In Washington on Wednesday, Donald Trump received Chinese President Xi Jinping with the full ceremonial language of statecraft — flyovers, planeside honors, and the deliberate choreography of nations choosing, at least for now, to speak rather than to clash. The two governments announced an extension of their trade truce, a fragile but meaningful signal that the world's two largest economies retain the will to manage their rivalry rather than surrender to it. The visit resolved nothing fundamental, but it preserved something essential: the possibility of negotiation.