Elon Musk, Tim Cook part of US delegation heading to China with Trump

WASHINGTON – Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and Apple CEO Tim Cook are among more than a dozen business executives who will accompany President Donald Trump this week on his trip to China as part of the U.S. delegation, according to a White House official.

Trump is set to depart on May 12 for Beijing, making what will be the first trip to China from a U.S. president since Trump's 2017 visit. The trip includes a high-stakes meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping following a yearlong trade war between the world's two largest economies and as global oil markets roil amid the Iran war.

Musk had a much-publicized falling out with Trump after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO ended his work leading the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, which worked to cut government agencies and lay off workers.

But the two men have since mended fences. Musk, the world's richest man, last November visited the White House as one of Trump's guests for a dinner with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. Musk also took part in a discussion on advances in artificial intelligence and technology at a U.S.-Saudi Arabia investment forum in Washington that Trump attended.

At the height of their friendship, Musk was staying overnight at the White House, riding with Trump on Air Force One and taking center stage at Cabinet meetings as the top official steering DOGE. But Trump and Musk traded personal attacks in June 2025 after Musk worked to defeat Trump's signature legislation known as the "One Big Beautiful Bill." Musk later vowed to launch his own political party but never took any formal steps toward the effort.

Cook, who plans to step down as Apple CEO effective Sept. 1, attended Trump's April 28 state dinner for King Charles III at the White House. The Apple CEO last year committed to $600 billion in investments to expand Apple manufacturing in America after facing criticism from Trump for producing the popular iPhone in China and India.

Other business leaders set to travel in the delegation are Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock; Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group; Kelly Ortberg, CEO of Boeing; Brian Sikes, CEO of Cargill; Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup; Chuck Robbins, CEO of Cisco; Jim Anderson, CEO of Coherent; H. Lawrence Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace; David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs; Jacob Thaysen, CEO of Illumina; Michael Miebach, president of MasterCard; Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice chairman of Meta; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of Micron Technology; Christiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, and Ryan McInerney, CEO of Visa.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.