President Donald Trump extended a last-minute invitation to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to join his high-profile delegation to Beijing, a move that came after media reports suggested the tech executive had been excluded from the trip, according to a source familiar with the planning.
Huang was spotted boarding Air Force One during a refueling stop in Anchorage, Alaska, on Tuesday evening as the presidential aircraft headed to the Chinese capital. By Wednesday evening, he was seen deplaning in Beijing alongside Tesla CEO Elon Musk, walking behind Trump as the president was greeted by Chinese leaders.
“Jensen is attending the summit at the invitation of President Trump to support America and the administration’s goals,” a Nvidia spokesperson told The Hill.
The addition came after Trump lashed out at CNBC for initially reporting that Huang was not invited. On Truth Social, the president wrote: “CNBC incorrectly reported that the Great Jensen Huang, of Nvidia, was not invited to the incredible gathering of the World’s Greatest Businessmen/women proudly going to China. In actuality, Jensen is currently on Air Force One and, unless I ask him to leave, which is highly unlikely, CNBC’s reporting is incorrect or, as they say in politics, FAKE NEWS!”
However, Huang was not on the initial list of business leaders the White House released earlier this week. That list included Apple’s Tim Cook, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg, Meta’s Dina Powell McCormick, and Goldman Sachs’s David Solomon. The discrepancy has fueled questions about whether the invitation was a hasty response to negative coverage.
The trip comes amid escalating tensions over trade and technology, with the Trump administration pushing for greater market access for U.S. firms while tightening restrictions on AI exports to China. In a related development, a recent analysis by Chang highlighted that U.S. AI rules on China are increasingly seen as “impossible to enforce,” a challenge that will likely be a key topic during the summit.
Huang’s presence underscores the strategic importance of Nvidia, whose chips are central to both AI development and national security debates. The CEO’s last-minute inclusion also reflects Trump’s sensitivity to media narratives, especially after a poll showed 77% of respondents blamed his policies for rising living costs, a political liability as he navigates the summit.
As Trump landed in Beijing for a critical meeting with President Xi Jinping, the delegation’s composition sent signals about U.S. priorities. The president is expected to press Xi on market access for American CEOs, including those accompanying him, while also addressing trade imbalances and the ongoing Iran conflict, which some analysts say Trump is betting on China to help resolve.
