Trump is bringing Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and a dozen other CEOs to Beijing for his Xi summit

Thank god we're bringing Mastercard and Visa's CEOs. I never travel with out either.

Trump is bringing Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and a dozen other CEOs to Beijing for his Xi summit

The White House has invited executives from major U.S. financial, technology, aerospace, and agricultural firms to join the Beijing trip

By Cris Tolomia, Quartz Media

Published 17 hours ago

President Donald Trump is bringing more than a dozen top U.S. executives to China this week for his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the list had not been formally announced.

Among those confirmed for the trip are Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Tim Cook of Apple Kelly Ortberg of Boeing , and Larry Fink of BlackRock . Rounding out the roster are executives from Blackstone, Cargill, Citigroup , Coherent, GE Aerospace, Goldman Sachs , Illumina, Mastercard , Meta , Micron Technology, Qualcomm , and Visa Stephen Schwarzman, Brian Sikes, Jane Fraser, Jim Anderson, H. Lawrence Culp Jr., David Solomon, Jacob Thaysen, Michael Miebach, Dina Powell McCormick, Sanjay Mehrotra, Cristiano Amon, and Ryan McInerney, respectively.

Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins appeared on the White House's list, but a company spokesperson said he would be unable to attend because of upcoming earnings, according to Bloomberg.

Trump has framed the Beijing visit as an opportunity to lock in commercial agreements and purchase deals with China. Negotiations are set to span a wide range of issues — including trade, artificial intelligence, export controls, Taiwan, and the conflict with Iran — as the two countries arrive at the table following a period of mounting friction.

A blockbuster aircraft deal may be unveiled before the summit wraps up: Reuters reports that Boeing is on the verge of finalizing a 500-jet 737 Max sale to a Chinese customer — potentially one of the biggest transactions in the planemaker's history. Ortberg had flagged the possibility last month, describing the potential order as a "big number."

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang will not be part of the delegation, according to Bloomberg, citing an unnamed person familiar with the matter. For Nvidia, the snub complicates its push to access China's AI hardware market — one that Huang has publicly valued at up to $50 billion in potential revenue. Huang told CNBC last week that an invitation would have brought him on board.

The summit comes amid a broader debate over U.S. trade policy with China. A broad coalition of U.S. automakers, parts suppliers, and bipartisan lawmakers has been pushing the White House to keep Chinese vehicles out of the American market ahead of the Beijing meeting. Senator Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, appeared at Detroit's Economic Club recently to warn against any agreement that would open American showrooms to Chinese-branded cars. "Please don't make a bad deal," she said.

Lawmakers from both parties have introduced legislation to lock in data-security restrictions that effectively bar Chinese vehicles from the U.S. market. Congressional aides told Reuters the bill stands a realistic chance of becoming law before year's end. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer sought to ease industry concerns at an April event in Detroit, saying vehicle trade would not be part of the Beijing discussions.