Trump Gives Xi an Exceptional Welcome as Partners, Not Adversaries Open a New Chapter

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US President Donald Trump began Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States on Thursday with a rare personal welcome on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Xi’s aircraft landed shortly before 6 p.m. Eastern Time. Accompanied by First Lady Melania Trump, the US president welcomed his Chinese counterpart and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, at the end of a red carpet measuring approximately 100 feet. Two children carrying bouquets of flowers stood alongside them.

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The reception included an artillery salute, a 21-member honor guard and two three-person color guard units carrying the American and Chinese flags.

Six F-16 fighter jets and six F-22 fighters were also lined up on the base’s runway.

The US Air Force band performed a ceremonial fanfare and the national anthems of the United States and China. The ceremony concluded with two B-1 bombers flying over the reception site.

Xi’s three-day trip constitutes a state visit to the United States.

The ceremony organized by Trump exceeded the level of reception the US president received during his visit to Beijing last May, when Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and several other officials welcomed him.

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Trump’s reception at the time included a red carpet and a group of children simultaneously waving the flags of the United States and China.

Melania Trump said on Wednesday that her husband had decided to arrange the rare welcome at Joint Base Andrews because the two leaders “have a wonderful relationship.”

“He is coming to our soil, and we have to welcome both of them with the utmost respect,” she said in an interview with Fox News’s Fox & Friends.

Several hours after arriving in Washington, Xi said he looked forward to discussing “major issues,” including “the global situation,” with Trump.

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“I look forward to having in-depth discussions with President Trump on major issues concerning our bilateral relationship and the global situation,” Xi told China’s Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese president also stressed that China and the United States should be “partners, not adversaries.”

Other US presidents have welcomed foreign leaders directly on airport tarmacs.

Former President Barack Obama received Pope Francis upon his arrival in 2015. Before that, former President George W. Bush welcomed Pope Benedict XVI on the tarmac in 2008.

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Trump previously extended a similar welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska before inviting him to join the presidential motorcade.

The White House portrays this form of personal engagement as part of Trump’s distinctive approach to diplomacy.

However, foreign policy and national security experts have criticized such gestures, arguing that they give preferential treatment to the United States’ principal adversaries.

Xi last visited the United States in 2023 to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit.

His most recent state visit to the United States, however, took place more than a decade ago during the administration of President Barack Obama.

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