After the President accused China of meddling in the 2020 presidential election during a speech Thursday, Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked at a Sunday press conference at Andrews Air Force Base if the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington, D.C. is still on track for September.
Rubio said: “We anticipate that the trip is happening in September. They’ve continued to send over their teams to prepare for it, and I’ve heard nothing otherwise. I have no reason to believe that they won’t be coming.”
NEW: Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells me that planning for Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit the US in September is moving ahead even after the accusations from President Trump last week that China meddled in the 2020 US election.
— Eric Martin (@EMPosts) July 20, 2026
Rubio added, “There will always be — when you have two big, powerful countries like the United States and China — there are always going to be irritants, there are always going to be things we don’t agree on, but I think it’s incumbent on powerful and important countries like ours to continue to talk and have a relationship.”
Another reporter asked if Rubio plans to meet with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, during the ASEAN Summit, which takes place this week in Manila. Rubio said: “I’m not sure we’ve finalized that, but we’d be open to meeting with him, sure.”
Below is video of Rubio leaving the FIFA World Cup final to board a plane to Asia.
AWESOME! Sec. Marco Rubio overnight boarded the plane en route to Asia for the next several days He went directly from the World Cup with President Trump to continue representing America with strength
Keep working hard, Marco!
pic.twitter.com/J3tRtGfopX — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 20, 2026
When asked if he would bring up Trump’s Chinese election meddling claim with the foreign minister, Rubio said, “Well, I would never tell you guys in a press conference what we would raise in meetings like that. Those are delicate matters.”
[NOTE: In March 2025, when asked at a press conference in Beijing about how China will engage with the second Trump administration, Wang stated “no country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain good relations with China at the same time.” He added, “Such a two-faced approach is not good for the stability of bilateral relations or building mutual trust.”]