Xi Warns Trump Against Thucydides Trap During White House Visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned against the "Thucydides Trap" during a White House state visit on Thursday, urging the United States to keep competition "within bounds" and coexist peacefully. He delivered the message during a lavish arrival ceremony featuring 479 military personnel, a B-2 bomber flyover, and side-by-side flags in the Rose Garden.

Trump personally greeted Xi at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday and praised him as a "truly great friend" during Thursday's remarks. The U.S. president gave Xi a private tour of the West Wing, highlighting photos of their past meetings and a new South Lawn helipad.

“The Thucydides trap can be overcome.”

During the tour, Trump showed Xi a display labeling an autopen as representing former President Joe Biden, calling Biden the "worst president in history." Xi laughed at the exhibit, which Trump calls the "Presidential Walk of Fame," and joked he did not recognize himself in a photo from their May meeting in Beijing.

Xi repeated the Thucydides Trap warning he first issued during Trump's Beijing visit in May. The concept describes the risk of war when a rising power challenges an established one. The visit occurs amid tensions over artificial intelligence risks, trade, and Taiwan.