President Donald Trump extended a formal welcome to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday evening at Joint Base Andrews, marking the beginning of a high-stakes three-day state visit. Joined by First Lady Melania Trump, the American president personally greeted Xi and his wife, Madame Peng Liyuan, upon their arrival in the United States.
The welcoming ceremony featured significant military pageantry, including a flyover by two B-1 bombers, rifle salutes from U.S. service members, and gunfire from cannons. The U.S. Air Force band performed, playing the Chinese national anthem first, followed by “The Star Spangled Banner” during which President Trump rendered a salute. The two couples exchanged pleasantries before Xi and Madame Peng departed in their motorcade, while Trump returned to his own vehicle. Neither leader made public remarks during the airport greeting.
While Trump traditionally greets foreign dignitaries at the White House, this arrival ceremony highlighted the ceremonial gravity of the trip. The visit itinerary includes a formal welcome and troop review on the State Floor and in the Rose Garden on Thursday, followed by a state dinner in the East Room where both leaders are expected to address their guests.
High-profile attendees at the state dinner include technology leaders such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, and former Apple CEO Tim Cook, according to White House sources.
Beyond diplomatic protocol, the two presidents are slated to discuss critical global issues, including artificial intelligence safety, trade relations, the situation in Taiwan, access to critical minerals, and the ongoing war in Iran. When asked by reporters after returning to the White House whether Iran would be on the agenda, Trump confirmed, “I’ll be talking about that and many other subjects. We’ll see, but it’s all coming along well, including that.”
On the economic front, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday evening that the United States and China have agreed to extend their trade truce. The extension, known as the Busan Agreement, pushes the expiration date from November 10 to January 10, providing additional time to negotiate further economic measures.
“We have agreed today that we will extend what we call the Busan Agreement. The detente — economic detente between the two countries that was scheduled to end on Nov. 10 — that is going to be extended until Jan. 10, to give us more time to see what we can do on the economic front,” Bessent told Fox News.
Bessent also addressed whether the additional time might lead to a broader agreement. “I don’t know whether a bigger deal can be done. I don’t know whether we will just roll the current deal,” he said, noting that certain deliverables from the Chinese side had not fully met expectations. He added that the U.S. intends to monitor whether China acts more “fulsome in enacting the agreement” over the coming months.
The schedule for Friday includes a private tea and a tour of the National Archives for Xi and Madame Peng, who are expected to depart the United States later that day. Xi’s previous state visit to the U.S. took place in September 2015 during the Obama administration, while President Trump visited China the prior May for talks with Xi.
Did anyone else notice neither leader said a word at the airport? Maybe they’re saving all their energy for the negotiations inside.
I’m curious about the mineral access talks. Critical minerals are key for green tech. Hope they make a real deal there.
Flyovers and gun salutes—very dramatic. Hope it translates into actual progress on trade rather than just pageantry for the cameras.
Is a two-month extension really enough? I doubt the underlying tensions are gone, just delayed. Skeptical about this ‘detente’ lasting.
Those tech CEOs are definitely hoping to influence AI policy. I wonder if Musk will show up in person or just send a tweet.