President Trump formally welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday morning, opening a day of diplomacy that includes a bilateral meeting and an evening state dinner. It is Xi's first state visit to the United States since 2015.
Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, pulled up shortly after 10 a.m. local time for a ceremonial greeting that was set to include a 21-gun salute and a large military flyover.
It was the second red-carpet reception for the couple in less than a day. On Wednesday evening, Trump and first lady Melania Trump went out to the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to meet them in person — an honor that, by most accounts, no president has extended to a visiting leader other than a pope since 1962.
Beijing Sets Its Terms
The warm optics mask a tense agenda. Beijing has reportedly drawn "red lines" around four subjects it wants Trump to steer clear of during the talks, and at least one Republican senator with a foreign-policy focus has publicly criticized the scale of the welcome being staged for the leader of a communist rival.
Protesters also gathered in the capital ahead of the meeting.
Scuffle Over Camera Spots
Minutes before Xi's motorcade arrived, members of the Chinese press delegation got into a dispute with White House staff over camera positions on the South Drive, refusing to give up the spots they had claimed. The Secret Service was drawn into the standoff. Beijing's traveling press corps has developed a reputation for jostling aggressively for position during previous visits.
On the Menu Tonight
The first lady's office released the state dinner menu, describing it as American ingredients with a subtle Chinese accent. The evening opens with a toast of Schramsberg sparkling wine — the same California label poured when President Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai raised glasses in Beijing in 1972.
Guests will start with a yellow squash velouté and wild mushroom fricassée, followed by sesame-crusted sea bass with baby bok choy and roasted eggplant. Dessert is a vanilla crémeux with a sour cherry center on walnut frangipane, served alongside ice cream made with honey from the White House hives.
Melania Trump told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday that she had been involved in every detail of the planning.
Seats at the dinner have been among the most sought-after in Washington. The guest list includes OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, along with other tech executives and hedge fund managers.
This report draws on live coverage of the visit by the New York Post. Photo: 2017 file image of Xi Jinping, Peng Liyuan and the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago (Official White House Photo, public domain).
