Donald Trump staged a lavish White House welcome for Xi Jinping on Thursday, complete with the pageantry the Chinese leader could have wished for.

Military bands played, troops saluted, jets flew overhead and Trump personally guided Xi through the White House’s gold-trimmed corridors.

Trump smiled as Xi revealed that two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, would arrive at Zoo Atlanta within days. Their appearance continues a tradition that began when Beijing sent pandas to Washington following Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit.

Yet the ceremony could not conceal the deep rivalry between the world’s two largest economies and military powers, with artificial intelligence emerging as the latest battleground.

“Whoever wins AI, you have to remember this. And now I say, whoever wins SI, whoever wins superintelligence, wins,” Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, two days before Xi arrived.

“And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else,” he added.

Xi challenged that zero-sum view in his opening remarks at the White House on Thursday, shortly before beginning talks with Trump.

“We do not need to avoid mentioning competition, but our competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within bounds. It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which either wins or loses,” Xi said.

The Chinese leader said the United States and China should avoid the “Thucydides Trap,” the theory that an established power and a rising rival are likely to come into conflict.

Xi has used the phrase before. It refers to the Peloponnesian War, portraying rising Athens as China and fearful Sparta as the United States.

Xi said that, as the world’s leading AI powers, both countries had the “capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good.”

“We should coexist in peace. As I have said many times, China and the United States, as two major countries, stand to gain from cooperation and will both lose in confrontation,” Xi said.

He invoked Chinese and American troops fighting side by side against fascism in World War II. 

‘Chinese people have never forgotten that part of history, nor have the American people,’ Xi said.

‘Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.

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‘Let us meet the people’s expectation and show our historical initiative.

‘Let us keep advancing the cause of friendship between our two peoples and work together to build a better world.’

Beijing, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, has resisted months of pressure from Washington to lean on Tehran to end the almost seven-month war. 

Xi wants Washington to halt arms sales to Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island off China’s southeast coast which Beijing claims as its own. 

The AI race has made Taiwan an even bigger prize: the island makes around 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips. 

The one-year trade truce due to lapse on November 10 will be pushed back to January 10, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, although Beijing did not immediately confirm it. 

Trump will host Xi at a black-tie state dinner in the East Room on Thursday night, having complained that his new White House ballroom would not be finished in time.

Melania, who led the preparations, said the room’s decor ‘draws on the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history.’

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg are on the guest list, all of them pouring billions into AI. 

The red-carpet treatment has drawn fire from Trump ally Roger Wicker, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee.

‘Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party,’ Wicker said in a Senate floor speech Tuesday.  

The pair could meet up to four times this year, Bessent said, with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen in November and the G20 at Trump’s own Doral golf resort near Miami in December still to come. 

The Royal Family has often appeared to regard its continental counterparts with a degree of condescension.

European royals regularly travel to Britain for major occasions, including royal weddings, yet the gesture has not always been returned. More often than not, it has been Prince Edward who was sent to represent the monarchy at weddings abroad, rather than the sovereign or even the heir to the throne.

Scandinavia’s so-called “bicycling monarchies” have also frequently been mocked when compared with Britain’s “proper” monarchy, complete with horse-drawn carriages, multiple palaces and seemingly limitless pomp.

Yet while researching the latest edition of my YouTube show, Eden’s Royals, I was struck by how much King Charles could learn from some of Europe’s other royal houses.

This week’s programme focused on Denmark’s royal family, which shares many similarities with Britain’s. Queen Elizabeth II reigned for a record 70 years, while her third cousin, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, was an equally respected monarch who remained on the throne for 52 years.

But unlike Queen Elizabeth, Margrethe did not reign until her death. On New Year’s Eve in 2023, at the age of 83, she announced in a televised address that she would abdicate. It was the first voluntary abdication by a Danish sovereign in almost 900 years, making way for a younger generation and shocking many because Margrethe had long maintained that the role was a lifelong commitment.

