US president Donald Trump’s entourage for his trip to China includes top administration officials, several of the country’s most powerful executives and members of the Trump family.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has travelled with Trump, despite sanctions China imposed on him in 2020 over his comments about its human rights record. Pete Hegseth is the first sitting defense secretary to visit China since Jim Mattis made the trip in 2018. And US treasury secretary Scott Bessent is also in the entourage, after meeting with China’s vice premier, He Lifeng, in South Korea before Trump’s meetings with Xi Jinping, China’s leader.
Eric Trump, the president’s middle son, who runs the Trump Organisation, the main family business, was part of the group greeted by a red carpet as he descended the stairs from Air Force One onto the tarmac in Beijing.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Eric Trump and Lara Trump depart Air Force One as US president Donald Trump is greeted on arrival in Beijing. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Next to him was Lara Trump, his wife, and behind them was Elon Musk, a former top adviser to Donald Trump who was among the many business leaders invited to attend, in an apparent sign that relations between the two men are friendlier than they were last year.
Brett Ratner, a film producer and director, was also spotted by reporters on Air Force One and shared a picture on social media of a note welcoming him onto the plane.
Ratner directed “Melania,” Amazon’s documentary on first lady Melania Trump, a comeback for the filmmaker, who has faced allegations from women of sexual harassment and misconduct. Ratner has denied those allegations. Attempts to reach Ratner’s representatives were not immediately successful.
Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, attends a state banquet during the summit between US president Donald Trump and president Xi Jinping of China. Photograph: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Elon Musk attends a state banquet during the summit between president Donald Trump and president Xi Jinping. Photograph: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
The summit, which could shape the next chapter in US-Chinese relations, began Thursday. Trump and Xi are expected to discuss trade and investment, according to senior US officials, along with the war in Iran and other matters.
Members of the US delegation including White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Trade representative Jamieson Greer, secretary of war Pete Hegseth, secretary of the treasury Scott Bessent, secretary of state Marco Rubio, ambassador to China David Perdue and CEOs from various industries stand prior to a welcome ceremony for Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Here’s a look at some of those in Trump’s entourage:
White House officials:
— Marco Rubio, secretary of state
— Pete Hegseth, defense secretary
— Scott Bessent, treasury secretary
Business leaders:
— Tim Cook of Apple
— Larry Fink of BlackRock
— Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone
— Kelly Ortberg of Boeing
— Brian Sikes of Cargill
— Jane Fraser of Citi
— Jim Anderson of Coherent
— Larry Culp of GE Aerospace
— David Solomon of Goldman Sachs
— Jacob Thaysen of Illumina
— Michael Miebach of Mastercard
— Dina Powell McCormick of Meta
— Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron
— Jensen Huang of Nvidia
— Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm
— Elon Musk of Tesla
— Ryan McInerney of Visa
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.