Live updates: Trump to arrive in China for Xi summit; Nebraska congressional primary too close to call – NBC News

Breaking news: Trump arrives in Beijing for a summit with Xi Jinping aimed at stabilizing U.S.-China relations amid economic woes at home and war with Iran
President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where they are expected to discuss trade, Iran and Taiwan.
President Donald Trump walks with China's Vice President Han Zheng during a welcome ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport today. Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Trump is going to China with a number of Cabinet officials, business executives, family members and others.
They include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been under Chinese sanctions since 2020 over his criticism of Beijing’s human rights record. China had indicated earlier that the sanctions would not prevent Rubio from traveling to Beijing for diplomatic purposes.
Trump is also being joined by his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, which is unusual for a state visit. Under longstanding diplomatic tradition, U.S. defense secretaries go to China on separate trips. Hegseth is the first U.S. defense secretary to visit China in almost eight years. 
According to the White House, more than a dozen American CEOs are also joining Trump on the China trip, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Elon Musk of SpaceX and EV maker Tesla. Jensen Huang, chief executive of the American tech giant Nvidia, boarded Air Force One during a refueling stop in Alaska after not appearing on earlier lists.
Other prominent names on the trip include the president’s son Eric Trump, his daughter-in-law Lara Trump and Brett Ratner, who recently directed the documentary “Melania.”
Not joining the trip is First Lady Melania Trump, who had not been scheduled to go. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier that the first lady would help host Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, when they make a reciprocal visit to Washington later this year.
People gather to get a view of Air Force One arriving at Beijing Capital Airport today. Greg Baker / AFP via Getty Images
Trump disembarks Air Force One at Beijing Capital International Airport. Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Chinese youth, a military honor guard and military band stand outside Air Force One. Alex Wong / Getty Images
Chinese youth hold American and Chinese flags as they join officials to welcome Trump. Alex Wong / Getty Images
Trump walks to his motorcade as he is greeted by Chinese officials at Beijing Capital International Airport.  Alex Wong / Getty Images
Chinese youth, a military honor guard and military band join Chinese officials to welcome Trump as he arrived on Air Force One at Beijing Capital International Airport today.
Trump and the U.S. delegation, including his son Eric Trump, daughter-in-law Lara Trump and tech mogul Elon Musk, disembarked Air Force One onto an unfurled red carpet.
They were greeted by top Chinese officials as hundreds of schoolchildren waved U.S. and Chinese flags and chanted in sync with music from a military band.
Trump then entered the waiting car and drove away in a motorcade. It is evening in Beijing, and the meeting with Xi takes place tomorrow.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng, and U.S. Ambassador to China David Perdue were among those greeting the president on the tarmac.
Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is out today with a new ad that attacks Democratic rival Sherrod Brown as a “liberal” who “spent 32 long years in Washington.”
The 30-second spot also features footage of Trump using the catchphrase from his days as a reality TV star — “You’re fired!” — in reference to voters rejecting Brown in his 2024 bid for a fourth Senate term.
Husted’s race against Brown — a November special election to fill the remainder of the Senate term Vice President JD Vance won in 2022 — is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive in the battle for partisan control of the chamber.
“Brown,” says the ad’s narrator, “gave us a border in chaos, sky-high cost of living and boys in girls sports.”
The sports claim refers to Brown’s opposition as a senator to amendments that had been attached to broader spending bills. Those amendments would have blocked funding for schools that allow transgender athletes to participate in women’s sports. 
Brown faced similar attack ads in his 2024 race against Republican Bernie Moreno. His campaign responded at the time by calling attention to fact-checkers who determined the ads to be misleading, because the votes were related to funding, not eligibility. A response ad that Brown and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee ran that year stressed that he agrees with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, who has said that sports eligibility issues were “best addressed outside of government.”
Husted served as DeWine’s lieutenant governor before the governor appointed him to fill the vacancy left by Vance.
Both Husted and Brown hit Ohio’s airwaves with their first ads last month. Husted’s was an introductory spot, while Brown started off negative, attacking Husted for campaign contributions he had received over the years from associates of the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Husted’s second will air statewide for two weeks as part of a $1.2 million push, according to his campaign.
A group of schoolchildren stands waiting for Trump’s arrival on the windy tarmac at Beijing Capital International Airport, each clutching a fluttering red Chinese national flag and dressed in blue and white. According to the White House, there are 300 of them here for the ceremonial welcome, which also includes a People’s Liberation Army honor guard.
President Donald Trump and China's Vice President Han Zheng during a welcome ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport today. Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Also greeting Trump upon arrival is Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, Ambassador to the U.S. Xie Feng and Ma Zhaoxu, a high-ranking Chinese diplomat involved in talks on Iran, Russia and tech policy.
Trump is bringing a delegation of American CEOs to Beijing, two of whom traveled with the president on Air Force One: Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who joined the group on the tarmac in Alaska for the second leg of the flight.
Also on the trip is Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been under Chinese sanctions since 2020 over his criticism of China’s human rights record. Reports suggest that in order to get around an entry ban, China changed his name’s transliteration after he was named secretary of state by using a different Chinese character for one of the syllables in his last name, making the visit possible.
