech billionaire Elon Musk, who was repeatedly asked for photos by Chinese guests and responded by pulling funny faces. Asked by pool reporters about his talks with Xi, Musk replied: “It was awesome,” before secretary of state Marco Rubio led him away.

Giving more examples of how close the US and China have grown over the years, Trump said Chinese people “now love basketball and blue jeans”.

He also claimed Chinese restaurants in the US today “outnumber the five largest fast food chains in the United States all combined. That’s a pretty big statement”.

Trump said the US and China have “from the beginning … shared a deep sense of mutual respect”, giving the example of Benjamin Franklin publishing the sayings of Confucius in his colonial newspaper.

Xi ended his speech with “ganbei” – the Chinese equivalent of “cheers” – and raising his glass to Trump.

Trump and Xi have arrived at the state banquet, where they are seated next to each other.

Xi is now delivering a speech, follow along for more.

Looks like the tech leaders accompanying Trump on his China trip and some other US officials have arrived early for the banquet dinner in the Great Hall of the People.

Donald Trump has arrived at the state banquet in Beijing where more pageantry awaits.

Taiwan said it would “maintain close communication” with the US and that Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping contained “no surprises”.

Xi warned Trump that the issue of Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, could lead to conflict and “an extremely dangerous situation”, according to a readout of their meeting by the Chinese foreign ministry.

Taiwan’s mainland affairs council deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh brushed off those comments, saying the self-governing island is almost always discussed in meetings between the US and China.

“So at this point, all we can say is that there has been no surprising information so far and we will continue to maintain close communication with the American side,” he said, adding that comments about conflict had been made before.

Here are some of the latest images on the wires coming out of the Trump-Xi summit

Donald Trump is known for his off the cuff remarks, particularly to the media, but during a photo op in Beijing he remained unusually silent when posed with questions by the press.

CNN published a video of the US president standing side by side with Xi Jinping outside the Temple of Heaven, and he is asked twice by reporters whether he discussed Taiwan with the Chinese leader during meetings today. Trump appears to ignore the question and, after momentarily standing in silence with Xi, walks away.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement that Xi told Trump the Taiwan issue “is the most important issue in China-US relations” and that “Taiwan independence and peace” are “incompatible”.

A comment Donald Trump made to Xi Jinping about the tech leaders who have accompanied him on his trip to China has proved popular with Chinese social media users.

“I didn’t want the second or the third in the company. I wanted only the top, and they’re here today to pay respects to you and to China,” Trump told Xi.

His comments ranked second in trending topics on the Chinese social network Weibo, according to AP.

On the streets of Beijing there has been heightened security for the Xi-Trump summit – as well as scepticism about the US.

Yaoji Chaogan, a no-frills canteen next to Beijing’s historic Drum and Bell towers, once proudly displayed photographs of Joe Biden, whose 2011 visit to the eatery when he was US vice-president went viral in China. But evidence of him stopping in was removed during redecorations a few years ago, and a visit from a US leader is no longer something to boast about, writes Amy Hawkins in Beijing.

“If US politicians were really smart, they wouldn’t try to hold China back,” Liu Cheng, 47, said at the restaurant on Wednesday.

Whoever was US president, Liu said, “it’s more or less the same for ordinary people like us”.

Before they take office, US presidents may say very extreme things, but once they are in office they have no choice but to face the reality of China’s existence.”

He said the US was struggling to accept the fact of China’s rise. The US “sees China has a threat … I think it will probably take about 10 years for the US to accept it”.

Liu Chunlei, a 36-year-old taxi driver, said the issue of Taiwanese independence was driving a wedge between the two superpowers. But he welcomed that Trump was willing to visit Beijing.

It will definitely help ease China-US relations a little … it shows that his attitude towards China is not hostile.”

Others expressed scepticism, with one user on the social media platform Weibo writing:

There’s no point discussing anything with Trump. He’ll change his mind once he gets back. What he says in the morning can also change by the afternoon.”

See the full story here:

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have visited Beijing’s historic Temple of Heaven after concluding their high-stakes talks.

