White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the leaders will discuss reducing nuclear weapons. Other accounts add global conflicts and artificial intelligence to the list. A senior US official called the meeting an "entry point" for future dialogue, and no specific agreement is expected. No separate one-on-one between Trump and Putin is planned.

US officials say the war in Iran will be discussed, though one account says it "may" come up. They say the war in Ukraine is not expected to be on the agenda, because Washington keeps a separate negotiating track with Kyiv and Moscow. One account quotes a senior official saying the reason is that China is not part of the US-Russia diplomatic track on Ukraine. Analysts cited elsewhere expect the US-Russia talks to turn toward Ukraine anyway, and say China is hesitant to discuss nuclear disarmament. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has compared the possible outcome to the 1945 Yalta Conference and described it as a "redistribution of spheres of influence."

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) between the US and Russia expired in February and could not be extended again. In January, Trump said of it: "If it expires, it expires. We'll do a better agreement." He has also called nuclear weapons issues "very dangerous," though accounts differ on whether he meant reducing them or their proliferation.

Trump is also scheduled to meet Xi one-on-one, their fourth meeting since Trump returned to power. One account notes this follows a state visit by Xi to Washington in September and comes after the Democratic Party recently gained control of the US Senate and Congress. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning confirmed that China is in communication with the US and Russia. Elon Musk will travel to China with Trump but will not take part in the trilateral.

US officials said two subjects will not be raised with Chinese officials: the resignation of Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, and US export controls on sensitive chip technology. One account attributes Huang's resignation to an alleged affair with a Chinese spy. The same account says the administration treats export controls as a national security matter that is not open to negotiation.

Trump is due to leave Washington on Monday and reach Manila on Tuesday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit. He is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting there with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. before traveling on to Shenzhen. The trilateral is expected to be the last event of the Asia tour.

Shenzhen is a technology hub in China's Greater Bay Area and home to BYD, Huawei and Tencent. It was chosen to showcase the city's resilience and its role as a center for innovation. The summit's theme is "Building an Asia-Pacific Community to Prosper Together," and one account says tensions between China and Japan, and between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, are also part of the backdrop. APEC was founded in 1989 and has 21 members, which together account for about 62% of global GDP and half of global trade.