The inclusion of Jensen Huang turned this long-delayed, nine-year-later "second visit" into a perfect metaphor for the times.
Jensen Huang caught the last flight.
In the early morning of May 13, 2026, Air Force One took off again from Anchorage, Alaska. The cabin held 16 American business leaders. No, 17. Just hours before departure, one more person was added.
According to informed sources, after seeing media reports that Jensen Huang was absent from the delegation, Donald Trump personally called the
Nine years earlier, Trump's Air Force One had also landed in Beijing carrying a different group. Two planes, two rosters, two distinctly different Americas.
2017: The Last Hurrah for Oil Barons and Old Money On November 8, 2017, Trump embarked on his first presidential visit to China.
At that time, over 100 U.S. companies applied to join the delegation. The Commerce Department ultimately handpicked 29 individuals.
This list was practically an inventory of America's traditional industrial base.
Energy companies accounted for nearly half. Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, Texas LNG, Cheniere Energy, DowDuPont, Air Products, SolarReserve, Viroment... a full 11 energy-related firms joined the trip. The list even included a local government official—Alaska Governor Bill Walker.
Technology and finance? They were mere embellishments.
Among the 29, only
Agriculture had two representatives: global grain giant ADM and the nation's largest private seed company, Stine Seed.
The logic of this list was crystal clear: energy, agricultural products, commodities, aviation—all industries that could get a piece of China's infrastructure boom and consumption upgrade were present.
That time, China and the U.S. signed 34 cooperation agreements, totaling $253.5 billion in deals, accounting for about half of the bilateral trade volume that year.
What was in it?
A mainland scholar later summarized: that time, "the U.S. side's desire to cooperate with China was already strong, but it still carried a condescending attitude of 'I want to sell to you.'"
2026: The Tech Titans and Wall Street's "Second Visit" On May 13, 2026, nearly nine years later, Trump set foot in China for the second time.
This time, the people aboard Air Force One were a completely different cast.
The financial contingent was unprecedentedly large:
Other tech companies included memory giant
Agriculture was left with a lone representative—Cargill CEO Brian Sikes.
A comparison of the two lists reveals stark differences.
| Category | 2017 | 2026 |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Energy/Environment | 11 companies | 0 companies |
| Tech/Semiconductors | 1 (
Scouring both lists, only five companies overlap:
Even General Electric had "slimmed down" to be listed specifically as "GE Aerospace," underscoring the shift in industrial structure.
The Vanished Oil Barons and the Boarding "Awkward Guest" The nine years between the two lists changed the world.
After the Trump administration took office, the U.S.-China trade war escalated comprehensively. The U.S. imposed tariffs in three rounds. By 2025, the tariff rate on strategic goods soared from 4.5% to 20.9%, while non-strategic goods rose from 12.9% to 31.5%.
Chinese automakers were locked out of the U.S. market by 100% tariffs.
Logically, in such an atmosphere, business leaders should steer clear.
But reality was precisely the opposite.
In early 2026, a survey released by the American Chamber of Commerce in China yielded surprising results: the proportion of U.S. companies in China optimistic about market growth rose significantly. Over 70% of firms had no plans to relocate operations from China, and nearly 60% planned to increase investment there.
"The core logic on the U.S. side has always been economic competition and efforts to reduce the U.S. economy's risk exposure to China. But I believe President Trump has a completely different view on this. He hopes to sell more American products to China and is also interested in Chinese investment in the U.S.," said Julian Gewirtz, a researcher at Columbia University.
In plain terms: after nine years of contention, they discovered that without China's supply chain, things don't work, and without the Chinese market, profits are hard to come by.
The most dramatic subplot of this "second visit" involved Jensen Huang.
The original 16-person list released by the White House surprisingly omitted the head of the world's highest-valued chip giant.
External interpretation suggested ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and
The reason was simple—AI chips are a hot potato. If Huang had been on the list from the start, it would have drawn media focus to the sensitive topic of chip controls, disrupting the White House's established cooperation agenda.
How safe agriculture and aviation are! Soybeans don't trigger national security reviews;
But ultimately, Trump personally called and "squeezed" Huang into the delegation.
The dramatic inclusion itself was a signal: the chip business might be difficult to discuss, but the chip leader must come.
The U.S. neither wanted Huang to become the news focus nor dared to completely exclude
The "Survivors" and the Tides of Change The overlapping portion of the two lists holds an even more intriguing signal.
What are they? They are "essential needs."
Over nine years, some boarded the plane and later disembarked, while others boarded for the first time.
Elon Musk was not on the 2017 list but sat in the front row in 2026.
Tim Cook didn't come in 2017 but came in 2026.
As for DowDuPont, Cheniere Energy, Alaska Gasline Development... these protagonists of 2017 didn't even qualify to board in 2026.
"I'm Going There to Do Business" In American popular culture, there's a running gag: whenever the president travels abroad, the favorite question of accompanying journalists isn't about the diplomatic agenda but "Who's on the plane?"
Because the list is a physical examination report of the U.S. economy.
The 2017 report showed: America's economic health relied on what was dug up (natural gas, oil), grown (soybeans), and built (airplanes).
The 2026 report shows: America's economic engine has been replaced by what is calculated (AI chips), financed (Wall Street), and connected (communications and ecosystems).
But what's more noteworthy is the shift in the U.S. business community's attitude towards China, from "I want to sell to you" to "I need to work with you."
In 2017, the role of U.S. companies in China was more that of "suppliers"—selling planes, natural gas, soybeans.
Come, sign deals, leave.
In 2026, what these CEOs came to discuss in China was market access, supply chain stability, technological cooperation, and financial licenses.
They only care about one thing: Is my business still there?
In 2025, China's total imports and exports with the U.S. amounted to 4.01 trillion yuan.
This is the reality of 4 trillion. How much ideological ice can it melt?
Epilogue On November 8, 2017, Trump had tea with Chinese leaders in the Forbidden City.
On May 13, 2026, his first stop was the Temple of Heaven, south of the Forbidden City. A stone slab in the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests bears an inscription with a famous quote from Emperor Qianlong: "承天佑民" (May Heaven Protect the People).
What carries the world's two largest economies is no longer the aroma of tea and prayers in ancient palaces, but the millions of container ships and daily billions of data pulses from hundreds of thousands of enterprises on both sides of the Pacific.
Nine years ago, the America aboard Air Force One wanted China's orders.
Nine years later, the America in the same cabin wants China's market, supply chain, access, and—an attitude of problem-solving.
One plane, two eras. America's identity has shifted from seller to petitioner.
China's position has shifted from buyer to the other side of the negotiating table.
"I'm going there to do business."—this statement was both the reason for Trump's 2017 visit and the cause for his 2026 "second visit." It's just that in the nine years between, the connotation of the word "business" has turned a new page.
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