President Trump's summit with Xi Jinping was staged as a reunion between old friends, concluding today with a private tour of Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party's secretive leadership compound, which includes Xi's official residence, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• Strolling the gardens, Trump declared the blooms around him "the most beautiful roses anyone has ever seen." Xi promised to send him seeds.

Why it matters: The warm public choreography of the past two days has masked a stubborn reality — nearly every force shaping U.S.-China relations is pulling them apart.

• Trump spent the trip pitching closer ties with China after a decade of decoupling that he, more than any other American president, helped set in motion.

The two wrapped up today by declaring success and claiming progress in stabilizing U.S.-China relations. But deep differences persist between the world's two biggest powers on Iran, Taiwan and more.

• Over tea and lunch, Trump and Xi, with top aides and translators in tow, huddled for nearly three hours of talks before the U.S. leader completed his historic three-day trip to China.
• "This has been an incredible visit," Trump said. "I think a lot of good has come of it. We've made some fantastic trade deals — great for both countries."
• Xi called it a "milestone": "We have established a new bilateral relationship, or rather a constructive, strategic, stable relationship."

🦅 Zoom in: China hawks in Trump's administration worked in the days and weeks leading up to the summit to undercut the case for rapprochement. Consider:

• New sanctions on firms helping Iran target U.S. forces and refineries buying Iranian oil.
• A White House memo accusing Chinese entities of "industrial-scale" theft of American AI secrets.
• Federal charges unsealed against a California mayor for acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government.

🕵️‍♂️ The intrigue: Leaks from inside the government paint an even more hostile picture of the U.S.-China rivalry.

• A U.S. intelligence assessment reported by the Washington Post found that China is exploiting the Iran war to gain ground over the U.S.
• The New York Times reported Wednesday that Chinese companies are negotiating clandestine arms sales to Iran.
• Trump told Fox News's Sean Hannity that Xi assured him China won't supply Iran with military equipment. "But at the same time," Trump added, "he said they buy a lot of their oil there, and they'd like to keep doing that. He'd like to see Hormuz Strait opened ... I said, well, we didn't stop it. They did it."

🥂 The other side: While warning Trump that mishandling Taiwan could provoke "an extremely dangerous situation," Xi played his own part in the summit's friendly choreography.

• At yesterday's state banquet, Xi told Trump that China's "great rejuvenation" could go "hand in hand" with "Make America Great Again."

🕊️ Between the lines: Both leaders have clear incentives to maintain the truce, for now at least.

• Trump doesn't need any more election-year economic shocks. Xi likely believes "strategic stability" with the U.S. will help China push ahead with its own military and technological ambitions.
• As the leaders play nice, their governments are working furiously in the background to reduce their dependence on one another.

The bottom line: Two aging nationalist leaders, presiding over the world's most dangerous rivalry, spent the week performing a friendship neither of their governments seems willing to sustain.

• Video: Trump addresses reporters.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Cuba yesterday to meet with intelligence officials and Raúl Guillermo "Raulito" Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former leader Raúl Castro, Axios' Marc Caputo, Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler report.

🛢️ The big picture: Cuba is facing a crippling fuel shortage and economic crisis due in part to U.S. sanctions.

• President Trump has repeatedly indicated he wants regime change, though a CIA official said Ratcliffe emphasized that cooperation is possible if the government makes "fundamental changes."
• Ratcliffe urged the Cuban officials to take a lesson from the operation that toppled Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the CIA official said.

👀 The intrigue: The fact that the Cuban government was willing to openly host a member of Trump's administration — particularly the director of the CIA — suggests some in Havana may be interested in a deal.

• "They have no fuel," a senior administration official claimed to Axios. "They have no money. They have no one coming to rescue them. The regime has been stubborn since 1959, but even they realize it's time for a change."
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio has held secret talks with Raulito Castro and other Cuban officials.

Zoom out: Cuba's energy minister said Wednesday night that the country had run out of fuel oil and diesel, and that blackouts could exceed 20–22 hours per day.

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The post-2024 narrative that Latino voters shifted right is facing its first real stress test — including in districts Republicans thought were safely red, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

• New modeling from Democratic group Oath finds several GOP-drawn "safe" districts could become competitive if recent Latino voting trends hold.

Why it matters: The biggest immediate test is in Texas, where Republicans drew new maps assuming continued Latino gains. But GOP House seats are endangered in California, New York, Colorado and Nevada.

The big picture: A slowing economy, the specter of immigration raids by masked federal agents, and rising prices are jeopardizing inroads the GOP has made with Texas Latinos.

• Some of Republicans' 2024 gains with Latino voters may already be eroding, an Axios-Ipsos poll suggested at the end of last year.

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The flood of AI-generated writing unleashed by ChatGPT appears to have leveled off — a sign that AI content hasn't overtaken human writing yet, Axios' Megan Morrone writes.

• After rising stunningly fast from 2023-25, the share of online news articles, blog posts and listicles that are primarily AI-generated has held near 50% for more than a year, according to a new analysis from digital marketing agency Graphite.

💪 Why it matters: The robots need us. Researchers who've studied the spread of AI-written articles warn that once models start training on that content, the internet could become a massive feedback loop of low-quality, machine-generated content.

• "These models are smart because of all the information we put on the web that was created without these models," Dan Klein, a UC Berkeley professor and the CTO of Scaled Cognition, tells Axios. "If we stop creating knowledge that is independent of these models, what's going to fuel that?"

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Energy is suddenly the world's biggest constraint, Axios' Amy Harder writes.

• Oil shocks from the Iran war are rippling through inflation and geopolitics.
• The AI boom is triggering a global race for electricity that grids aren't ready for.

🖼️ The big picture: We're confronting both unprecedented scarcity and demand for energy on a timeline that's considered remarkably sudden for the usually slow-moving energy sector.

🪫 The bottom line: "When energy is unavailable, unreliable or unaffordable," says Jason Bordoff, director of Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, "economies slow, public anxiety rises, and policymakers have little room to focus on anything else."

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OAKLAND, Calif. — Attorneys for Elon Musk wrapped up their case against OpenAI, with jury deliberations expected on Monday, Axios' Ina Fried reports from the courthouse.

• Why it matters: Musk argues OpenAI misused the $38 million he donated in its early days and violated its founding ethos by turning what was supposed to be an altruistic nonprofit into a tech behemoth.

💰 OpenAI's lawyers say Musk's money didn't have specific strings attached and the organization has continued to pursue its mission, albeit with some changes in structure.

• ❌ Musk wants CEO Sam Altman fired along with billions in damages, which he says he'd donate to OpenAI's nonprofit arm. His lawyer has repeatedly questioned Altman's trustworthiness.
• 🍇 OpenAI and Microsoft have called Musk's own behavior into question and argued this is all just "sour grapes" from a rival who never even cared about the nonprofit structure.

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A new political thriller explores what would happen if the U.S. had a 17-year-old president, Axios' Josephine Walker writes.

• Author Soman Chainani tells Axios he hopes his novel, "Young World," will inspire students to recognize their political power: "We have had two presidents in a row who are basically 80 years old, and they're not exactly crushing it."

🎥 What to watch: Chainani is working with Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to President Obama, to adapt "Young World" for TV.

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Axios New Orleans' Carlie Kollath Wells spotted this new treat — or monstrosity, depending on your taste buds:

• Smoothie King's new pickle smoothie, in partnership with Grillo's Pickles. The concoction includes kale, bananas and coconut water.

🥤Inspired? Get a free 4 oz. version tomorrow, which is apparently International Pickle Day.

• However you choose to celebrate, we wish you and yours a happy Pickle Day.