Trump in China: Who’s joining him in Beijing - and who isn’t
US First Lady Melania Trump is skipping this week’s highly anticipated state trip to China but Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and other big tech names will be part of President Donald Trump’s entourage.
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BEIJING: United States President Donald Trump is in China for a three-day trip where he will meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping - marking his first state visit to the country since 2017.
Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday (May 13) with summit talks and activities slated for Thursday and Friday.
But attention has also turned to the delegation accompanying Trump on his highly anticipated visit.
Here’s who is, and isn’t, heading to Beijing.
MELANIA TRUMP ABSENT
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Unlike Trump’s visit to China back in 2017, US First Lady Melania Trump is not travelling with him this time.
During her 2017 visit, her interactions with Xi’s wife Peng Liyuan drew global attention - with comparisons made between the two first ladies’ style and public personas.
But Trump’s son Eric and his wife Lara, former co-chair of the Republican National Committee, were seen making the trip - in photos carried by US media outlets.
HEGSETH’S NOTABLE APPEARANCE
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also part of Trump’s delegation to Beijing, marking his first trip to China since taking up the post - also making him the first US defence chief to visit the country in nearly eight years.
He also appears to be the first American defence chief in decades to accompany a sitting president on a China trip - a departure from long-standing practice, as US defence secretaries usually visit China on stand-alone trips, according to the South China Morning Post.
The last US defence secretary who visited China was James Mattis back in June 2018, when he met Xi.
MARCO RUBIO
Also accompanying Trump this week is US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, despite being under Chinese sanctions - a breakthrough apparently made possible after China changed his name's transliteration.
Rubio, a Cuban-American who vociferously opposes communism, was the key author of congressional legislation that imposed wide sanctions on China over the alleged use of forced labour by the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority.
He has also spoken out against Beijing's clampdown in Hong Kong.
China had already appeared to find a diplomatic workaround after Trump named Rubio his secretary of state.
Shortly before he took office in January 2025, the Chinese government and official media began transliterating the first syllable of his surname with a different Chinese character for “lu”.
A photo of Rubio aboard Air Force One released by the White House, which showed him lounging in a grey Nike track suit, drew online attention - with social media users comparing the outfit to what ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro wore when US forces snatched him in January.
Chinese officials said on Tuesday that Rubio would not be barred from entering China.
“The sanctions target Mr Rubio's words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China,” said Chinese embassy spokesman in the US Liu Pengyu.
Other Cabinet members joining Trump on his visit to China include US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.
TECH AND BIG FINANCE NAMES
Adding to the line-up are Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook, along with GE Aerospace CEO Larry Culp and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg.
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, has also joined Trump’s delegation.
Huang had not been on the White House’s initial list of travelling executives and was spotted boarding Air Force One during a refuelling stop in Alaska.
“(He) is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals," an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.
A White House spokesman added that Huang’s schedule had changed and the timing had worked out.
Other attendees include:
- Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon
- US multinational investment company BlackRock CEO Larry Fink
- Meta President and Vice Chairman Dina Powell McCormick, who is also Trump’s former Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy
- Cisco Systems CEO Chuck Robbins
Ortberg of Boeing told Reuters that the company was counting on the Trump administration to help unlock a long-awaited major order from China.
Writing on his Truth Social account ahead of the trip, Trump said he would urge Xi to “open up” the Chinese market so that “these brilliant people can work their magic”.
“I will make that my very first request,” he wrote.
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