Trump, Xi to meet in South Korea next month

Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have agreed to meet at a regional summit in South Korea in late October, building momentum toward resolving the TikTok controversy and broader trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Catch up: Trump announced the plan following what he described as a “very productive,” nearly two-hour phone call with Xi last Friday, which marked their second conversation since his return to the White House. The leaders also committed to additional meetings, with Trump planning a China visit early next year and Xi a U.S. trip “at an appropriate time.”

Latest developments: Friday’s discussion focused on finalizing framework negotiations that would transfer majority control of TikTok to American investors while parent company ByteDance maintains a 19.9% stake. “The TikTok deal is well on its way,” Trump told reporters, adding that the app helped him secure “massive numbers of youth vote” in the 2024 election. Despite this development, the deal’s success hinges on resolving control over the platform’s AI-driven recommendation algorithm, which Beijing appears intent on retaining. Chinese officials signaled willingness to license the algorithm technology while maintaining oversight, with Xi telling Trump that Beijing “would be happy to see productive commercial negotiations in keeping with market rules” lead to a compliant solution.

Beyond the app’s future, the leaders discussed trade relations, fentanyl trafficking and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Notably absent from both countries’ readouts was any mention of Taiwan despite ongoing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Why this matters: The agreement prevents enforcement of a congressional ban that threatened to shut down a space where U.S. content creators — many of them Asian Americans — have found unprecedented reach. The diplomatic breakthrough also suggests both leaders recognize the need to manage their consequential relationship amid trade disputes and geopolitical tensions.

Looking ahead, the upcoming summit will test whether personal diplomacy between Trump and Xi can address deeper structural issues, including China’s trade surplus with the U.S., technology restrictions and Beijing’s continued support for Russia amid the Ukraine conflict.