President Trump personally greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday upon his arrival in the U.S. to kick off a state visit and three days of talks between the two superpowers.
Mr. Trump and first lady Melania Trump welcomed Mr. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a rare move for a sitting U.S. president.
The Chinese leader stepped off an Air China Boeing 747 onto the red carpet, where he and Ms. Peng spent several minutes chatting with Mr. and Mrs. Trump.
In addition to the red carpet, two U.S. military B-1 hypersonic bombers flew over the military base.
Wednesday’s greeting marks the first time Mr. Trump has welcomed a world leader to start an official state visit, the highest level of diplomatic honor. In 2025, Mr. Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac in Anchorage, Alaska, ahead of their summit to discuss the Ukraine war. The greeting also included a U.S. military flyover, with a B-2 stealth bomber escorted by four F-35 fighter jets roaring overhead.
Other notable examples of a president greeting a foreign head of state on a tarmac include: President Eisenhower meeting Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1959, President Kennedy greeting Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961, and President Reagan meeting Pope John Paul II in 1987.
The last time Mr. Xi visited the U.S. was in 2017 when he met Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
This state visit marks the third time the men have met in under a year, following a meeting in Busan, South Korea, in October and in Beijing in May.
The ambitious itinerary for Mr. Xi includes a Rose Garden military review, a bilateral meeting, a lavish state dinner and a tour of the National Archives.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi are expected to focus their discussion on trade, Taiwan, artificial intelligence and rare earths. Despite all the pageantry, breakthroughs are not expected in the major disputes between the two nations.
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