President Donald Trump has brought more than a dozen leading American business and technology executives with him on his official trip to Beijing this week, including several of the most prominent figures in the tech industry. Jensen Huang of Nvidia is a last minute addition, flying to Alaska to join the delegation after President Trump called him directly.
CNBC reports that the high-profile delegation includes Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, and BlackRock’s Larry Fink, along with executives from Meta, Visa, JP Morgan, Boeing, Cargill and other major corporations. A White House official with knowledge of the plans confirmed that over a dozen US executives are participating in the trip.
According to CNBC, Huang’s initial absence from the trip was noted, resulting in Trump calling the Nvidia CEO asking him to join the trip. He immediately flew to Alaska where the delegation was preparing to fly to China.
The visit represents a significant diplomatic moment as Trump prepares to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping amid heightened economic and technological tensions between the world’s two largest economies. This marks the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nearly a decade.
The inclusion of Huang is particularly significant given that Nvidia’s advanced AI chips have become a central point of contention in US-China relations. Huang also serves on Trump’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, alongside other business leaders including Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle boss Larry Ellison.
In addition to the previously mentioned executives, the official US delegation includes several other prominent business leaders. Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice chair of Meta, is making the trip, as is Boeing President and CEO Kelly Ortberg. Visa CEO Ryan McInerney, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and Cargill CEO and chairman Brian Sikes are also part of the group.
The financial sector is well represented with Citi CEO Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs Chief Executive David Solomon, and Mastercard President Michael Miebach joining the delegation. Additional executives include Jim Anderson of Coherent, Henry Lawrence Culp of GE Aerospace, and Jacob Thaysen of Illumina.
Another notable participant is Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology. His presence is particularly interesting given that Beijing restricted the use of certain Micron chips in critical infrastructure in 2023, citing national security concerns. The ongoing semiconductor tensions underscore the complex technological relationship between the two nations, even as export controls and trade restrictions continue.
Chuck Robbins, chairman and CEO of Cisco, was invited to participate but could not attend due to earnings commitments, according to a company spokeswoman.
The executives collectively represent a broad spectrum of American business interests, spanning social media and consumer hardware to computer chips and commercial manufacturing.
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.