Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the White House for the first time in over a decade. The place looks a bit different, and President Trump is happy to point it out.
“As President Xi has already seen, a lot has changed since he was last here,” Mr. Trump said Thursday in welcoming remarks in the White House Grand Foyer.
Mr. Xi attended a state visit hosted by President Barack Obama in September 2015. Since then, Mr. Trump has gone on a building and renovation frenzy in Washington.
Mr. Trump installed large flagpoles on either side of the White House, renovated the Lincoln Bathroom with marble and recently installed a helipad on the South Lawn.
Mr. Trump appeared to point out the helipad from the South Portico as they reviewed a drill platoon.
He pointed and made a swirling motion with his hand while smiling at Mr. Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan.
Mr. Xi gave Mr. Trump a thumbs-up.
Later, the first couples reviewed another formation in the Rose Garden. Military personnel played their instruments and swirled firearms atop the paved surface that Mr. Trump installed after he concluded that a grass surface was too soft and wet for formal events.
Above the leaders’ heads, “The Oval Office” stood out in ornate script — one of several signs Mr. Trump installed along the White House walkway between his office and the garden.
Most notably, Mr. Trump is constructing a ballroom on the site of the former East Wing. He’s speeding ahead despite legal and political fights over the project.
He hoped it could have been done in time for this state dinner, which will instead be held in the East Room.
“I wish we had more seats,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
Beyond the White House, Mr. Trump is beautifying parts of the nation’s capital, restoring defunct fountains and launching an embattled effort to restore the Reflecting Pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
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