The two leaders reportedly arrived at the world heritage site on Thursday shortly after 1pm (0500 GMT), where Trump told media that “China’s beautiful”.

The Temple of Heaven is a religious complex dating from the Ming dynasty in the 15th century, and has been closed to visitors since Tuesday ahead of Trump’s tour.

The temple is a significant monument in the history of Beijing and Washington. Henry Kissinger visited it on a secret visit to China in 1971, a trip that paved the way for the US and China to establish formal diplomatic relations.

Curious about what is happening in Beijing?

Take a look at our gallery on the Xi-Trump summit, replete with scenes from the country’s capital.

Here are three of them:

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping wrapped up their meeting after about two hours of talks covering Taiwan, trade and other differences in US-China relations.

The meeting was behind closed doors and the White House didn’t offer an official readout afterwards, but China’s official Xinhua news agency said Xi told Trump that if Taiwan was not handled correctly, the US and China risked “clashes and even conflicts, putting the entire relationship in great jeopardy”.

That followed public opening remarks at the Great Hall of the People in which Trump was full of praise for Xi, saying “you’re a great leader” and that “it’s an honour to be your friend”.

Xi was darker in his opening remarks, expressing hope the US and China could avoid conflict while saying that history and the world were asking “whether the two countries can transcend the “Thucydides Trap” (see earlier post) and forge a new model for relations between major powers”, the AP reported.

A White House official is also confirming that Trump and Xi’s summit meeting has finished.

Taiwan is reportedly saying the US has “reaffirmed its clear and firm support” for the island for the island.

More on this soon.

The Xi-Trump meeting has now concluded, Chinese state media channel CCTV is saying.

The meeting between Trump and Xi and their delegations is still continuing in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, a White House official has been quoted as saying.

Asian markets were mixed on Thursday as investors weighed the US-China summit along with persistent inflation concerns, which tempered optimism fuelled by record highs on Wall Street.

The Nasdaq and S+P 500 hit the fresh highs overnight but investor attention centred on Donald Trump’s Beijing visit, with markets hoping for progress in easing trade tensions but analysts cautioning against expecting a major breakthrough.

As the strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut, the price of international benchmark Brent crude oil was marginally up on Thursday morning, going for a little over $105 a barrel, AFP reports.

In Asian markets, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei and Manila advanced, while Shanghai, Wellington and Singapore were down.

Currency markets were relatively steady, with the yen slightly weaker and the yuan ticking higher.

As the high-stakes US-China summit continues, negotiations on the conflict in the Middle East, the US-China trade war, disagreements over Taiwan and global AI competition will be packed into just over 24 hours.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio said as the Trump team travelled to Beijing that Washington would be pushing Beijing for help on the Iran crisis.

Beijing, meanwhile, hopes to use the meeting to recalibrate US-China ties and set a foundation for a stable and, optimistically, predictable trade relationship going forwards.

Amy Hawkins also reports that Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the US, said in the Chinese Communist party’s official newspaper on Thursday:

Against the backdrop of escalating international instability, the strategic significance of Sino-US relations is even more prominent.

It is not clear what concrete outcomes will be achieved at this week’s talks. The Trump administration has talked of establishing a Board of Trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries. Beijing wants to push Trump to soften US support for Taiwan, although many in Beijing concede this is unlikely.

Despite the trip lasting barely two days, Xi and Trump will have plenty of time for interaction on this visit – the first of up to four presidential meetings expected this year.

See the full report here:

Donald Trump was evidently pleased with his welcome in Beijing. US domestic critics will say that it flattered his authoritarian ego perfectly.

In October 2024 Trump said of Xi Jinping:

He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. I mean, he’s a brilliant guy, whether you like it or not.

The US president will have loved the cool, clinical pageantry that greeted him at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing: red carpet, cannon fire, martial music and troops in ceremonial uniforms with bayoneted rifles marching in lockstep.

Trump stopped to applaud children who energetically waved flags and flowers with theatrical adulation. He watched as Xi warmly shook hands with his son, Eric, and his favourite rightwing ideologue, Stephen Miller.

“That was an honour like few have ever seen before,” Trump said when they sat down in a grand boardroom.

