STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Two presidents have been talking here in China's capital.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump met with China's President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People. Each side has released an account of their conversation, and each account suggests the leaders repeated familiar themes rather than breaking new ground. The U.S. version of the talks says they discussed getting American products into China. China says Xi repeated a familiar warning to the U.S. over Taiwan. The American version never mentions Taiwan. According to the Chinese, Trump said things in private that were very much like he's saying in public.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There are those that say this is maybe the biggest summit ever. They can never remember anything like it. It's - I can say, in the United States, it's - people aren't talking about anything else.
INSKEEP: NPR's senior political correspondent Tamara Keith has been traveling with the president. She's with us here in Beijing. Hi, Tam, it's...
TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: Hello.
INSKEEP: ...Great to see you. So give me the big picture. What does Trump want out of this summit?
KEITH: True to his brand, wherever Trump goes, he is looking to make deals. And it's not just the president himself. More than a dozen top corporate leaders from the U.S. are part of the delegation here. Tesla's Elon Musk and Jensen Huang of Nvidia, which makes chips that are powering the AI boom, both flew with Trump on Air Force One. I saw Tim Cook of Apple earlier today as well, and Trump highlighted their presence in his remarks at the start of his first meeting with Xi.
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TRUMP: And they're here today to pay respects to you and to China, and they look forward to trade and doing business, and it's going to be totally reciprocal on our behalf.
KEITH: Of course, the reality of doing business in China is vastly more complicated than Trump makes it sound. But this is basically a year after Trump launched a trade war, and then China struck back, and both countries are now looking to put the trade relationship on at least a little bit more of a stable footing.
INSKEEP: OK. This summit began with a ceremony this morning, Beijing time, at the Great Hall of the People. And you got to be there. What was it like?
KEITH: There were red carpets for miles. There was a military demonstration with soldiers marching in perfect synchrony. A military band played the U.S. national anthem as cannons were fired from Tiananmen Square.
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INSKEEP: Well, I want people to hear what that sounded like so they can almost be standing next to you. So let's just linger in the sound that you recorded at that moment.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Chanting in non-English language).
KEITH: Dozens of children welcoming President Trump, chanting a welcome while holding artificial flowers and American and Chinese flags. They're jumping up and down, waving the flags. President Trump is clearly charmed by all these children.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: (Chanting in non-English language).
KEITH: So these kids were perfectly well-behaved, perfectly lined up. And then once the leaders were out of view, they became real kids...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
KEITH: ...And they were super wiggly and relieved, I think, to be able to stop performing. But Trump later remarked on the kids as well.
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TRUMP: That was an honor like few have ever seen before. And I think I was particularly impressed by those children. They were happy. They were beautiful.
KEITH: Earlier this year, Trump said that he told Xi that they should put on the biggest display in the history of China. But I have to say that although this was impressive, this welcome ceremony really didn't seem all that different from how Trump was received in 2017 when he first visited as president.
INSKEEP: Is there real substance in this meeting?
KEITH: Yes.
INSKEEP: OK.
KEITH: And...
INSKEEP: All right. Go on.
KEITH: You know, it's also a show, but at this moment in history, Trump and Xi are the decision-makers. They are the negotiators. And so the state of the relationship between these two nations competing for global dominance comes down to the relationship between two men.
INSKEEP: Yeah. I got an impression from that communique that the Chinese put out that they were continuing to negotiate right up to the last moment to try to find something to announce, but we don't know.
KEITH: Indeed, they were.
INSKEEP: NPR's Tamara Keith. It's a pleasure to see you. Thank you so much.
KEITH: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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