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Trump greets Xi Jinping with red carpet and military flyover

cultureSep 23, 2026453,287

President Trump personally greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the airport with a long red carpet ceremony and a military flyover to begin Xi’s three-day state visit to Washington, the first Chinese state visit to the capital since 2015. The White House spent months promoting the visit and Trump has repeatedly called his relationship with Xi "excellent." Officials view this visit, along with Trump’s planned trip to China in May, as among the most consequential diplomatic events of his second term. The timing matters for trade: a trade agreement between the countries is set to expire in November. Some Republicans criticized the welcome; Senator Mark Wicker called the "lavish welcome" inappropriate given "all the troubling issues" with Xi and the Chinese Communist Party, and Republican strategist Barret Marson said the embrace undercuts Republican messaging against socialism and communism. The two leaders are set to hold a spectacle-filled summit over the next days, with U.S.-China tensions and trade high on the agenda.

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