He told Xi:

You’re a great leader. Sometimes people don’t like me saying it, but I say it anyway, because it’s true. I only say the truth.

Once, such China-US meetings were palpably between autocrat and democrat. Now they appear like two birds of a feather.

More from the two leaders’ opening remarks now.

Trump told Xi in the meeting room that their two countries were “going to have a fantastic future together”.

“It’s an honour to be with you,” Trump said.

It’s an honour to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”

The Chinese leader was quoting as telling Trump at the table with their delegations in the Great Hall of the People that he was “happy” for the US president’s visit while the world was “at a new crossroads” and that he looked forward to exchanging views with him on major issues.

Xi said:

A stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world. Cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both. We should be partners and not rivals.”

Trump’s motorcade arrived at the Great Hall at 10.01am local time, almost exactly on schedule.

It slowly drew to a halt and Trump emerged at 10.03, wearing a suit and red tie. A band played a fanfare.

He walked over to Xi – who was standing by the steps – and they shook hands for a couple of seconds, with Trump briefly patting Xi’s hand, AFP reports.

Xi, accompanied by Trump, then shook hands with the US delegation front row.

Trump and Xi moved to the raised red-and-gold dais as the Chinese military band played the Star Spangled Banner. Trump saluted as cannon fire rang out across Tianenmen Square. Both leaders then stood to attention for the Chinese national anthem.

Trump and Xi inspected an honour guard of several lines of Chinese troops in various ceremonial uniforms in blue and white with bayoneted rifles. Nearest the press poll was a group of rifle-clutching female troops.

Schoolchildren then energetically did their routine and Trump smiled broadly and applauded them as Xi and he moved along in front of them, later heading towards the Great Hall.

Trump and Xi have entered the Great Hall of the People, along with their entourages, and the welcome ceremony has ended.

Bilateral talks between the two countries are now to follow, and we’re seeing live images of the two delegations seated on a long table with Chinese and US flags at the end.

Xi is delivering opening remarks as Trump listens, sometimes nodding, and then Trump addresses Xi.

The day is to later include a visit to the Temple of Heaven and a state banquet.

Trump and Xi are walking together on a red carpet, drum rolls and trumpets are sounding.

Trump salutes as a band is playing the US national anthem.

Xi is now shaking hands with US officials.

The two men have walked together to a group of Chinese officials and Trump is shaking hands.

Donald Trump has gotten out of a car and shaken hands with Xi Jinping.

Xi Jinping has walked down stairs in Tinanman Square as a US motorcade drives towards the area.

US officials including secretary of state Marco Rubio and defence secretary Pete Hegseth are also gathering.

From Beijing we’re seeing live images of an honour guard marching into position before a welcome ceremony for Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People – due to start in minutes.

During the summit, Donald Trump also intends to raise the idea of the US, China and Russia signing a pact that would set limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal, according to a senior Trump administration official who spoke anonymously in briefing reporters ahead of the trip.

China has previously been cool to entering such a pact. Beijing’s arsenal, according to Pentagon estimates, exceeds more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is far from parity with the US and Russia, which each are estimated to have more than 5,000 nuclear warheads.

The last nuclear arms pact between Russia and the US – known as the New Start treaty – expired in February. As it was set to expire, Trump rejected a call by Russia to extend the two-country deal for another year and called for “a new, improved and modernised” deal that includes China.

Among the big tech leaders who (eventually) flew to China with Trump on Air Force One is Jensen Huang, the president and CEO of Nvidia.

Trump was reportedly picked up Huang in Alaska en route to the Beijing summit, while the presidential plane was refuelling. Trump asked Huang at the last minute to join the trip, Reuters quoted a source as saying. Huang had not figured on an initial list of travelling executives provided by the White House.

Various media outlets had reported on Huang’s apparent omission after the plane had departed for Alaska and Beijing. Trump later posted from Air Force One saying Huang was onboard and he denied the CEO had not been invited.

The Nvidia boss is close to Trump, but in April Huang criticised the US’s limitations on chip sales to China, saying he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI. The sale of US semiconductors to China is believed to be a key agenda item for the summit.

