NPR News: 05-15-2026 9AM EDT

President Trump has returned to the US after a state visit to China, which Chinese leader Xi Jinping described as historic and landmark—the first by an American president in nearly nine years. The visit signals a potential shift toward a more stable US-China relationship amid Trump's long-standing narrative of great power competition. Other top stories include intensified Russian strikes on Ukraine, a Supreme Court ruling on abortion medication access, a World Health Organization alert on nicotine products, and a vandalism probe in Florida.

US-China State Visit Sets Cooperative Tone

Trump's trip to China emphasized building a "constructive relationship of strategic" cooperation, as Xi phrased it. According to Wu Xinbo, a leading American studies scholar at Shanghai's Fudan University, both leaders aim for a stable, predictable dynamic to replace tensions. Wu noted that China views high-level meetings as essential for managing competition, aligning with Trump's first-term focus on rivalry. This visit, the first since nearly nine years ago under a prior administration, could redirect bilateral ties toward more predictable cooperation without fully resolving underlying frictions.