Xi asks Trump if U.S. and China can avoid 'Thucydides Trap' at high-stakes summit

BEIJING — U.S. President Donald Trump met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday morning, kickstarting a high-stakes summit that runs through Friday.

The relationship between the two countries is going to be "better than ever before," Trump told Xi in his opening remarks, according to official broadcast footage. Highlighting their relationship, Trump said the two leaders have known each other personally for longer than any other U.S. or Chinese president.

Speaking just ahead of Trump, Xi noted the global attention on the meeting, and said a major question for the two countries was whether they could avoid the "Thucydides Trap," according to an official English translation of his Chinese remarks broadcast by CCTV.

Thucydides Trap refers to how tensions historically between a rising and ruling power have often resulted in war. Graham Allison, the Harvard professor who popularized the concept, told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" that he expects the trade truce Trump and Xi reached at their meeting in South Korea last fall will become a formal agreement.

"The big word will be stabilization," Allison said Thursday.

The two presidents wrapped up their first meeting after about an hour, including a welcome ceremony, and are set to have multiple discussions through midday Friday.

Later on Thursday, Trump is expected to visit the Temple of Heaven historic landmark in the afternoon, and attend a state banquet in the evening.

Iran, Taiwan and artificial intelligence are among the many topics the two sides are expected to discuss, on top of tariffs and rare earths. The last time a sitting U.S. president visited China was in 2017.

On Thursday, Xi walked down the stairs of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to shake hands with Trump, according to official broadcast footage. The U.S. president first shook hands with Chinese officials, followed by Xi greeting the U.S. delegation.

China's top diplomat, Wang Yi and Zheng Shanjie, head of the economic planning agency, were among the Chinese representatives, the footage showed.

The U.S. contingent included Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as business executives such as Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple's Tim Cook and Nvidia's Jensen Huang.

Images of the initial Xi-Trump meeting also showed U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun were also present.