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WASHINGTON: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday, where he was met with a rare planeside greeting from President Donald Trump after their top officials agreed to extend a trade truce until January.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the extension of the truce \u2014 under which the countries agreed to scale back tariffs and refrain from imposing new trade restrictions \u2014 during a Fox News Channel interview as Trump welcomed Xi at Joint Base Andrews just outside Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know whether a bigger deal can be done. I don\u2019t know whether we will just roll the current deal,\u201d Bessent said in the interview, noting the extension would give the leaders more time to talk about the issues at upcoming meetings in China in November and Florida in December.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s decision to greet Xi as he landed, rather than waiting for him to drive up to the White House, shows how far the US president is willing to go to honor China\u2019s leader as he made his first state visit to the US capital in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
A 100-foot (30 meter) long red carpet was unfurled at the bottom of the staircase placed at the door of Xi\u2019s plane. A 21-person honor guard was arrayed on the sides of the carpet and Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood near a staircase on the side of the plane, where they greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, with handshakes.<\/p>\n
The welcome ceremony also included a flyover by two B-1 bombers, platoons from each military service, and a presentation of the flags and anthems of both countries. Trump and his wife spoke to their counterparts, but their words could not be heard. Trump, who wore gloves and an overcoat though it was a relatively warm 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) outside, removed one of his gloves to shake hands with Xi. At one point, he slapped Xi on the back and said something to him that was inaudible.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they appreciate it, tremendous people,\u201d Trump said to reporters after he returned to the White House Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n
In a statement marking his arrival in the US, China\u2019s leader wrote that his country and the US \u201cshould be partners, not rivals. Achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand and the two countries can contribute to each other\u2019s success, thereby benefiting the wider world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The salutation kicks off a three-day visit that\u2019s 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\u2019s May visit to China.<\/p>\n
But it also is a showy patina at a time when tensions between the two geopolitical rivals are high over trade, artificial intelligence, Trump\u2019s war with Iran and China\u2019s designs on Taiwan.<\/p>\n
The visit comes after Trump\u2019s trip to China in May<\/strong><\/p>\n Beyond using the visit to try to keep \u201cstrategic stability\u201d between the two countries, Trump has lavished praise on Xi as a \u201cgreat leader\u201d and described a warm relationship with the man he has called a friend. That is all while he has given Xi a pass on many issues.<\/p>\n Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the \u201clavish welcome.\u201d Wicker, R-Mississippi, said during a speech Tuesday in the Senate that Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader \u201cbased on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.\u201d<\/p>\n Wicker archly suggested a list of topics that Trump could discuss with Xi at the state dinner, such as \u201cthe purposes of China\u2019s massive military buildup, or about China\u2019s clear support for Iran,\u201d saying that Trump should keep in mind that \u201chis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US and China must interact at the highest levels because the countries are \u201cthe two largest economies in the world\u201d and \u201cprobably the two most powerful militaries in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Danny Russel, a former US diplomat under former President Barack Obama\u2019s administration, said the airport pomp delivered a propaganda win for Beijing.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch extreme deference is valuable evidence that China\u2019s leader is now held in extraordinarily high esteem by the President of the United States. Beijing uses this at home and internationally to show China\u2019s\u2014 and Xi\u2019s\u2014 growing stature,\u201d said Russel, now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.<\/p>\n Trump to welcome Xi with \u2018the most respect\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump has made it clear he wants to wow Xi, telling reporters in recent weeks that he was delighted his new \u201cwork of art\u201d helicopter landing pad would be ready for the visit while bemoaning that his massive White House ballroom would not.<\/p>\n \u201cI wish we had it for tomorrow night,\u201d Trump said again Wednesday. \u201cWe have a packed house tomorrow night for President Xi.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump on Wednesday was looking to match the pageantry he was met with in China earlier this year. Xi was not at the airport to meet Trump \u2014 Chinese Vice President Han Zheng was there instead. But a red carpet was rolled out to meet Air Force One in Beijing. A military honor guard, a military band and about 300 Chinese youths waving Chinese and American flags and chanting, \u201cWelcome, welcome! Warm welcome!\u201d also were present. The children wore white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the traditional paint colors of the presidential plane.<\/p>\n The first lady said earlier Wednesday that her husband decided to personally greet Xi when he arrived in the Washington region because \u201cthey have a great relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,\u201d she said of Xi and his wife during an interview on Fox News Channel\u2019s \u201cFox & Friends.\u201d<\/p>\n The long red carpet recalled a similar extra-long one the US laid out for Russian President Vladimir Putin when he touched down at a US Air Force base in Alaska last summer for a summit aimed at trying to find an end to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n When Putin arrived in August 2025, he shook hands with Trump while both grinned. They then took the unusual step of climbing into Trump\u2019s limo to share a ride to the building where they were holding talks.<\/p>\n On Wednesday at the end of the arrival ceremony, Xi and his wife climbed into their own car, and the Trumps retreated to theirs.<\/p>\n A black-tie dinner and visit to the archives will follow<\/strong><\/p>\n Trump\u2019s 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\u2019s Jensen Huang and SpaceX\u2019s Elon Musk, the two leaders are expected to dive into the weighty issues behind closed doors, even as expectations are low that the trip will produce any major breakthroughs in the relationship.<\/p>\n On Friday, Xi and Peng will be back at the White House for a private tea with the Trumps before joining them on a tour of the National Archives in Washington. The White House has said they will view historic documents underscoring the relationship between the two countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n