Chinese officials welcomed President Donald Trump with full state honors during his Wednesday visit to Beijing, including a red-carpet arrival ceremony at the airport led by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, military bands, and around 300 students waving American and Chinese flags chanting "welcome" in Mandarin.

Trump, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and family members including Eric and Lara Trump, was greeted with a 21-gun salute, goose-stepping honor guards, and a formal welcome at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square.

Top U.S. business leaders on the trip included Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX), Tim Cook (Apple), Larry Fink (BlackRock), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia), all present at the state banquet. Musk was seated prominently and attended with his son X Æ A-12. The delegation underscored the economic focus of the summit, with Trump emphasizing trade and investment.

At the welcoming banquet, Xi Jinping called the visit "historic" and stated that "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and "Make America Great Again" can go hand in hand, describing U.S.-China relations as the world’s most important bilateral relationship. Trump praised the "magnificent welcome like no other", called Xi a "great leader", and invited him and his wife Peng Liyuan to the White House on September 24, 2026.

Highlights of the ceremonies included a military band playing the U.S. national anthem, a troop review, cannon salutes, and a visit to the Temple of Heaven, where Trump called the site "great" and "incredible." Both leaders delivered cordial opening remarks, with Trump noting that he and Xi resolved past issues quickly via phone calls.

The summit focused on Iran war diplomacy, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, AI chip exports, and potential Boeing aircraft deals, though no sweeping trade agreement was announced.

During the visit on Thursday, a tense security dispute occurred when Chinese officials blocked an armed U.S. Secret Service agent from entering the Temple of Heaven, sparking an "intense standoff" that delayed access for nearly 30 minutes.

According to reports from journalists traveling with Trump, including AFP correspondent Danny Kemp and Fox News’ Peter Doocy, the confrontation involved "heated and physical" exchanges between U.S. and Chinese security personnel, with Doocy describing "one very physical standoff" over the agent’s firearm. A compromise was eventually reached, though details were not disclosed, and Trump’s schedule proceeded unchanged.

American reporters and staff also faced repeated clashes with Chinese officials, being briefly detained both during entry to the Temple of Heaven and after the event when attempting to rejoin the presidential motorcade. Chinese security reportedly tried multiple times to block U.S. press and White House staff from leaving designated areas, prompting a "spirited debate" and leading one American official to remark, “You guys have been terrible hosts.”

The incidents unfolded amid heightened security protocols, with U.S. officials operating under concerns of surveillance—many traveled with stripped-down devices, assuming all communications in China could be monitored.

The standoff revived memories of a 2017 incident during Trump’s earlier visit, when Chinese security blocked a U.S. military aide carrying the "nuclear football" from entering the Great Hall of the People, reportedly leading to brief shoving.

The White House and Secret Service did not comment, but former officials confirmed that U.S. personnel are routinely briefed that "everything is monitored" in China.

Despite the tensions, the summit continued as planned, with Trump and Xi discussing trade, Iran, Taiwan, and energy security, while projecting diplomatic pageantry.

At The Android Show: I/O Edition on Tuesday, Google unveiled a major suite of updates centered on Gemini Intelligence, a new laptop category called Googlebook, and significant enhancements to Android 17. These announcements serve as a prelude to the main Google I/O 2026 conference, focusing on deep AI integration across hardware and software.

"Today at the @Android Show (I/O edition) we announced Gemini Intelligence - bringing the best of Gemini to our most advanced devices," CEO Sundar Pichai wrote on X Tuesday. "Automate multi-step tasks across apps and Chrome, fill out forms in a single tap, turn spoken thoughts into polished text with Rambler, build custom widgets & loads more."

Gemini Intelligence is a new branding for Google’s advanced AI features on "advanced" devices, launching this summer on the latest Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones. It introduces proactive task automation, such as creating shopping carts from notes or booking appointments based on context, alongside Rambler (an improved voice input that filters filler words) and Create My Widget for generative UI.

Concurrently, Google introduced the Googlebook, a new line of AI-first laptops from partners like Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo arriving this fall. These devices feature Magic Pointer (contextual AI actions triggered by cursor movement), a Glowbar accent light, and seamless integration with Android phones for file access and app casting.

Android 17 brings creator-focused tools like Screen Reactions (simultaneous face and screen recording), Noto 3D emoji, and Pause Point (an intentional app timer). Android Auto receives a Material 3 Expressive redesign, HD 60fps video support, and Dolby Atmos spatial sound for compatible vehicles including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. Security is bolstered by AISeal, pKVM for AI privacy, Intrusion Logging, and enhanced scam detection.

Additionally, Quick Share gains iOS AirDrop compatibility, and Adobe Premiere is coming to Android, while Chrome for Android integrates Gemini 3.1 for auto-browsing and image generation via Nano Banana.

SpaceX launched the NROL-172 mission aboard a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base at 0213 UTC on Tuesday (May 12). The flight carried a batch of classified intelligence-gathering satellites for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), marking the 13th mission supporting the agency’s "proliferated architecture" constellation.

The first-stage booster, B1097 (flown for the 9th time), successfully landed on the drone ship 'Of Course I Still Love You' approximately 8.5 minutes after liftoff. It was the second launch and landing for this particular booster, according to a SpaceX mission description. SpaceX's livestream ended shortly thereafter, at the request of the NRO.

This mission is part of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contract, managed by the Space Systems Command (SSC), and follows previous proliferated architecture launches such as NROL-145, NROL-48, and NROL-105.

"To stay ahead of the competition and ensure it can continue to operate in a heightened threat environment, the NRO is modernizing its architecture in space and on the ground — delivering more capability faster with increased resilience," agency officials wrote in the NROL-172 press kit.

"A greater number of satellites — large and small, government and commercial, in multiple orbits — will deliver an order of magnitude more signals and images than is available today," they added.

The NRO did not disclose the exact quantity of satellites, but they are part of a constellation including electro-optical, radar, and relay satellites contributed by the Geospatial Intelligence Systems Acquisitions Directorate (GEOINT). These relay satellites enable inter-satellite optical communications and support the Department of War’s space-data network.

The NRO utilizes this proliferated architecture to provide greater revisit rates, increased coverage, and resilience by eliminating single points of failure. The satellites for the new network were built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. Their exact purpose, location in orbit or number remain classified.

The use of Falcon 9 for these missions allows for shorter, more responsive timelines compared to traditional major system acquisitions. All of the proliferated architecture satellites have reached orbit atop the SpaceX rockets flying out of Vandenberg, which sits on California's scenic but often foggy central coast. The first such launch, NROL-146, lifted off in May 2024. The most recent before today, NROL-105, took place this past January.

This was the second flight under the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 1 contract for SpaceX, following NROL-145 in April 2025. The mission was originally targeted for May 11 but was delayed to May 12 due to weather or technical checks, with propellant loading commencing successfully on the night of May 11.

NROL-172 was the 55th Falcon 9 launch of the year. The vast majority of the rocket's liftoffs so far in 2026 — 44 of 55 — have been dedicated to building out Starlink, SpaceX's broadband megaconstellation in low Earth orbit.