Trump to host Xi amid pomp, low expectations

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military honor guard has been rehearsing and the new White House helipad is ready. But will Xi Jinping and Donald Trump achieve lift-off at their summit next week? Warnings of an AI apocalypse hang heavy over the Chinese president's first White House meetings with Trump, as both countries race for technological supremacy. Trump's Iran war casts a long shadow too, as China seeks to avoid U.S. sanctions against countries dealing with Tehran, despite reports that Beijing supplied Tehran with intelligence for a strike on U.S. troops. A simmering trade war between the world's two largest economies is of even greater concern, while the threat of military confrontation over Taiwan looms large as well. Behind it all is a desire to manage tensions between a superpower keen to keep its place at the top and a rapidly rising rival determined to make the 21st century a Chinese one. The U.S. president, media-minded as ever, is also focused on the optics of the visit, having been hosted with high pomp during his own state visit to China in May. Trump, who was welcomed by China's v