Before stepping down in favour of her elder son, the 58-year-old King Frederik X, who is married to the Australian-born Queen Mary, 54, Margrethe had taken another significant decision—one that caused considerable distress within her family.

In September 2022, she announced that the children of her younger son, Prince Joachim, would lose their prince and princess titles from the following year. The decision affected four grandchildren: Prince Nikolai, Prince Felix, Prince Henrik and Princess Athena.

The children would retain the titles of count and countess of Monpezat, but they would be addressed as “excellencies” rather than “majesties”.

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Margrethe said her aim was to “create the framework for the four grandchildren to be able to shape their own lives to a much greater extent without being limited by the special considerations and duties that a formal affiliation with the Royal House of Denmark as an institution involves”.

Prince Joachim, who had not been involved in any major controversies, reacted angrily.

“We are all very sad,” he said publicly. “It’s never fun to see your children being mistreated like that. They themselves find themselves in a situation they do not understand.” His son Nikolai, then 23, said he was “in shock” and “very confused as to why it has to happen like this”.

Despite the backlash, Margrethe remained determined to implement the changes for the sake of the institution. “It is my duty and my desire as Queen to ensure that the monarchy always shapes itself in keeping with the times,” she said. “Sometimes, this means that difficult decisions must be made, and it will always be difficult to find the right moment.”

Margrethe’s willingness to act stands in sharp contrast to King Charles’s failure to take similar steps concerning his younger son.

Unlike Prince Joachim, Prince Harry has stepped away from public duties, repeatedly criticised his family and undermined the monarchy. Nevertheless, he and his wife have been allowed to retain the Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles bestowed on them by Queen Elizabeth when they were working royals.

Harry has also remained a Counsellor of State, a position that legally allows him, at least in theory, to stand in for the King. Rather than remove him from the role, Charles increased the number of Counsellors of State to include his brother and sister, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, making it less likely that Harry would be called upon.

Harry and Meghan have not only kept their titles; their children also remain Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

All this is a huge boost to the Sussexes as they try to claw back the automatic, 24-hour police protection which they lost when they moved overseas. After all, why would the Government want to deny them of something they so desperately want when the King allows them to keep all their perks?

It’s time for the King to follow the example of his Danish counterpart and take action which will undoubtedly upset his younger son but will benefit the monarchy and the country.

A 42-year-old man who threw a plastic bottle at police during violent anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Del Somerville hurled the bottle at officers and shouted abuse during the demonstration on September 6.

The father of two was the first person to be arrested and sentenced over the disorder, which broke out after a small boat carrying 114 migrants arrived in the city.

Somerville, from Portsmouth’s Paulsgrove area, had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

The court heard that the protest left local residents fearing for their safety. Footage showed Somerville shouting abuse at police officers and telling them to “f***” off.

Wearing a grey top and black coat, Somerville stuck out his tongue at members of the public gallery as he entered the courtroom.

Judge Daniel Sawyer said the sentence should serve as a deterrent to others after further protests took place in the area.

Somerville is also awaiting trial on a separate charge of assaulting a police officer in connection with his arrest on September 11.

Hundreds of people, including right-wing activist Daniel Thomas, gathered at Eastney Marina on the evening of September 6 and into the early hours of the following day after the boat arrived in Portsmouth.

The demonstration later became violent, with protesters attempting to prevent several coaches carrying migrants who had disembarked from leaving the harbour.

Seven police officers were injured and treated at the scene, while Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said.

During sentencing, Judge Sawyer described Somerville as a “thug”. He said: “Police officers dedicate their lives to protecting the public, regardless of their own views. The very least they can expect is for people taking part in protests to treat them with respect, and for the courts to punish those who assault them.”

Prosecutor Edward Warren said: “This case arises from the violence that occurred on the night of September 6, following the arrival in the country of 114 illegal migrants who had crossed the Channel from France and were diverted to Eastney Marina under escort from the Coastguard and the RNLI.”

