President Donald Trump is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House Thursday for a state visit.
President Donald Trump is hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House Thursday for a state visit that puts some of the biggest issues in the U.S.-China relationship front and center, from trade and artificial intelligence to critical minerals and agriculture.
Trump personally greeted Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday before the official state visit began. The White House scheduled a formal arrival ceremony Thursday, followed by meetings between the two leaders and a state dinner Thursday evening.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and chair of its Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law, joined The National News Desk ahead of the talks to discuss what she wants to see addressed.
Blackburn said artificial intelligence should be near the top of the agenda, particularly as the United States and China compete over emerging technologies.
"Of course, AI is at the top of the list," Blackburn said.
Blackburn said she wants protections for children, consumer privacy and intellectual property to remain part of the conversation as AI systems become increasingly powerful.
"We are working to get protections for our children, for our citizens, for our creators and people that own intellectual property," Blackburn said.
She also raised concerns about Americans' personal data potentially becoming accessible to Beijing, an issue that has been at the center of broader debates in Congress over technology and national security.
Blackburn said policymakers need to ensure Americans "know Beijing is not going to get all their data and data mine it and build a virtual you of our American citizens."
Agriculture is another issue Blackburn said she wants addressed during the talks.
Trump and Xi reached a series of economic agreements during Trump's May visit to China. According to the White House, China committed to purchasing at least $17 billion annually in U.S. agricultural products in 2026, 2027 and 2028, in addition to previously announced soybean purchase commitments. The agreement also included steps involving rare earths and other critical minerals.
Blackburn said American farmers want China to follow through on its commitments.
"You're going to see discussion around another topic, and that's going to be the price of soybeans and making certain that China fulfills their obligations to meet their quotas on soybeans and on cotton and on some of the other commodities," Blackburn said.
"These are commitments they had made," she added.
Blackburn said she had spoken with a West Tennessee soybean farmer a day earlier who wanted to see those agreements fulfilled.
"We've got to make certain they keep their word," Blackburn said.
The conversation then turned back to AI and the question of how the United States can regulate emerging technology without slowing American companies as they compete against China.
Blackburn argued the country can establish consumer protections while preserving innovation.
"We are number one in the world when it comes to innovating," Blackburn said. "Let's assure our citizens we're going to protect our children. We're going to protect their privacy."
Blackburn has made online privacy and technology policy a significant part of her work in the Senate. The Judiciary Committee's Privacy, Technology and the Law Subcommittee, which she chairs, has jurisdiction over issues including online privacy, digital safety, artificial intelligence-related civil liberties concerns and platform accountability.
"We need one set of rules for the entire internet ecosystem to make certain that you, the individual, can protect your privacy in the virtual space, whether it is online, whether it's AI, whether it's any of these other applications," Blackburn said.
She argued that clearly defined rules could give companies certainty while allowing them to continue competing.
"When we put the guardrails down, the rules of the road, and everybody knows what the rules are, then they're going to run within those guardrails and they are going to race to the finish line," Blackburn said.
Blackburn also called on Trump to press Xi over intellectual property protections and China's compliance with its commitments.
"My hope is he is going to hold Xi Jinping to account," Blackburn said.
She accused China of a long history of intellectual property theft and said protecting American innovation should remain a priority in the relationship.
"We want them respecting our innovation and honoring intellectual property rights that our innovators have," Blackburn said.
The interview also turned to a separate domestic policy debate following a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday focused on women's sports.
The committee held a hearing titled "Standing Up for Women in Sports: Ensuring Opportunity, Fairness and Safety for Female Athletes" on Wednesday morning.
Blackburn criticized Democratic members of the committee over their participation in the hearing and promoted her proposal to amend Title IX by adding statutory definitions of male and female.
"It was absolutely stunning that the Democrats were a wall on this," Blackburn said.
She argued that Democrats avoided engaging with the issue because of the political controversy surrounding transgender participation in women's sports. That characterization reflects Blackburn's interpretation of their actions.
"They didn't want to touch that subject," Blackburn said. "So they just did not show up. They did not call a witness because their position is not defensible."
The debate over transgender athletes remains sharply divided. Supporters of restrictions argue that sex-based eligibility rules are necessary to preserve competitive fairness and opportunities for female athletes, while opponents argue that blanket restrictions discriminate against transgender students and can conflict with principles of inclusion and equal treatment.
Blackburn said she hears from parents and grandparents who worry about athletic opportunities, roster positions and college scholarships for female athletes.
"They do not want their girls to be bumped off a team or deprived a college scholarship to play college sports," Blackburn said.
She called on athletic governing bodies, colleges and high schools to ensure female athletes retain opportunities to compete.
"They need to stand up, stand up for our female athletes," Blackburn said. "Give these women and girls the opportunity to train, to develop that camaraderie of a team, to go out there to compete, to win those scholarships, to achieve and to stand on that podium and be recognized for their hard work and success."
The comments came as Trump and Xi entered a day of diplomacy at the White House, with the administration seeking progress on economic and strategic issues that have shaped an increasingly competitive relationship between Washington and Beijing. The White House said the state visit will continue Friday with tea at the White House and a visit to the National Archives before Trump and first lady Melania Trump bid farewell to Xi and Peng.
