Trump Versus Xi: How Their High-Stakes Summits Compare - Bloomberg.com

Trump Versus Xi: How Their High-Stakes Summits Compare

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Trump-Xi Summit:

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How Trump and Xi Summits Compare

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Business \+ Politics

**Trump Versus Xi: How Their High-Stakes Summits Compare**

From a tarmac greeting to a candlelit dinner, the US president pulled out all the stops for China's leader.

By Bloomberg News

September 24, 2026 at 11:45 PM EDT

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping have a history of going tit for tat — most recently during a spiraling trade war. A friendlier competition has been unfolding this week, as the US president reciprocated his state visit to Beijing four months ago.

Trump returned the favor — and then some. For the first time in six decades, a US president personally met a foreign leader at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington, excluding visits by the Pope. It’s a courtesy Xi has yet to extend to a single visiting dignitary.

Asymmetries between the pair of pageants didn’t end there. Unlike the star-studded entourage of CEOs that accompanied Trump, not a single captain of corporate China came with Xi. Here’s how the superpower hosts measured up:

**Photographers: Chip Somodevilla/ Getty images; Alex Wong/Getty Images**

Read more: Trump, Xi Thrust Fierce US-China AI Rivalry Into Spotlight

Red Carpet Arrival

Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan, a celebrated soprano, touched down shortly before 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Trump shook hands with the couple, and ushered them down a red carpet flanked by military honor guard.

The two leaders then observed a flyover from two B-1 bombers and anthems of both countries. The deafening roar of the supersonic aircraft seemed to surprise the 80-year-old US president, who winced as the planes flew overhead. Xi did not flinch.

!Leaders Xi Jinping and Donald Trump stand on a red carpet on an airplane runway with an Air China airplane behind them and an American flag and a Chinese flag. A jet flies overhead.

*President Donald Trump salutes as he stands on the red carpet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images*

It all amounted to a considerably more memorable spectacle compared with Trump’s arrival in Beijing in May, when he was met at the airport by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. Hundreds of children waving national flags greeted the US leader after he walked past a military honor guard. Trump departed the airport and met Xi for the first time the next day, during an arrival ceremony on Tiananmen Square.

“It’s remarkable that Trump is going so out of his way to accord this kind of respect for America’s chief geopolitical rival,” said Jonathan Czin, who served as China director at the National Security Council during the Biden administration. “It is not clear what, if anything, Trump is getting from Xi in exchange for these many gestures.”

Official Welcomes

**Source: Google Earth; Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images**

The official welcome this week unfolded across the White House campus, featuring a full military review comprising some 479 military personnel. The leaders also experienced another flyover, this time treated to a B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptors.

US service members displaying Chinese and US flags ringed the top of the colonnade connecting the White House to the West Wing; Xi and Trump walked together below, looking at a curated display of presidential plaques that Trump has installed since returning to the White House. For former President Joe Biden, Trump hung a photo of an autopen, a swipe at questions over his predecessor’s mental acuity.

**Photographer: Saul Loeb/Getty Images; Source: Xinhua/Shutterstock**

At welcome remarks from the Entrance Hall of the White House, the leaders were flanked by senior officials. US officials sat under a portrait that depicted the 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Butler, Pa.

**Photographers: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images (2), Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images**

Xi brought along his veteran Chief of Staff, Cai Qi, as well as Wang Yi — one of China's long-serving foreign ministers. Key trade officials including He Lifeng and Wang Wentao were also present.

No CEOs from China

The lack of Chinese executives was a notable departure from the Beijing summit, where Trump invited some of America’s corporate titans to tag along. His entourage was treated not only to the arrival ceremony, but face time with Xi and other senior Chinese officials in the Great Hall of the People.

**Source: VCG/Getty Images**

This week’s meeting at the White House saw US executives in a less formal role. Trump didn’t invite them to join the official talks, underscoring the dim prospects for the world’s largest economies to strike new business deals.

Instead, they attended a candlelit dinner. Xi was seated with Trump and some of the biggest American tech titans, including Nvidia's Jensen Huang whose best semiconductors the US has banned from being exported to China. Others at his table included Apple's Tim Cook and Lisa Su of chip giant Advanced Micro Devices. By contrast, at the banquet Beijing held for Trump earlier this year the American guest of honor was seated exclusively with his relatives, and officials from the US and Chinese delegations.

**Photographers: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images, Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images**

Xi didn’t bring an executive entourage to America despite much speculation. That’s different from his 2015 trip, when China’s top leader focused more on building corporate bonds. Back then he visited a Boeing facility in Everett, Washington, where the manufacturer unveiled its largest industrial investment in China alongside $38 billion in commercial jet commitments. Leading tech executives were also part of that trip including Alibaba’s Jack Ma — just years before he fell from Xi's grace.

**Photographer: Ted S. Warren-Pool/Getty Images**

First Ladies

First Lady Melania Trump skipped the Beijing trip in May, but this week gave her an opportunity to build her relationship with Madame Peng.

!Two women stand side-by-side. Behind Peng Piyuan, China's first lady, is an American flag. Behind Melania Trump is a Chinese flag.

*Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump during an arrival ceremony for the US state visit. Photographer: Annabelle Gordon/Bloomberg*

The pair spent time together at the arrival ceremonies, and then broke off for a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Their tour included a visit to the museum’s iconic Peacock Room. Originally a dining room built for a London shipping magnate, it displays an extensive porcelain collection.

!A group of people in business attire stand in a museum gallery with blue and white vases along the wall.

!The first ladies of China and the US clap their hands. In the foreground, children's hands are visible waving small American and Chinese flags.

*Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump receive a tour of the Smithsonian’s National Museum Of Asian Art. During their tour, a student choir from the Hope Chinese School performed for them. Photographer: Finn Gomez/Getty Images*

While at the museum, dozens of students from the Hope Chinese School performed songs for the first ladies, alternating between both languages. The pair also toured a gallery of historic Chinese imperial art.

Cultural Cache

On Friday, the Presidential pair plan to wrap their trip with a visit to the National Archives in Washington, where some of the most consequential US records — such as the Constitution and Declaration of Independence — are stored.

Trump also pledged