WASHINGTON \u2014 Next week\u2019s White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping is turning into the hottest ticket in DC, with big tech and hedge fund bosses literally lobbying President Trump for a seat at the table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many of the same honchos who traveled to Beijing <\/a>with Trump this past May \u2014 a group that included Elon Musk, Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Blackstone\u2019s Stephen Schwarzman, and Facebook\u2019s Dina Powell \u2014 are angling for a coveted invite to the Sept. 24 fete, sources tell The Post.<\/p>\n Huang is expected to attend, a source tells The Post. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is also attending, the company\u2019s Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane told CBS Mornings on Wednesday.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump will host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit next week after Xi hosted him in Beijing in May (above) AP Photo\/Mark Schiefelbein<\/p>\n Tensions are high between the US and China as they battle for technological dominance. Beijing is worried about the US easing off guardrails on artificial intelligence, allowing the new technology unlimited growth. And the US is concerned about China stealing advanced American technology.<\/p>\n Trump has been clear he wants the US to beat China in the AI race. Some Chinese business executives are expected to attend as part of Beijing\u2019s delegation and the state dinner will give the two sides a chance for informal diplomacy.<\/p>\n Huang, Schwarzman, and Powell attended the April state dinner for Britain\u2019s King Charles III<\/a>. That event was so in demand that it ended up overbooked.<\/p>\n Many of the invites did not include a plus one. But so many of the invited billionaires wanted to bring their spouse to see the King and Queen<\/a> \u2014\u00a0even dialing Trump to ask for an extra ticket \u2014 that administration staff who were originally invited were relegated to the Map Room in the basement of the White House \u2014 official Washington\u2019s version of the kids\u2019 table.<\/p>\n There is no social secretary in the Trump White House and the president has taken a larger-than-usual role in formal events of state, enjoying playing host at the most famous address in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n First Lady Melania Trump is also heavily involved in the planning. She posted a video to her social media accounts on Thursday previewing the event, showcasing the flower arrangements, crystal champagne flutes, and the dinner program with a bright red cover.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe president enjoys entertaining,\u201d a longtime Trump associate told The Post. \u201cAnd he knows what an attraction the White House is.\u201d<\/p>\n President Trump\u2019s state dinner for King Charles III was heavily in demand White House<\/p>\n That attraction is also a source of tension and frustration due to the executive mansion\u2019s limited space. The East Room, where Charles was toasted, can only hold about 150 people.<\/p>\n In addition to the president\u2019s guests, the Chinese will want to invite some of their own. The division of tickets between the US and the visiting nation is determined in negotiations about the state visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Chinese asked for half the seats at the table, NPR reported<\/a>, leading to furious White House pushback. At the dinner for King Charles, there were just about a dozen Brits among the 130 guests, per the official guest list<\/a>, and none brought a spouse except for British Ambassador Christian Turner.<\/p>\n The final guest list is still being worked out, a US official told The Post, due to the negotiations over how many seats each country will have. <\/p>\n While other administrations got around the space constraints by holding state dinners in tents on the South Lawn, Trump has gone big by ordering the construction of a massive $400 million ballroom, expected to be completed later this year.<\/p>\n Seat assignments are just one of the many sticking points between Trump and Xi. The two countries remain in a tariff war with Xi matching Trump\u2019s moves tit-for-tat.<\/p>\n There is also tension over China\u2019s purchase of Iranian oil, its trade relationship with Russia, and its ambitions for the Indo-Pacific, including Taiwan. China, meanwhile, remains concerned about potential US arms sales to Taiwan.<\/p>\n