Trump and Xi Close State Visit at Archives Amid Fight Over What to Show
President Donald Trump toured the National Archives Museum in Washington on Sept. 25, 2026, with first lady Melania Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan.
Archivist of the United States Bradford P. Wilson led the tour. The stop closed the state visit. Trump and the first lady said goodbye to Xi and Peng there, according to the White House.
Trump and the first lady had welcomed Xi to the White House on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. It was Xi's first state visit since 2015.
The two leaders discussed trade, AI and Taiwan during the Washington meetings. Trump had raised U.S. tariffs on China to above 140%. In spring 2026, the administration paused a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan. During the September meeting, Xi pressed Trump to oppose Taiwanese independence, according to Reuters reporting.
The Archives visit had its own last-minute negotiation over what to show. The museum had set up a temporary display in its main foyer with a brick from the Great Wall of China and a 19th-century scroll sent by a Qing emperor. That display was taken down before the Trump-Xi visit because of a last-minute change in the event, NPR reported.
U.S. planners had intended to show the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco, the postwar peace deal between Japan and the Allied Powers, including the United States. China objected to that plan because the United States and Japan signed the treaty but China did not. The treaty ended World War II fighting between Japan and the Allied Powers. It leaves the status of Taiwan undecided and does not say the island belongs to Beijing.
Planners also discussed showing the Six Assurances and the Three Communiques — past U.S. and joint U.S.-China statements on Taiwan policy. Those documents were ultimately not shown. The tour then focused on other Archives holdings, without the Taiwan-related texts staff had considered.
Press access also changed late. The bilateral Oval Office meeting between Trump and Xi was scheduled to be closed to press but was changed at the last minute by the White House, AP reported. The White House described the Sept. 25 ending as the close of a historic China state visit, White House said.
The broader context here is about paperwork as diplomacy. It is like choosing which items to place in a store window. With an 11-year gap since Xi's last state visit, small protocol choices carried more weight. Treaties and statements do not settle policy on their own, but choosing them for a joint viewing puts focus on them. Pulling one text and setting others aside narrowed the public record of what the two sides were willing to stand beside together, while differences over tariffs, arms sales and Taiwan wording continued through other channels.
