More than 100 individuals will attend the state dinner hosted for Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, with a guest list dominated by American government officials, prominent business leaders, and their spouses, according to a White House press release.
The Chinese delegation, which accompanies President Xi on his first state visit to the United States since the Obama administration, consists primarily of high-ranking government officials. During the event, Xi offered a toast in which he stated that recent talks with President Trump have “added new substance” to bilateral relations, as reported by official translations. In a symbolic gesture, President Trump presented Xi with a statue of a bald eagle.
The seating arrangement placed the two presidential couples alongside several of the most influential figures in the technology sector. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his wife, Elon Musk, and Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su were among those seated near the heads of state. Representatives from Meta and OpenAI were also present, though Anthropic did not appear on the attendee list.
The dinner featured a refined two-course menu that included a silky yellow squash velouté with crispy pancetta, sesame-crusted sea bass served over braised baby bok choy, and a dessert of fruit-shaped vanilla cremeux paired with ice cream made from White House honey.
Trump’s extended family was also in attendance, including First Lady Melania Trump’s father, Viktor Knavs. Other notable family members included Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Lara Trump, Tiffany Trump, and Michael Boulos.
While Chinese business leaders had been anticipated to join the trip, earlier reports indicated that no Chinese companies had been formally invited to the dinner. This marks a significant diplomatic moment, as Xi is the first Chinese president to make a state visit to the U.S. in more than ten years. He arrived on Wednesday and is scheduled to depart on Friday.
The comprehensive list of attendees includes U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Key legislative and judicial figures were also present, including Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, alongside House Speaker Mike Johnson.
On the corporate side, the guest roll featured CEOs and founders from major global firms, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Sundar Pichai and Sergey Brin of Google/Alphabet, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Sam Altman of OpenAI. Financial sector leaders such as Larry Fink of BlackRock, Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone, and Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase were also invited.
Additional attendees included Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, and various other cabinet secretaries and administration advisors. The presence of media personalities such as Brett Baier and Laura Ingraham from Fox News further highlighted the mix of political, business, and cultural figures at the event.
The menu sounds gourmet! Also wild that Musk and Bezos sat near the presidents. Tech power is real now.
Interesting that no Chinese business leaders were invited. Feels like a missed diplomatic opportunity for trade dialogue.