Newsweek is reporting on highlights from United Nations Week and the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington for his first official state visit since 2015. In its "The 1600" newsletter, Newsweek said Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known by the nom de guerre al-Julani, drew attention at an Atlantic Council event when asked about his past as an al-Qaeda commander. Newsweek quoted al-Sharaa as saying it was not an appropriate time to discuss things that happened 25 years ago, that he was a different age and that conditions in the region were different. Newsweek said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif appeared during his U.N. General Assembly speech to acknowledge that Pakistan still harbors terrorists bent on killing Westerners.
Newsweek said President Donald Trump is welcoming Xi and his wife with a state visit, meeting them on the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base before a state dinner, military review and flyovers. It said the visit is Xi's first official state visit since 2015 and that Trump did not receive the same tarmac welcome when he traveled to Beijing earlier this year.
Newsweek said the best-case outcome of the visit, in the view of people who follow the relationship, would be an agreement to create an "AI hotline" similar to Cold War-era backchannels between Washington and Moscow. It said artificial intelligence is among several agenda items.
Newsweek said the U.S. and China are in a temporary trade truce after Xi responded to Trump's tariff threats by cutting off rare-earth mineral exports, prompting the administration to remove its most punishing levies on Beijing. It said China then agreed to buy American farm goods, including soybeans, but mostly failed to follow through.
Newsweek said Xi is preparing to seek a fourth term while consolidating power, and has offered to mediate between the U.S. and Iran to end the war. It said Beijing has provided Iran with intelligence used to target American troops. Newsweek also cited the Taiwan issue, the detention of Hong Kong political prisoner Jimmy Lai, China's alleged theft of American AI models and its support for Iran and Russia.
Newsweek said Trump's approach to diplomacy rests on personal rapport with other leaders, but argued that authoritarians such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Xi can exploit that dynamic, noting Putin's 2025 Alaska summit with Trump on Ukraine.