Here are some photos of US snipers and other security forces watching over Air Force One while it refuelled on Tuesday at Joint Base Elmendorf in Anchorage, Alaska.

Donald Trump will drive through a Chinese capital that is smoggier than it was on his last visit in 2017, when the authorities launched emergency measures to clear the skies of pollution days before his first state visit to Beijing.

Factories were ordered to halt production and heavily polluting cars were banned from the roads in the days ahead of the US president’s trip nearly a decade ago, an era in which China had declared war on air pollution and made special efforts to clear the skies ahead of important political events such as visiting dignitaries and the Beijing Olympics.

No such efforts have been made this year. The air quality index in the capital is over 150 today, well over the World Health Organization’s guidelines for healthy air, shrouding the city in a greyish smog full of pollutants that are harmful to human health.

In recent years China’s fight against air pollution has slowed. That is partly because huge improvements have already been made: last year average levels of PM2.5 in Beijing – the most harmful particulate in air pollution – dropped to below 30 for the first time since records began more than a decade ago.

But heavily polluted skies remain a fairly common occurrence. And a visit from the US president is no longer a reason to clear them.

Trump is soon to kick off the busiest part of his China trip.

He arrived in Beijing late on Wednesday but on Thursday the summit begins in earnest.

Xi Jinping will officially welcome the US president during a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People reportedly beginning at 10am local time – just under 45 minutes away – followed by bilateral talks.

Then there’s some cultural programming – a visit to the Temple of Heaven – before a state banquet capping the day.

This trip is expected to be long on pageantry and symbolism, as the Associated Press reports, but neither side has yet offered concrete details on what Trump or Xi will come away with.

I’m now sitting in the press filing centre at the China World Hotel in Beijing. Two American flags and a wooden lectern bearing a “United States embassy Beijing” seal stand on a black podium against a black curtain beneath a giant crystal chandelier.

There are TVs on either side of the podium: one showing CNN, the other Fox News. Sadly, that is as close as many reporters will get to seeing Xi Jinping and Donald Trump in action today.

And there is no guarantee that anyone will appear at the lectern to brief the media, who are sitting on 10 rows of desks covered with blue tablecloths.

The busiest man here today is an IT consultant from the phone and internet company AT&T, who is fielding queries from hapless journalists about VPNs trying to circumvent China’s Great Firewall.

But for western media there are creature comforts nearby. The hotel connects to a luxury mall that includes Peet’s Coffee, Starbucks, Chanel, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Gucci, Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Burberry, Armani, Givenchy and Hugo Boss.

Greetings from Beijing, where I awoke to CNN coverage of Chinese social media mocking Donald Trump and America as a fading superpower.

CNN noted that China’s tough internet censors had evidently allowed these comments to appear. But then my TV suddenly “lost signal”, which felt suspicious, though the coverage soon resumed.

Outside a lift on the 10th floor of the press hotel I bumped into Jacqui Heinrich, senior White House correspondent of the conservative Fox News channel. She had travelled with Trump on the long Air Force One flight but noted that, unusually, he did not come to the press cabin to “gaggle” with reporters.

Perhaps he was having too much fun with Elon Musk? Or maybe White House chief of staff Susie Wiles had intervened to make sure he didn’t make flip comment about Taiwan?

The president is also travelling with a large contingent of business leaders that reportedly includes:

• Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and Space X CTO

• Jensen Huang, Nvidia CEO

• Tim Cook, Apple CEO

• Kelly Ortberg, Boeing CEO

• Dina Powell McCormick, Meta president and vice chairman

• Larry Fink, Blackrock chairman and CEO

• Other banking, finance and tech executives

So who else travelled with Trump on Air Force One to China? According to a partial list provided by the White House: US secretary of state Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and senior adviser Stephen Miller.

Also onboard were Eric and Lara Trump, plus an array of White House advisers, strategists, speech writers and communications executives.

The Trump-Xi summit will span two days. It was originally scheduled for late March or early April but was delayed due to the Iran war.

Now that Trump is in China, here are some of the hazards the US president faces.