Trump Greets Xi on the Andrews Tarmac as Three-Day State Visit Opens

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan landed at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening for Xi’s first state visit to Washington in 11 years. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump met them at the foot of the aircraft stairs rather than waiting at the White House.

Xi’s Air China jet touched down about 5:39 p.m. Eastern. A roughly 100-foot red carpet, a 21-person honor cordon, color teams with U.S. and Chinese flags, and platoons from each military service were already in place. The U.S. Air Force Band played both national anthems. Cannons fired a salute. Two B-1 bombers flew over the base. F-16s and F-22s were lined on the tarmac. Two American children handed the visitors yellow flowers.

Trump, in an overcoat and gloves on a mild evening, pulled off a glove to shake Xi’s hand and later slapped him on the back. The words exchanged on the carpet were not audible. After the brief ceremony the Chinese motorcade left for Washington; the Trumps returned to the White House on Marine One. It was the first time a sitting U.S. president had greeted a foreign leader at Andrews since John F. Kennedy met British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962, apart from papal visits.

Xi arrived with Peng, Communist Party General Office Director Cai Qi, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. In a statement issued on arrival, Xi wrote that China and the United States “should be partners, not rivals” and that “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can go hand in hand.” Melania Trump said earlier Wednesday that her husband chose the airport greeting because the two leaders “have a great relationship.” Peng and Melania had last spent time together at Mar-a-Lago in 2017 and in Beijing later that year.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Washington and Beijing had agreed to extend their trade truce by two months. The pause, reached in South Korea last October, had been set to expire Nov. 10. It suspends steeper U.S. tariff hikes on Chinese goods and eases Chinese limits on rare-earth exports. Bessent spoke after talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

Thursday’s program is the formal state visit. The White House has scheduled a South Lawn and Rose Garden arrival ceremony with 479 service members from every branch, a troop review, and a private meeting between the presidents. Thursday evening Trump and Melania will receive Xi and Peng at the North Portico for a state dinner in the East Room. Both leaders are expected to speak. Invited American guests include executives from Apple, Nvidia, OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Dell, and other firms. Peng and Melania are slated to visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Friday includes tea at the White House and a stop at the National Archives. The visit ends Friday.

Officials on both sides have listed trade, artificial intelligence, chip export licenses, critical minerals, Taiwan, the Iran war, Ukraine, and military contacts as topics for the talks. Washington has said it will not trade away export controls on strategic goods for rare-earth concessions. No major breakthroughs have been announced. The itinerary is designed as a reciprocal visit after Trump’s trip to Beijing in May, when China’s vice president, not Xi, met him at the airport.