President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner at the White House on Thursday, the centrepiece of a three-day summit that has generated more ceremony than substance.
Speaking at the black-tie event, which featured sea bass and baby bok choy on the menu, Trump thanked Xi for making the long trip and said the relationship between the two men was strong. “We’ve never gotten along better,” Trump said. He praised the history of US-China relations and presented Xi with a sculpture of a bald eagle, America’s national symbol, saying it embodied “the free and soaring spirit of America”. Trump added that he and First Lady Melania had helped design the sculpture.
In an off-the-cuff moment, Trump offered Xi and his wife the chance to be the first to enter a White House ballroom that remains a year from completion. “Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honour to have you do so,” he said.
Xi responded by highlighting the two leaders’ shared goals. “We must act as responsible major countries to meet the expectations of our peoples,” he said, adding that they had held a “sincere and in-depth exchange” that gave “new strategic guidance” to the bilateral relationship, though he did not elaborate. Xi also noted the “hundreds of thousands of Chinese lives” sacrificed to help the US during Japanese aggression in World War II, saying “such a friendship forged in blood and fire will surely live on through the generations.”
The dinner was attended by top US tech CEOs, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, alongside Trump administration officials and billionaire business leaders. Most of China’s guests were high-ranking Chinese Communist Party figures.
However, the evening was overshadowed by a press access dispute. According to CNN, the White House asked the network on Wednesday evening for names to credential for Xi’s arrival, but about an hour before the event, told CNN it could send only a photojournalist and an audio technician, excluding its reporter and producer. CNN said a press staffer then barred its editorial team and told them to “talk to” White House communications director Steven Cheung. Other television networks were reportedly allowed to cover the event with reporters and producers. The move came just hours after a federal judge ordered the White House to restore CNN and MSNBC’s access.
Despite the warm rhetoric, analysts have described the summit as heavy on pomp and light on results. The Guardian dubbed it “diplotainment” rather than diplomacy, noting that one of the main outcomes was the announcement that two giant pandas would be sent from China to the Atlanta Zoo. The Financial Review observed that for all the “pomp, pageantry and claims of stronger ties, the two nations’ deeper foreign policy divides remain largely unaddressed.”
Trump’s hosting of Xi also drew scrutiny for his apparent reversal of earlier positions. The Hill noted that Trump had criticised former President Barack Obama for hosting Chinese leaders for state dinners, including Xi, more than a decade ago. The New York Times highlighted that Trump softened much of his stance toward China ahead of the visit, and that his disregard of a topic that has long consumed him — alleged Chinese election meddling in 2020 — was particularly stark.
Day two of the visit included formal talks at the White House but yielded little confirmed progress on key issues. The summit continues Friday with additional engagements.