“When Donald Trump meets with Xi Jinping today, he’s not just rolling out a lavish White House welcome — he’s bringing wealthy guests,” Bloomberg reports.

“In the latest example of how Trump has given high-powered executives prime seats at the table (figuratively and literally), tonight’s state dinner is slated to include a who’s-who of the tech world: Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, and Michael Dell, among others.”

“Trump has almost treated them like an extension of his administration — using their presences to convey power, prestige, and his priorities.”

“President Trump and China’s Xi Jinping are meeting in Washington for their second summit of the year, and expectations are low,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Both sides have played down the odds of ‘deliverables’—diplo-speak for concrete outcomes—signaling they care more about a smooth meeting than the deep differences between the world’s two largest economies.”

New York Times: As Trump hosts Xi at summit, pomp may paper over U.S.-China tensions.

New Yorker: The worlds that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping want.

“President Donald Trump said he does not expect any moves to put guardrails around artificial intelligence during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping,” Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “A big day with President Xi of China. Super Intelligence (SI) will be a big topic of discussion, but I want to leave it exactly where it is. That is China’s position also.”

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that U.S. negotiators had tried to jump start diplomacy with Iran on its nuclear program through talks on the side of a United Nations summit the previous day,” the New York Times reports.

“The flurry of diplomacy came as Iran’s partners, the Houthis, pressed forward with their offensive in the region, as a second front widened in a conflict that began when the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February.”

“In the weeks leading up to President Trump welcoming President Xi Jinping of China to Washington on Wednesday evening, Beijing has been accused of undermining America’s national interests on a number of fronts,” the New York Times reports.

“But as his meeting with Mr. Xi approached, Mr. Trump has repeatedly found ways to give him a pass — portraying him more as a personal friend than as a geopolitical competitor despite significant rivalries on matters of global power, trade, artificial intelligence and more.”

“A few weeks ago, Europeans were so incensed that a Russian official was invited to the G-20 finance minister’s meeting in North Carolina that they refused to participate in a group photo with him,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Well, that standoff was nothing compared with what might be coming.”

“The Trump administration has invited Russian Putin Vladimir Putin to the Group of 20 meeting in December at the Trump National Doral Miami resort.”

Washington Post: Trump invites Putin to this year’s G-20 summit in Florida.