Mr Warren continued: “Following an initial peaceful and lawful gathering by local residents, a large number of people assembled on Ferry Road near the marina.

“The protest initially appeared to be spontaneous. However, it later seemed that organised elements, encouraged online by public figures who had shared information on social media and elsewhere, helped draw a much larger crowd.

“Awareness of the protest spread online, prompting more people to gather in Eastney.

“Protests also began emerging in other parts of the area, including Hayling Island and ferry terminals.

‘Hampshire Constabulary declared a major incident during the evening and a significant police presence was deployed, and significant resources were required to maintain public order and to ensure those who had arrived in the country were moved to a secure location.

‘During the evening there were seven recorded assaults on police officers and damaged caused to police vehicles.

‘Other forces were deployed from outside Hampshire to assist and approximately 50 officers from Hampshire and a further 100 supporting officers to assist.’

The court heard local residents had given statements reporting feeling afraid in their own homes while protesters were seen to urinate in their gardens and thousands of pounds of damage was caused to property in the area.

Mr Warren said bricks, stones and bottles were thrown at police and community wardens had been trapped in their cars for five hours during the disturbance.

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The prosecutor said at about 11.20pm, Somerville, wearing a khaki hoodie with the hood up, initially motioned to another protester to ‘back off’ from the police line.

He said the defendant then ‘turned to face the police and was seen to throw a small bottle and he has shouted at officers to ‘f*** off’.

‘He remains at the front of the group talking to protesters a short distance from the police line.’

He added that at 1am, Somerville was seen on body-worn video footage ‘aggressively pushing’ through the police line and ‘shouting verbal abuse at police officers’ as well ‘pointing aggressively’ at them.

Mr Warren said Somerville, who lives in a boat at the marina, was tracked to his van by officers on September 11 and is alleged to have assaulted a constable as they attempted to arrest him.

Somerville entered a not guilty plea to this offence and that charge has been referred back to be tried at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court.

Mr Warren said when interviewed, Somerville ‘said the police were the ones responsible for the violence and he suggests he was struck by a baton multiple times and sprayed with CS gas’.

However, Mr Warren added Somerville ‘accepted throwing the bottle’, and nearly ‘tripped over it and picked it up and threw it’.

He added: ‘He was going to throw it into a bush but was angry and threw it into the air. He said it got out of hand.’

Helen Easterbrook, defending, said Somerville had been on his boat at the marina on the evening of the incident and had gone out to find out what was happening.

She said: ‘Unlike so many of those involved in disorders where people are transporting themselves across the country, he was caught up in it.

‘He was one of the people affected by this, his original involvement was when he came out of the marina to see what was going on. This does not excuse the behaviour he began to undertake.’

She added: ‘He asked police to go back to his place of safety on his boat but he was refused.

Ms Easterbook said Somerville initially attempted to calm the situation down but had thrown a ‘light plastic bottle’ which was not intended to hurt anyone.

She added: ‘He has suffered a number of mental health issues, rebuilding his life multiple times.’ 

Judge Daniel Sawyer told Somerville: ‘You didn’t simply find yourself caught up in this disorder, this maybe how it started but you made a decision to engage in this behaviour.

‘This was persistent and sustained violent activity. There was widespread violence.

‘This caused distress, disruption, a detrimental impact to the community, cost to the public purse and attacks on public servants.’ 

He added it is ‘important to distinguish the rights to peaceful protests and offence when people cease to protest peacefully’.

‘Many of those were wearing face coverings adding to the air of intimidation,’ he said. 

‘The right to a peaceful protest is an important part of life. Whether a person wishes to protest against immigration, globalisation or climate change, all have the same right to a peaceful protest.

‘Police officers dedicate their lives to protect the public. The very least that they can expect is that those who engage in protests treat them with respect. 

‘The community impact of that night’s violence has been profound.’

This is a breaking news story and is being updated.

