US President Donald Trump welcomed China President Xi Jinping to the White House for a lavish state dinner where both leaders touted a new chapter in their friendship.
The dinner was attended by billionaire business leaders, Trump administration officials, US tech CEOs and others. Their arrival was marked, however, by protesters loudly shouting from just outside the White House gates, some of whom were arrested.
Both Trump and Xi praised one another, pledging to continue talks to ensure stability between their two nations. But experts say that not much concrete has been yielded in talks so far.
The dinner came on the second day of Xi’s three-day trip to Washington.
What did Trump say in his dinner toast?
Trump thanked Xi for making the long trip to the US, and said the relationship between the two men was strong.
“We’ve never gotten along better,” Trump said.
He praised the long history of US-China relations, although he did take an unscripted detour to praise his ongoing ballroom project.
In the off-the-cuff moment, he said as a “special treat” the Chinese leader and his wife could be the first to enter the ballroom, which is still a year away from completion.
“Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honour to have you do so,” he said.
He also presented Xi with a sculpture of a bald eagle, America’s national symbol, saying it embodied “the free and soaring spirit of America”.
“We hope it will find a nice, wonderful place in Beijing. It’s your honour,” he said.
Trump added that he and First Lady Melania had participated in the design of the sculpture.
Xi thanked his hosts for receiving him and his wife with “meticulous care and consideration”, making them “feel truly at home”.
He said the two leaders are “making history in our bilateral engagements”.
“We agreed to build a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability,” Xi said, adding that the two shared “sincere and in-depth exchanges” that will strengthen relations between the two countries.
Like Trump’s, Xi’s remarks were heavy on flattery, focusing on cultural ties and shared history between the US and China.
The relationship between the two countries was “forged in blood and fire” during the fight against Japan in the Second World War, before being furthered during the “ping pong” diplomacy of the Nixon administration, he said.
Towards the end of his speech, Xi said the US and China’s goals can be “mutually reinforcing”. He urged both sides to explore a “new approach for major countries to get along”.
