  The differential yields of charged particles having pseudorapidity within
$|\eta|<$ 1 are measured using xenon-xenon (XeXe) collisions at
$\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV. The data, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 3.42 $\mu$b$^{-1}$, were collected in 2017 by the CMS experiment
at the LHC. The yields are reported as functions of collision centrality and
transverse momentum, $p_\mathrm{T}$, from 0.5 to 100 GeV. A previously reported
$p_\mathrm{T}$ spectrum from proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV
is used for comparison after correcting for the difference in center-of-mass
energy. The nuclear modification factors using this reference,
$R_\mathrm{AA}^*$, are constructed and compared to previous measurements and
theoretical predictions. In head-on collisions, the $R_\mathrm{AA}^*$ has a
value of 0.17 in the $p_\mathrm{T}$ range of 6-8 GeV, but increases to
approximately 0.7 at 100 GeV. Above $\approx$ 6 GeV, the XeXe data show a
notably smaller suppression than previous results for lead-lead (PbPb)
collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV when compared at the same
centrality (i.e., the same fraction of total cross section). However, the XeXe
suppression is slightly greater than that for PbPb in events having a similar
number of participating nucleons.
