Some of America's most powerful corporate executives, from Big Tech to Wall Street to agriculture, have been invited to join the US President Donald Trump on his trip to China for a meeting with President Xi Jinping, according to a White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Trade, artificial intelligence, and discussions around Iran are all expected to feature in the talks between the two leaders.
Here is a closer look at the key executives making the trip.
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Elon Musk
Musk's presence on the delegation is perhaps the most closely watched. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who led Trump's Department of Government Efficiency before departing in spring 2025 ahead of the agency's closure in November, had a very public falling out with Trump last summer, including making unsubstantiated claims about the President's alleged ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Musk later said he regretted some of those posts.
Since the fallout, Musk has redirected his focus to his companies. Tesla has a significant footprint in China, and Musk has made multiple visits there. He is also currently navigating legal pressure from French prosecutors over content on X, including child sexual abuse imagery, deepfakes, and disinformation- and is in the middle of a trial against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Tim Cook
Cook is on the trip as his long tenure at Apple draws to a close. He announced last month that he will step down as CEO on September 1, handing over the role to Apple's head of hardware engineering, John Ternus, while remaining with the company as executive chairman. During his 15 years at the helm, Apple's market value grew by more than $3.6 trillion.
China has been central to Cook's tenure in more ways than one. His management of Apple's deep manufacturing ties to the country and his navigation of two rounds of Trump-era trade wars have become a case study in corporate diplomacy.
After securing iPhone exemptions during Trump's first term, Cook faced a more complex challenge in the second. He ultimately shifted production of US-bound iPhones to India, won partial exemptions, and pledged a $600 billion US investment to keep the administration's goodwill.
Kelly Ortberg
Robert "Kelly" Ortberg took the top job at Boeing in 2024, inheriting a company mired in legal, regulatory, and production difficulties. A former CEO of aerospace manufacturer Rockwell Collins, Ortberg has been focused on stabilising Boeing's recovery. China's retaliatory 125% tariff on American goods, imposed in April 2025 in response to Trump's 145% tariff on Chinese products, had posed a significant threat to Boeing, whose passenger jets sell for tens of millions of dollars. That threat has eased somewhat as Boeing has gradually reduced its dependence on Chinese deliveries. The company is currently in ongoing talks with China over a potential large aircraft sale.
The full delegation
Beyond the three names above, the White House official confirmed a wide-ranging list of executives making the trip:
Published on: May 13, 2026 10:05 AM IST
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