Trump Hosts Xi Jinping at White House State Dinner

White House dinner

President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at a White House State Dinner on Thursday. The event put the two presidents together in a formal White House setting centered on the U.S.-China relationship. TODAY’s report, published Sept. 25, 2026, described the dinner as lavish and presented it in a 3-minute, 25-second video reported by NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell. The Thursday dinner preceded the video’s Friday publication.

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook attended the dinner. Their presence added a technology-business dimension to the guest list: Each sees China as both a critical market and an economic rival. That combination makes China commercially important to them while also placing it on the other side of economic competition. The three attended alongside the two presidents.

Why the guest list matters

The dinner joined foreign-policy diplomacy with the interests of prominent technology figures. Trump was the host, Xi was the visiting head of state, and Musk, Zuckerberg and Cook were among the named guests. The gathering therefore included political leaders central to the U.S.-China relationship and business figures for whom China has commercial and competitive importance.

For voters, the development is a foreign-policy event rather than one tied directly to a race or election. The central facts are the setting, the two presidents’ participation and the attendance of three technology leaders with significant interests in China. The TODAY segment focused on the dinner and its guests, and O’Donnell delivered the report for NBC.