Air Force One landed at Beijing Capital International Airport in China at 7:50 p.m. local time (7:50 a.m. ET).
Trump arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport today. Mark Schiefelbein / AP
Trump’s state visit, which runs until Friday, includes a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He is the first U.S. president to visit China since his last state visit in 2017 during his first term.
Trump left Washington on Tuesday afternoon ET, a day after saying on Truth Social that he was “very much looking forward” to the China trip. Trade, Iran and artificial intelligence are among the issues expected to come up in the talks.
Pictures from Beijing today show a heightened security presence ahead of Trump’s arrival for his state visit.
Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
Kevin Frayer / Getty Images
Ng Han Guan / AP
Republicans in Louisiana’s state Senate voted early this morning to advance a new congressional map that would give the GOP another seat in the House from the state after a recent Supreme Court decision that struck down Louisiana’s previous lines. 
The new lines could draw out Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields, giving the state five Republicans and one Democrat in its congressional delegation. It’s the latest move from lawmakers redrawing district lines to affect the margins of the battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives this fall.
Read the full story here.
Film director Brett Ratner, who recently directed the “Melania” documentary about the first lady and is perhaps best known for helming the “Rush Hour” action-comedy series, is among those traveling to China with Trump.
Ratner, who according to pool reports is aboard Air Force One, has become a regular presence in Trump’s orbit and spent significant time living at Mar-a-Lago while filming “Melania,” according to a source close to the first lady.
Brett Ratner at the "Melania" premiere in Washington in January. Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images
The film, which was purchased by Amazon for $75 million in a deal some lawmakers criticized as inappropriate, represented a comeback for Ratner, who in 2017 was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct. He denied the allegations and was never charged.
The South China Morning Post reported that Ratner is also scouting locations in China as he plans to shoot much of a fourth “Rush Hour” film there.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito has won the Republican Senate primary in West Virginia, NBC News projects.
Capito, who has Trump’s endorsement, faced five primary challengers. With 6% of the expected vote in, she was taking two-thirds support.
She will be heavily favored to win a third term this fall in the solidly Republican state.
See the latest results here.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has drawn online attention after White House communications director Steven Cheung posted an image of him wearing a Nike tracksuit in the style of Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president who faces narcoterrorism charges in U.S. federal court after being seized by U.S. forces.
Rubio, on board Air Force One for Trump’s state visit to China, was described as “rocking the Nike Tech ‘Venezuela’” in the post by Cheung.
@StevenCheung47 / via X
Rubio appeared to mimic the outfit Maduro wore during his capture by U.S. forces in Caracas in January.
via Truth Social
Omaha businessman Scott Petersen defeated incumbent Bob Evnen in yesterday’s Republican primary for Nebraska secretary of state, NBC News projects.
With 76% of the expected vote in, Petersen led Evnen, who was seeking a third term as Nebraska’s top election official, 55% to 45%.
The result is an upset, as Evnen had endorsements from Nebraska’s governor, both senators and three House members. But Petersen ran to Evnen’s right as an “America First conservative,” arguing Evnen did not do enough to ensure confidence in Nebraska’s election system. According to his campaign website, Petersen supports hand-counting ballots and restricting mail voting.
Evnen agreed to hand over sensitive voter data to the Justice Department this year and praised Trump’s sweeping election executive order last year. But Trump did not issue an endorsement in the race.
Evnen also struggled in his 2022 primary, earning less than 50% of the vote as he fended off two primary challengers.
Petersen will be the heavy favorite to win the general election in the solidly Republican state.
See the latest results here.
The Democratic primary for Nebraska’s battleground 2nd District is too close to call, with state Sen. John Cavanaugh and political organizer Denise Powell separated by less than 300 votes.
With 85% of the expected vote in, Cavanaugh is leading Powell 38.3% to 37.5%.
The winner will take on on Omaha City Council member Brinker Harding, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, in the general election to succeed retiring GOP Rep. Don Bacon. The 2nd District, which Kamala Harris carried in the 2024 election, is a top pick-up target for Democrats.
Cindy Burbank won the Democratic Senate primary in Nebraska, NBC News projects, potentially clearing the way for independent Dan Osborn to take on GOP Sen. Pete Ricketts head-to-head in the fall.
Burbank defeated pastor William Forbes for the Democratic nomination, while Ricketts easily won his Republican primary.
Read the full story here.
Trump will soon arrive in Beijing for a two-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the world’s two biggest economies look to stabilize a trade truce against the backdrop of the simmering U.S. conflict with Iran.
Trump’s visit, the first by a U.S. president since his own trip nine years ago, will be “a wild one,” he promised this year, recounting at an event in Washington that he had told Xi “to put on the biggest display you’ve ever had in the history of China.”
Trump has consistently framed his relationship with Xi in personal and warm terms, but this trip carries more pressure than either side will publicly acknowledge.
Trade will be at the forefront of discussions, and Trump is bringing more than a dozen chief executives with him to Beijing, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who was not on the list earlier, also joined Trump on the tarmac in Alaska for the second leg of the flight to China.
Read the full story here.
NBC News

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