The world’s two most powerful men will come face to face on Thursday when China’s President Xi Jinping meets Donald Trump at the White House. Despite talks of a low-stakes event, tensions are likely to be high, with both men needing a win to sell to a weary public back home.
The summit comes during Xi’s three-day state visit to the United States, and at a critical moment for relations between the world’s two leading powers. And there is plenty for them to discuss – including trade and tariffs, AI, critical minerals, Iran, Russia and Taiwan.
Despite the complexity of a relationship that often encourages commentators to describe the US and China as part of a new Cold War that’s either just about to break out – or has already done so – Trump has often been full of praise for his Chinese counterpart. “Xi is a terrific guy. I like being with him a lot, and he’s a very special person,” he said in 2017.
Two pilots injured in RAF jet crash in Wales
A Royal Air Force jet has crashed in Wales in the Pencarnisiog area of Anglesey shortly after taking off this afternoon.
Everything we know
The force said helicopters from the Coastguard and the Wales Air Ambulance were deployed to the scene and the pilots, who ejected from the jet, are being treated for minor injuries.
“We watched it climb, then as it was parallel with us it started to pitch up violently twice… then both pilots ejected, and the Hawk crashed about a mile away,” a witness told North Wales Live.
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Investigation launched
The RAF has launched an investigation into the crash.
- An RAF spokesperson said: “An incident involving an RAF T2 Hawk aircraft, flying out of RAF Valley, occurred near Anglesey. An investigation is underway and we will not comment further at this time.”
AI offers poor financial advice ‘majority of the time’ – what to know
Major AI chatbots provide inaccurate financial advice in 57 percent of cases, new research has found.
This rose to 88 per cent when they were asked harder questions.
One answer would have cost £17,500
Tech research firm Saturn used a paraplanner to run 121 money-related questions through 18 chatbots. One of the answers would have cost them £17,500.
- Amal Jolly, Saturn’s chief executive, said: “The low quality of financial advice from mainstream AI models risks leading to widespread consumer harm.”
Why customers get less protection with AI advice
Human financial advisers must charge for their services, making it a regulated product that has to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. If they provided misleading advice, customers could get compensation.
There are no such protections for those who get information from a chatbot.
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The pinch points of the UK’s Chagos Islands deal
Defence secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed the UK is reviewing its deal to hand over the Chagos islands, home to the critical Diego Garcia base, to Mauritius after Donald Trump called it “terrible” at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
UK wants US support
We have to [review the deal] because the United States doesn’t support it […] We have to do more work with our American allies, with President Trump and his administration, to get the deal to a place where he can support it.
UK Defence secretary Wes Streeting
The original deal
Mauritius argues it was illegally forced to give away the islands in 1965 to gain independence.
A deal was agreed in 2025 where the UK would cede sovereignty of the territory to Mauritius.
It would then pay an average of £101m per year to lease back a joint US-UK military base there.
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US opposition
Opposition from Trump caused Starmer to pause the deal indefinitely in April.
- Trump had been a frequent critic, branding the deal as “a blight on our great ally” and an “act of total weakness”.
High costs
Starmer agreed to lease back the Diego Garcia base for 99 years, with official figures giving the total cost as £3.4bn.
However, opponents said the real cost could come to £35bn when adjusted for inflation.
Worries the deal could endanger the security of Diego Garcia
With sovereignty lying with Mauritius once the deal was done, critics argued that the country could impose restrictions on the joint UK-US military base.
- There were also worries that the move could embolden China to establish a presence in the archipelago.
Over 450,000 people projected to die from super El Niño
This year’s El Niño is estimated to cause 451,000 deaths due to the additional heat it will bring over the next six months, climate scientists have predicted.
What is El Niño?
El Niño is part of a natural cycle, called the El Niño–Southern Oscillation, and forms when warmer waters spread across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. Brazil, India, Nigeria and Indonesia are some of the countries expected to worst affected.
The World Meteorological Organisation said there was an “exceptionally high likelihood of nearly 100 per cent” that this El Niño will last until February 2027.
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Experts say what it means for the UK
Professor Ilan Kelman of UCL’s department of risk and disaster reduction said that El Niño could bring wetter and milder weather to the UK through the autumn and winter.
“There’s nothing definite, but in general we would expect a milder, wetter, and stormier autumn, a colder winter, and then a possibility of a hotter summer next year,” he added.
- The more severe impact of El Niño on other countries could also have a knock-on effect on the economy and daily life in the UK.
- Kelman said that the weather event could lead to more plane turbulence, flooding and impacts to electronic supply chains and imported food.
- Rice, sugar or coffee imports could be affected by potential flooding in South America.
- The shift of rainfall brought on by El Niño can also cause severe droughts in South East Asia and Australia.
