Jensen Huang Caught the Plane in Alaska
A tarmac in Alaska explained a lot about America in 2026.
First thing Tuesday morning, the White House released the manifest for Trump’s trip to Beijing. 16 American executives would join the president for the ride on Air Force One. Elon, Tim Cook of Apple, Larry Fink of BlackRock, Jane Fraser of Citi and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone to name a few.
The CEO of the most valuable company on the planet wasn’t on the list.
Jensen Huang of Nvidia had been left off. Reporting suggested it would’ve complicated talks with Xi around AI export controls.
But by Tuesday afternoon, the situation changed. On Tuesday night, Huang was trotting across the tarmac in Alaska, boarding Air Force One as it refueled. Then the president posted on Truth Social that Jensen was onboard.
This image tells you everything you need to know about the relationship between the US government and corporate power in 2026.
Trump landed in Beijing on Wednesday at exactly 8:08pm local time. This timing was chosen because 8 is the luckiest number in Chinese culture.
He got a warm reception with a red carpet, military band and hundreds of Chinese school children waving American and Chinese flags in carefully synchronized motions.
The president came down the stairs and introduced the delegation like a billionaire at Sun Valley introducing friends at breakfast. And standing right behind them was the man who had caught the flight in Alaska 12 hours earlier, backpack still slung over his shoulder, while Elon stood there in black and Tim Cook in a suit.
Executives have traveled with presidents before, it’s not new. The old separation between political power and corporate power has evaporated. The CEOs aren’t waiting outside the room anymore. In many cases, they’re calling the shots.
In 1938, FDR put Thurman Arnold in charge of antitrust in the DOJ. Arnold treated concentrated corporate power as something to confront, not console.
This version of Washington, DC feels very far away.
Jensen Huang caught Air Force One in Alaska because he’s got business to handle in China.
All over America this morning, people opened utility bills, filled their gas tanks and just kind of absorbed it, because what else are they supposed to do?
One group gets a flight on Air Force One. The other gets told the bill is due.