President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan at the White House’s North Portico, pausing for a group photograph before accompanying them to an ornate State Dinner attended by leading business executives and senior government figures.
Held in the historic East Room, the lavish black-tie dinner was among the administration’s most star-studded events. The evening also offered a high-profile setting for easing tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The invited CEOs included Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Michael Dell, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Jane Fraser and Tim Cook.
Melania Trump’s office said it personally coordinated the evening’s elaborate design. The East Room was transformed with red linens, Reagan-era vermeil and overflowing urns of crimson dahlias—a visual theme the First Lady said drew on “the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history.”
Guests were also treated to a series of performances during dinner, including appearances by military musicians and inauguration tenor Christopher Macchio.
Inside the dining room, guests raised glasses of Schramsberg “Blanc De Noir” in a symbolic toast recalling the historic 1972 “Toast to Peace” shared in China by President Richard Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai.
White House chefs created a lavish multi-course menu that combined classic American ingredients with subtle Asian-inspired flavors.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wait to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the White House’s North Portico for a State Dinner
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, arrive for the State Dinner
Apple Chairman Tim Cook arrives in a black suit and bow tie, holding up a peace sign
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, left, and his wife, Lori Huang, walk toward the White House on Thursday evening
The menu began with a silky yellow squash velouté topped with crispy pancetta. It was followed by sesame-crusted sea bass served over braised baby bok choy, while dessert featured a fruit-shaped vanilla crémeux paired with ice cream churned from White House honey.
The grand diplomatic occasion also carried a familiar touch of White House drama.
Trump has openly expressed frustration that his ambitious new White House ballroom is still unfinished, leaving the East Room to host the high-profile diplomatic gathering instead.
Although state dinners organized by the Office of the First Lady traditionally rank among Washington’s most glamorous displays of American power, much of this event was taking place behind closed doors.
Private gatherings of this kind have often helped lay the groundwork for major trade agreements and historic treaties. The dinner marked the first White House state dinner for China since former President Barack Obama hosted Xi in September 2015.
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Earlier this week, President Trump gave Chinese leader Xi Jinping a formal red-carpet welcome.
Xi’s visit began with full military ceremony, including marching bands, formal salutes and the roar of jet engines, followed by a personal tour of the White House’s gold-encrusted hallways led by Trump.
The lavish black-tie State Dinner in the historic East Room was among the administration’s most star-studded evenings, providing a glamorous setting to ease longstanding geopolitical tensions with China
Jane Fraser, CEO of Citigroup, arrives in a red sequined dress
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman arrives for the state dinner
A US Air Force flyover roared overhead as Xi remained unflinching and Trump cracked a smile
The first couple of China touched down just before 6pm local time. They will stay in the nation’s capital through Friday afternoon
First ladies Liyuan and Trump pose for a photo with children during a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum Of Asian Art
The dramatic spectacle began the moment the Chinese President and his wife touched down at Joint Base Andrews.
As the leaders stood on the tarmac alongside rows of soldiers positioned in front of F-35 fighter jets and Air Force One, a screaming flyover shattered the air overhead.
The deafening roar caught Trump off guard, causing him to visibly wince while a stoic, stone-faced Xi didn’t even flinch.
Breaking more than a decade of presidential protocol, the Trump’s personally greeted the Chinese delegation on the tarmac – marking the first time a sitting US president has met a foreign leader at an airport in over 11 years.
A grinning Trump also celebrated an immediate PR win when Xi announced Beijing is sending two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, to Zoo Atlanta within days, continuing the famous ‘panda diplomacy’ tradition sparked by Richard Nixon’s 1972 trip.
This week’s three-day visit is packed with cultural events alongside tough bilateral negotiations, where trade battles and thorny conflicts from tech dominance to Tehran are set to take center stage.
According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the two leaders could face each other up to four times before the year is out, with November’s APEC summit in Shenzhen and December’s G20 at Trump’s Doral golf resort in Miami already on the schedule.
The diplomatic charm offensive continues Friday, when the Trumps, Xi, and Madame Peng tour the National Archives to view America’s original founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