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Why HRT patches are safer than pills
Oral hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) causes a slightly higher rate of blood clots – but there was no such risk from therapies applied to the skin.
The context
Why women use HRT
HRT is used by women going through menopause or for several years afterwards to stop hot flushes and reduce osteoporosis – where bones become weaker.
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The new research
Previous studies found HRT may cause a slightly higher rate of blood clots, heart attacks and breast cancer.
- A Danish study found women had a 60 per cent higher risk of blood clots from oral HRT, and a 20 to 30 per cent higher risk of strokes or heart attacks.
- But the total risk of blood clots was still very low, about one extra blood clot per thousand women per year.
- There was no blood clot risk seen with patches, gels or spray forms of HRT.
- But there was a higher rate of heart attacks with skin-based HRT if it is “cyclic”, alternating between oestrogen and oestrogen and progestogen.
Why might patches be safer?
Oral HRT is transported by blood vessels connecting the gut to the liver. There, it seems to increase levels of certain liver proteins involved in blood clotting.
When HRT is applied through patches or gels, the hormones are absorbed straight into the blood and don’t reach the liver at such high levels.
The NHS says the benefits of HRT usually outweigh the downsides, and that the risks of serious side effects are very low.
HRT is especially helping for combatting osteoporosis in women experiencing early menopause, before the age 45.
How the licence fee could be scrapped for a new monthly charge
The licence fee could be axed and replaced by an £11-a-month internet levy – and viewers invited to become “BBC members” – under new proposals.
The licence fee is becoming increasingly unsustainable, with 3.7 million households claiming to not need one, while half a million households stopped paying last year, forcing the BBC to find £500m in cuts.
‘Home internet levy’ fairest solution
A “home internet levy” method of funding is most likely to command public consent, the report, commissioned by campaign organisation 38 Degrees, found.
A BBC internet levy would cost £11 per month, an average increase of 35 per cent on the current cost of internet bills, but would be £4 a month cheaper than the current licence fee.
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The other proposals for the BBC
The report looked at other funding solutions such as keeping the licence fee, but adding a “news and culture levy” of £2.30 on to internet bills.
Also proposed was a £12 a month “household levy” or putting the cost of the licence fee on to streaming subscriptions.
Make BBC a ‘mutual’ society
- The report also proposed radical changes to make the BBC more accountable to the public by becoming a “mutual-style membership” organisation.
- Members would be chosen by lottery to take part in a member council, where they would serve terms of up to three years and be paid for their time.
- They would “hold the board of the BBC to account, ensuring that the organisation is meeting its duties to the public”.
- Under the proposals, the council would have no control over editorial decisions, hiring talent or decisions on programming.
The four key moments from Burnham’s meeting with Trump
There was no shortage of trip-wires that could have derailed Andy Burnham’s first meeting with Donald Trump, but in the end, it produced remarkably little friction.
Even without the charm offensive, Trump liked Burnham better than Starmer
In July, when Trump met Sir Keir Starmer at the Nato summit in Turkey after he had announced his resignation, the US President said he wanted to “bring him back” and “make him great again”.
Two months on, that affection has evaporated. Asked about a special relationship that has been up and down, Trump said things were “more up than they were under your last prime minister”.
No Trump attack on UK migration policy
Trump has previously said Britain is “on the edge of disaster” because of “insane” immigration policies, but in New York, he called it “a worldwide situation”.
For a Labour Prime Minister under pressure on small boats, being spared a public rebuke on his first outing is significant.
Trump thinks Britain has ‘tremendous potential’
Trump has previously called the UK “essentially bankrupt” for refusing to fully exploit North Sea oil and for relying on green energy. He has also claimed the country is “dying” under alleged mass migration.
This time he said Britain had “tremendous potential” and compared it favourably with other countries whose leaders he meets but in which he sees little promise.
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Burnham swerved a Trump rebuke over West Bank
- Many expected Washington to condemn Britain’s sanctions on illegal West Bank settlements.
- When asked directly, Trump did not engage. He said he did not know about the move and left the question for Burnham to answer.
- It was an odd moment, but a useful one for No 10. A US president who wanted to punish Britain had an open invitation to do so and passed it up.
Vapes and prescription medicine now used to spike victims
Drug-laced vapes, as well as prescription and over-the-counter medications, are increasingly being used to spike victims, police have said.
Various drugs used in vapes
Cases have emerged where officers have encountered vapes containing THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis, and the synthetic drug spice, alongside the use of high doses of common medications such as antihistamines and travel-sickness tablets.
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Victims targeted in private settings
We’re seeing offenders use a wider range of substances than ever before, including everyday medications and substances added to vapes, while increasingly targeting victims in private settings such as homes, parties and student accommodation
Metropolitan police spiking lead Detective Superintendent Dan Thompson
How widespread is the issue?
