Air Force One landed in Beijing, China, at approximately 7:51 a.m. ET (Wednesday morning U.S. time and Thursday morning in China) at Beijing Capital International Airport.

The plane taxied for about eight minutes before the doors opened for the official red-carpet arrival.

President Donald Trump deplaned at 8:08 a.m. ET and was greeted by Chinese Vice President H.E. Han Zheng, U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. H.E. Xie Feng, and Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs H.E. Ma Zhaoxu.

Following Trump were his son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara Trump, along with a number of other passengers.

(Trump stuns with “life support” announcement)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was also with Trump and his team on the trip.

The welcoming ceremony featured approximately 300 Chinese youth, a military honor guard, and a military band. “Welcome, welcome! Warm welcome!” the children chanted in Chinese.

Trump has no additional public events scheduled Wednesday beyond his arrival in Beijing, but he is expected to meet multiple times with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday.

The two leaders are scheduled to hold bilateral talks and attend a formal state banquet on Thursday.

Check it out below:

Among the issues expected to top the agenda is the possible creation of a U.S.-China trade board aimed at managing disputes between the two countries.

Supporters of the idea argue such a framework could help stabilize the global economy and ease geopolitical tensions.

During the welcoming ceremony, roughly 300 children waved miniature American and Chinese flags in coordinated formations as part of the event,

Earlier, Trump criticized what he called “fake news,” suggesting that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is indeed traveling with him to China on Air Force One.

His statement counters a report that claimed Huang had not been invited to join the high-profile business delegation.

He also said he would make his first request to Chinese President Xi Jinping to open up his country to U.S. businesses.

Trump wrote:

CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China. In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS! It is an Honor to have Jensen, Elon, Tim Apple, Larry Fink, Stephen Schwarzmann, Kelly Ortberg (Boeing), Brian Sikes (Cargill), Jane Fraser (Citi), Larry Culp (GE Aerospace), David Solomon (Goldman Sachs), Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron), Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm), and many others journeying to the Great Country of China where I will be asking President Xi, a Leader of extraordinary distinction, to “open up” China so that these brilliant people can work their magic, and help bring the People’s Republic to an even higher level! In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request. I have never seen or heard of any idea that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!

“Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals,” a Nvidia spokesman additionally confirmed to Fox Business.

Huang’s role is especially important since Nvidia is central to the global AI race, navigating U.S. export controls while meeting Chinese demand for advanced semiconductors.

Although trade and the global economy may be higher priorities for Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is eager to stay on the agenda as well.

Zelenskyy expressed on Wednesday his hope that Trump will discuss ending the war in Ukraine during his visit to China.

Acting AG Blanche Fires Back at Obama’s DOJ Criticism

Posted July 21, 2026

Former President Barack Obama sharply criticized the Trump administration this week over what he described as growing political influence inside the United States Department of Justice, prompting an aggressive response from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defending both the administration’s prosecutions and President Donald Trump’s authority over the executive branch.

The escalating public dispute comes as the Justice Department faces mounting scrutiny over a series of criminal investigations and indictments involving several longtime Trump critics and political adversaries, including former FBI Director James Comey.

Obama raised the issue during an interview with Stephen Colbert on CBS’ The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that aired Monday night.

“The White House shouldn’t be able to direct the attorney general to go around prosecuting whoever,” Obama said during the interview. “The idea is that the attorney general is the people’s lawyer. It’s not the president’s consigliere.”

Obama suggested the principle of DOJ independence may ultimately need to be codified into law by Congress, arguing that the justice system risks becoming politicized if presidents are perceived as directly targeting political opponents through federal prosecutions.

The comments immediately triggered pushback from the Trump administration.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson accused Obama of hypocrisy, arguing that his administration played a central role in the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.

“Barack Hussein Obama is the king of weaponization,” Jackson said in a statement, referencing declassified documents related to the FBI’s Russia probe.

But the administration’s most extensive response came Wednesday from Blanche during an interview with CBS News in Phoenix.

Blanche forcefully rejected accusations that the DOJ is engaged in political retaliation and defended the president’s constitutional authority over the executive branch.

“Article Two says, ‘the executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America,’” Blanche said while holding a pocket copy of the Constitution during the interview. “It does not say that the Attorney General stands off to the side.”

Blanche emphasized that the attorney general serves within the executive branch and argued that presidents are fully entitled to direct priorities involving law enforcement, immigration, drugs, and national security.

“To the extent that President Trump calls me and says that he thinks we have a problem in this country, whether it’s the scourge of drugs, illegal immigration, every American wants him to do that,” Blanche said. “And he should.”

The acting attorney general also dismissed accusations that the DOJ is pursuing politically motivated cases against Trump critics.

“We are absolutely doing nothing but what we should be doing at the Department of Justice,” Blanche said. “I wake up with a very clean conscience every morning.”

The public clash comes amid multiple high-profile investigations involving Trump adversaries.

Most notably, Comey was recently indicted after prosecutors alleged a 2025 Instagram post featuring seashells arranged to form the numbers “86 47” constituted a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Prosecutors argue “86” is commonly understood slang meaning “to eliminate” or “get rid of.”

Blanche defended the case, arguing threats against the president must be treated seriously given recent assassination attempts and escalating political extremism.

Last year, Trump publicly urged then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue prosecutions against Comey, James, and Sen. Adam Schiff, writing on social media that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.”

Blanche declined to discuss private conversations with Trump when asked whether the president personally directed prosecutions.

“But rest assured,” Blanche said, “he has much better, bigger and important things to do than to worry about me doing my job.”

Blanche also turned Democrats’ criticism back against them by pointing to the multiple criminal prosecutions Trump himself faced before returning to office, including cases brought by state prosecutors in New York and Georgia as well as federal investigations overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

“So I welcome criticism. Let’s go,” Blanche said. “But if you’re sitting in a glass house, you ought not throw stones.”