BS BULLETIN:
- President Trump personally greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping as he arrived at Joint Base Andrews Wednesday evening.
- Presidential airport welcomes for foreign leaders have largely disappeared; the last comparable welcomes at Andrews date to President John F. Kennedy in 1962.
- Xi’s three-day state visit includes White House talks with Trump on trade, AI, Taiwan, Iran and other major disputes between Washington and Beijing.
President Donald Trump went old-school presidential for Xi Jinping’s arrival in Washington.
Trump and first lady Melania Trump traveled to Joint Base Andrews Wednesday evening to personally greet the Chinese president and his wife, Peng Liyuan, as they stepped off their plane for a three-day state visit.
And that wasn’t the normal protocol.
American presidents generally receive visiting foreign leaders at the White House rather than traveling to the airport to meet their planes. Presidential airport greetings for foreign leaders have become exceedingly rare outside visits by popes.
You have to go all the way back to the Kennedy administration to find comparable welcomes at Andrews.
President John F. Kennedy personally welcomed foreign leaders there in 1962, including British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in April. The American Presidency Project preserves Kennedy’s remarks from that Andrews ceremony.
Trump’s welcome for Xi came with considerably more theater.
A red carpet awaited the Chinese delegation, military personnel participated in the ceremony and aircraft roared overhead as Trump and Xi stood together on the tarmac.
The two leaders then briefly spoke before the Chinese delegation departed for Washington.
The unusual greeting comes after Xi hosted Trump in China earlier this year. The White House described this week’s visit as reciprocal hospitality and said Trump is willing to build relationships with foreign leaders to advance American interests.
The serious business begins Thursday.
Trump and Xi are scheduled for talks at the White House as Washington and Beijing wrestle with trade, tariffs, artificial intelligence, critical minerals, Taiwan and the war involving Iran. The visit also includes an elaborate White House arrival ceremony, military review and state dinner.
The two countries already entered the visit with one development in hand: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Wednesday that the current U.S.-China trade truce would be extended beyond its November deadline to Jan. 10.
Xi’s visit concludes Friday after tea at the White House and a trip with the Trumps to the National Archives.
DBS WIRE SOURCES:
- Fox News — Trump becomes first president since 1962 to greet foreign leader at Joint Base Andrews
- Associated Press — Trump plans rare airport welcome for Xi
- Axios — Trump greets Xi on tarmac in rare gesture
- White House — Official schedule for Xi Jinping state visit
- American Presidency Project — JFK welcomes Harold Macmillan at Andrews, April 27, 1962