- Over the past year, more than 2,700 spiking-related offences were reported to the Met, but only 131 resulted in a charge, caution or summons.
- This marked a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
- More than half the victims were aged 18 to 35.
- A YouGov poll from December 2022 found that 10 per cent of women and 5 per cent of men said they had had a drink spiked.
Asked about Xi earlier this summer, Trump responded: “He’s a friend of mine, he’s a good man… he’s for China. I’m for the USA.”
Xi’s challenge in Washington is to translate a seemingly good relationship with his American counterpart into tangible gains.
China’s leader arrives at a good moment to do this. Trump’s misadventures in Iran have damaged the US’s standing abroad. Pressures on the global economy due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz have turned into one of the greatest own goals of international geopolitics, made worse by Trump’s insistence that tariffs can and will redress global trade imbalances.
The effect has been to push inflation upwards. And with the US midterm elections barely a month out, many Americans are being hit where it hurts them the most: in their wallets.
At face value, then, Trump is negotiating from a position of weakness, and Xi from one of strength. Things, however, are not quite so simple.
China’s impressive recent export performances – it reported a trade surplus of more than $110bn in July, and an even higher number in August – are masking weaknesses at home. A major property slump, subdued domestic demand and heavy debts at local government level mean that its factories need foreign customers more than ever.
Xi has a strong interest in preventing a trade war from flaring up again, and in putting economic relations with Washington on a more predictable footing. In short, both men have a lot more at stake than usual.
At the same time, meetings like this latest summit are important because personal chemistry always matters when leaders get together. They’re even more important when those at the top wield disproportionate power domestically – as both Trump and Xi do.
As China’s economy has grown, and Beijing has poured resources into technology, military power and global influence, it has emerged not only as a superpower but as America’s main long-term rival. Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State, said last month: “China wants to become the most powerful country in the world, and they want to do so at our expense. Obviously, we are Americans; we’re not going to allow that to happen.”
But it has been a hallmark of Trump’s presidencies that he speaks more admiringly about and with powerful autocrats than with leaders of liberal democracies, who are typically chided as weak and ineffective. He has praised Xi for running a country of 1.4 billion people “with a pretty iron fist”.
The fact that Trump’s respect for Xi appears genuine will make dealing with him tricky for Beijing. A closer friendship offers opportunities to get things done, but it is often hard to square smooth-sounding comments made by the US President with the hawkish positions adopted by almost all other current American politicians.
Moreover, China saw some of the latest Trump storm coming and made sure it was ready to apply pressure if and when the US tried to squeeze its economy. This involved thinking ahead about supply chains that might concentrate American minds – such as in critical minerals, which the US needs now more than ever as it races to replenish advanced weapons stocks that have been depleted by the war with Iran.
Trump desperately needs some good news to peddle to US voters, and will be thinking about how to get it from Xi. One way he can do this is to renew the reduced tariff rate agreed last year in South Korea – something that has enabled China to report record trade figures in recent months.
Xi could, in return, help out by agreeing to boost agricultural imports – which would be good news for farmers in the US – or to place sizeable orders for American goods and services.
This situation creates somewhat of a dilemma for Xi: helping Trump strengthens a rival – but refusing to help risks reigniting a trade war that China wants to avoid. His objective will likely be less about striking a grand bargain, than to keep things simple. This means announcements that sound grand and ambitious but are likely to be short on detail and substance. Perhaps a mechanism for the two countries to notify each other about serious AI incidents.
For Xi, the spectacle matters too. The high-profile meeting allows him to present himself as a global statesman – the theme of the last few weeks which took him to Kyrgyzstan, Egypt and India for state visits and summits. These had value for Chinese audiences, who can see their leader as instrumental in shaping the new world order. But it also has value elsewhere, at a time when the US is perceived to be acting unilaterally and out of its own self-interest.
The Washington summit gives Xi a chance to present himself not only as Trump’s peer – but as an alternative.
He comes to Washington, then, with a modest list of things to achieve: a renewal of the trade truce, some easing of economic tensions and, above all, stability. Trump, meanwhile, wants something he can present as a win. That gives both men an incentive to produce a summit that looks momentous, with reassuring words, but is thin on substance when you scratch below the surface.
In a world already struggling with wars, economic disruption and increasingly bitter competition between the US and China, that may sound decidedly underwhelming. But if the world’s two most powerful men can show everyone else that they are managing their differences rather than deepen them, that would be no small achievement.
Peter Frankopan is a professor of global history at Oxford University
Key context:
- While Trump isn’t on the ballot, Republicans and Democrats are fighting over control of Congress, which could massively impact what the US President is able to achieve in his remaining year and a half in office. Many other key state and local roles, including governorships, are being fiercely contested.
- China should be able to take advantage of this. However, it is also facing its own internal challenges, with a weaker economic outlook and domestic frustrations over housing and other issues.