White House confirms First Lady Melania Trump not travelling to China with US President
By Reena Bhardwaj, Washington DC, May 13
First Lady Melania Trump will not be accompanying US President Donald Trump to China during this visit, as per the White House.
Trump, who departed for China a short while ago, is accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair, Deputy National Security Advisor Robert Gabriel, Ambassador Jamieson Greer, and Ambassador Monica Crowley aboard Air Force One.
Others accompanying President Trump are White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Beau Harrison, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, Assistant to the President & White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung, and President's Science and Tech Advisor Michael Kratsios.
Also aboard Air Force One are Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Ross Worthington and Walt Nauta.
Before his departure to China, Trump interacted with the media and expressed optimism ahead of his visit.
Calling President Xi a friend, Trump told reporters, "You're going to see that good things are going to happen. This is going to be a very exciting trip."
When asked if Xi Jinping would help in making a deal with Iran, Trump said, "It might be. I don't think we need any help with Iran. They're defeated militarily, and they'll either do the right thing or we'll finish the job. They're either going to do the right thing or we're just going to finish the job."
The US President told the media that among the several items for discussions with China, trade would be a key focus area.
"We're going to be talking with President Xi about a lot of different things. I would say more than anything else will be trade," Trump said.
Earlier, a White House official said that over a dozen business and tech leaders representing major companies across technology, finance, defence, and consumer sectors would be a part of the American delegation.
As per the White House official, the list includes Apple CEO Tim Cook, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Citi CEO Jane Fraser, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins, Coherent CEO Jim Anderson, and GE Aerospace CEO H. Lawrence Culp.
Other leaders to travel with Trump are Goldman Sach's David Solomon, Illumina CEO Jacob Thaysen, Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach, Meta executive Dina Powell McCormick, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon and Visa CEO Ryan McInerney.
The list reflects leadership from some of the world's most influential corporations spanning technology, finance, aerospace, manufacturing, and global payments.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As an Indian, I find it fascinating that Sanjay Mehrotra (Micron CEO) is part of the delegation. Shows how Indian-origin leaders are shaping global tech. But Melania not going? Maybe she's avoiding the awkward "handshake diplomacy" 😅
Why is everyone focusing on Melania? The real story is the massive corporate delegation. Trump is basically taking a who's who of American business to negotiate with Xi. This is serious economic warfare.
The fact that Trump calls Xi a "friend" while simultaneously threatening to "finish the job" with Iran shows how transactional international relations have become. India should be careful balancing between US and China in this new world order.
Melania skipping is probably smart - she avoids the whole "tension" thing. But personally, I think it's a missed opportunity for US-China cultural diplomacy. First ladies often do soft power work.
Did anyone notice Eric and Lara Trump are on the flight? Seems like a family business trip! But on a serious note, the trading talk is crucial for India too - if US-China trade war de-escalates, it could affect our export strategies.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.