Dinner Blackout

Donald Trump hosted Xi Jinping for a state dinner at the White House Thursday night. No major network aired it live.

A fight over press access caused the blackout, the Guardian reported. About an hour before Xi arrived, the White House told CNN it could send a photojournalist and audio technician. Not the reporter and producer who normally file the pool report other outlets rely on. CNN is one of five networks in the rotating pool system. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox News refused to run any video until CNN's full access was restored, the Guardian reported. The White House's own YouTube livestream of Xi's arrival drew just 18,000 views.

Hours earlier, banned outlets had won back their access in court. CNN, MS NOW and Politico returned to White House grounds Thursday, nearly a week after Trump barred them over what he called "FAKE NEWS" coverage, NBC News reported. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly had ordered their access restored for 14 days overnight, ruling the ban was most likely unconstitutional. Reporters were still turned away Thursday morning. Kelly demanded a written response by 12:30 p.m. Two CNN journalists and one from MS NOW were turned away again at the dinner itself, both outlets reported, even though the event was open press and they had RSVPed.

Inside, the guest list ran heavy on tech money. Amazon's Jeff Bezos attended. So did Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Sundar Pichai, Dell's Michael Dell, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Citigroup's Jane Fraser and former Apple chief Tim Cook, ABC News reported, alongside Xi's wife, Peng Liyuan, and first lady Melania Trump.

Trump and Xi met behind closed doors for about 90 minutes earlier Thursday, covering trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, the Iran war and critical minerals, ABC News reported. The two countries agreed to extend their tariff truce by two months, pushing the deadline to Jan. 10, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed, according to CNBC. Xi announced two pandas will go to Zoo Atlanta, CNBC reported.

Trump called the two countries' relationship a "truly great friendship." Xi struck a similar note but added a warning on rivalry. "Our competition should be a healthy one and should be kept within bounds," he said, according to CNBC's translation of his remarks. "It should be a race of catching up with one another, not a wrestle in which one either wins or loses."

Friday, Xi is scheduled to tour the National Archives with Trump before leaving the U.S. later that day, ABC News reported.