New York Magazine: “When you’re an American president greeting an authoritarian leader like Chinese president Xi Jinping, things will always be a bit uncomfortable. And Donald Trump is in a particularly tricky spot since he has been blasting Democrats as ‘communists’ nonstop but is now doing some high-profile palling around with the head of the Chinese Communist Party.”

“Yet maybe Trump didn’t need to literally roll out the red carpet and go out of his way to make his first interaction with Xi on Thursday as awkward as possible.”

“President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s full day in Washington has so far yielded few announcements, despite a host of thorny issues on the table,” Semafor reports.

“Xi arrived at the White House Thursday morning for an Oval Office meeting with Trump, where the pair were expected to discuss everything from trade to counternarcotics to artificial intelligence. But little has emerged since, including any details on a ‘bigger’ trade deal between the countries.”

The Economist: What Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping has—and hasn’t—achieved.

NBC News: GOP senators criticize Trump’s “red-carpet treatment” of China’s Xi Jinping.

“President Trump showed off some of the construction that he’s had done at the White House to President Xi Jinping of China during their summit on Thursday, and Mr. Trump had reasons to want the Chinese leader’s nod of approval,” the New York Times reports.

“Throughout the uproar over Mr. Trump’s demolition of the East Wing and construction of a grandiose ballroom on the site, the American president has repeatedly cited the Great Hall of the People in China as inspiration and competition with his own design.”

“On the first full day of Mr. Xi’s visit, Mr. Trump gave him a brief tour of the ballroom construction site, as well as the helipad project that was officially opened this week. Mr. Trump called the Chinese leader ‘an expert on stone’ who ‘loves good granite’ as Mr. Xi stood by without changing his expression.”

“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a lengthy interview this week that he has prepared for the possibility, however unlikely, of a U.S. incursion onto Canadian soil,” the Washington Sun reports.

“The stunning remarks come as President Donald Trump has increased his provocations of America’s northern neighbor and embarked on a bitter trade war that has prompted a strong response from Carney.”