Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he was met with a rare planeside greeting from President Trump, who was there to welcome his counterpart instead of waiting for him to drive up to the White House. Trump's decision to greet Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington rather than receiving him at the executive residence shows how far the president is going to honor China's leader as he makes his first state visit to Washington, DC in more than a decade, the AP reports.
- A 100-foot-long red carpet was unfurled at the bottom of the staircase placed at the door of Xi's plane, where a 21-person honor guard was arrayed and Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood waiting for Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, when they walked down the staircase and shook hands with the Trumps.
The welcome ceremony also included a flyover by two B-1 bombers, flower presenters, platoons from each military service, and a presentation of the flags and anthems of both countries. The salutation kicks off a three-day visit that's expected to be saturated with pomp, even by White House standards. The state visit, complete with a formal state dinner at the White House on Thursday, is supposed to reciprocate the ceremonial grandeur that marked Trump's May visit to China. But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump's war with Iran, and China's designs on Taiwan.
- Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the "lavish welcome." The Republican said during a speech Tuesday in the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader "based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party."
- Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at the state dinner, such as "the purposes of China's massive military buildup, or about China's clear support for Iran," saying that "during every minute of dialogue," Trump should keep in mind that "his guest is a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America."
- Trump's airport ceremony for Xi will be followed on Thursday by more formalities, including an arrival ceremony at the White House and a review of troops. Before the black-tie dinner, which will feature tech industry leaders like Nvidia's Jensen Huang and SpaceX's Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.
- Allen Carlson, an associate professor of government at Cornell University, tells NBC News that with Trump facing numerous problems, including high inflation and a low approval rating, he is in a worse position than he was when he last met Xi. Trump, Carlson says, will be looking for "the ability to declare victory, regardless of the substance."
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