The White House reversed course Thursday on its media restrictions, permitting reporters to return after initially blocking them ahead of President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“CNN was allowed back into the White House on Thursday at noon,” host Kaitlan Collins wrote on X following the confrontation.

Several journalists were turned away despite a federal judge ordering the administration, just hours earlier, to restore access for the affected news organizations.

US District Judge Timothy Kelly issued a temporary restraining order early Thursday, requiring the Trump administration to readmit journalists from Politico, CNN and MS NOW. Trump had barred the outlets the previous Friday.

Even after the order took effect, the White House continued to deny entry to reporters from the three outlets and confiscated some credentials Thursday morning. Access was restored later in the day.

The dispute unfolded as Trump hosted Xi Jinping and his wife, Madame Peng, at the White House, where he celebrated what he called the “truly great friendship” between the two leaders.

Trump announced the media ban last Friday in an angry social media post accusing the outlets of spreading “fake news.” Reports said his aide Natalie Harp had shown him a selection of critical coverage shortly before the decision was made.

Politico said one of its reporters had their credentials taken Thursday even after the court ruling cleared the way for re-entry. MS NOW likewise reported that one of its journalists was denied access and had their credentials confiscated.

The three news organizations sued the Trump administration on Monday, and the case moved swiftly through the courts.

Other major broadcasters, including Fox News, NBC, CBS and ABC, responded by declining to cover the president. The networks make up the television pool that shares responsibility for presidential coverage on a rotating basis.

ABC News was scheduled to serve as the television pool for Xi’s state visit Thursday. However, the network refused to enter events until the White House provided evidence that CNN journalists had been allowed inside, according to the Guardian.

When Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and Madame Peng at the airport Wednesday, several broadcast crews packed away their cameras and watched the proceedings without recording them.

Despite the media blackout, Trump offered warm remarks about the Chinese president and noted that it was the first time Xi had met him at the White House.

“We have spent time together all over the world,” Trump said.

He added that their travels had allowed them to “forge a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually.”

Trump described his visit to Beijing earlier this year as a “great privilege” and praised Xi for providing “spectacular and very beautiful hospitality.”

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He said he and the first lady ‘are honoured to host you’ in ‘the beautiful White House.’ 

The Chinese president, meanwhile, said he and Trump have established a ‘personal rapport’ over the years and encourage their governments to communicate.

But Xi said those talks can be improved.

‘We should strengthen communication,’ he said. ‘China and the United States are different in national condition, but through candid, in-depth, and continued dialogue, our two countries can understand each other better, seek common ground, while shelving differences and build up mutual trust.’

Xi said he and Trump have pushed better communication among their lieutenants ‘in charge of foreign affairs, economic matters, financial cooperation and law enforcement and people-to-people exchanges.’

He added later that the nations’ militaries can ‘maintain regular dialogue’ as part of an overall relationship that involves ‘healthy’ competition that is ‘kept within bounds.’

Trump’s week has been packed with major events from attending the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City to the historic state visit with Xi in Washington, which concludes on Friday. 

The media blackout has prevented widespread coverage of the spectacles, and the broadcasters have mostly not taken any of the events live. 

New media outlets like Real America’s Voice, a MAGA-friendly network, have filled the void with YouTube streams. 

Given the ban on CNN and MS NOW, the broadcast tents they used to occupy on White House grounds are now vacant with their lights off, and correspondents have opted instead to shoot live shots from the streets outside the presidential residence. 

It is unclear when the White House will officially restore the outlets’ credentials. 

The Daily Mail contacted the White House for comment.

The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) released a blistering condemnation of the ban in the wake of the media crackdown.  

‘The president said it plainly in the Oval Office, describing his own planned action as a ‘ban on the free press,” Jacqui Heinrich, WHCA president, said in a statement. 

‘The Constitution protects the freedom of the press from government interference. That protection does not depend on whether the president likes a news organization’s coverage, agrees with its reporting, or approves of the questions its journalists ask.’