Trump’s state dinner (and a bald eagle) to honor Xi Jinping

The president of the United States, Donald Trump, intended to impress Xi Jinping with a display of pomp and pageantry on the Chinese leader’s first visit to the White House in 11 years, and he saved the main attraction for last: a state dinner for 134 guests, with nods to both cultures and a long roster of prominent figures. Nowhere in the speeches, the toasts, or the cordial greetings among guests was there any reference to the serious tensions in key areas of the world’s most important bilateral relationship: artificial intelligence and the fragile tariff truce that has been extended temporarily into next January.

All of those topics were set aside in the East Room of the White House, decorated for the occasion in red — the most auspicious color in Chinese culture — and the golds Trump favors. At one table, Energy Secretary Chris Wright greeted Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi: “I have been to your beautiful country many times…” he told him. At the head table, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, and Jensen Huang, CEO of the world’s most valuable company, Nvidia, chatted with Peng Liyuan, China’s first lady. In his toast, Trump said he and Xi have “never gotten along better.”

The Republican magnate surprised those present by announcing a gift for his Chinese guest. Two U.S. soldiers in dress uniform removed the covering from what until then had looked like another decoration to reveal a carving of a bald eagle, the emblem of the United States. “The embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America,” Trump said. “We hope it will find a nice place, a wonderful place, in Beijing.”

The U.S. president, who had interrupted the official program to show his guest recent innovations at the White House — the helipad on the South Lawn, the ballroom renovations — also broke from his prepared remarks to improvise an invitation for those present to take a later tour, after dinner, of the ballroom works-in-progress. “I can tell you that tonight, if we had it, we would have had way more than a thousand people,” he lamented.

In his reply — and in a more conventional speech — Xi called on the two countries to act “as responsible major countries, meet the expectations of our peoples, keep pace with the trend of our times and explore a new approach for major countries to get along with each other.”

The state dinner’s menu aimed to underscore that cooperation. “American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence, bringing the culinary traditions of both nations together,” as First Lady Melania Trump’s office described it: a wild mushroom fricassée with scallion oil, sea bass with bok choy and eggplant, and a vanilla crémeux with White House honey ice cream. The office noted the dinner opened with a toast using the same wine shared in Beijing by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai and Richard Nixon during the American president’s 1972 visit that restored relations between the two countries.

The guest list represented a who’s who of U.S. technology: Lisa Su, CEO of AMD; Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin; OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. On the Chinese side, a delegation of official figures. Contrary to initial expectations, Xi did not travel accompanied by Chinese business leaders: an early sign that the Washington summit was unlikely to produce major concrete results beyond bolstering stabilization of the bilateral tie.

In his speech, Xi emphasized that idea of stabilization: he and Trump, he said, have had “sincere and in-depth exchanges and reached common understanding on many issues.”

The delicate issues had already been discussed beforehand, in two meetings between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, on Sunday and Wednesday. Both produced modest agreements to extend the trade truce between the two countries that was set to expire on November 10 by two months, and to explore a communication mechanism for intelligence‑related incidents involving AI that affect national security.

The two leaders were due to address all kinds of issues during their meeting, from the war in Iran to Taiwan, as well as artificial intelligence and bilateral trade. All are matters as fundamental as they are thorny between the two powers. According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Xi raised the issue of the self-governing island that Beijing considers part of its territory, stressing that China’s position “safeguarding national reunification and territorial integrity is clear-cut.” The Chinese leader expressed the hope “that the U.S. side will adhere to the correct position of opposing ‘Taiwan independence,’ and handle the Taiwan question with caution.”

China has been pressuring the United States to stop supplying arms to Taiwan, although Washington is legally obligated to provide that support to the democratic island. After the May summit in the Chinese capital between Trump and Xi, the Republican administration delayed an arms sale worth $14 billion. Trump has described arms sales to Taipei as “a very good bargaining chip” with Beijing.

AI appeared to be at the forefront of the two leaders’ concerns at their meeting. Both explicitly referred to this technology, in which their respective countries aspire to be leaders. “We have both the capability and responsibility to develop and manage AI for good and ensure that the development of AI is always under human control and serves the well-being of the people,” Xi stated in his opening remarks at the start of the meeting. Immediately before welcoming Xi at the White House, Trump had written on his social network, Truth, that AI “will be a big topic of discussion” but that he wanted to “leave it exactly where it is. That is China’s position also.”

This was the second time the two leaders have met so far this year, after their summit in Beijing in May. There will be two more before the end of 2026: in November in Shenzhen, China, during the Asia‑Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, and in December in Miami, for the G20 summit. Both will take place after the United States holds its midterm elections on November 3 and it becomes clear whether Republicans keep full control of U.S. powers or, as polls suggest, the Democrats take control of Congress.

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