WASHINGTON — Arabella Kushner, the 15-year-old daughter of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, made her first state dinner appearance Thursday, drawing attention for greeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, in Mandarin.
The president’s granddaughter, who has studied the language since she was 3, welcomed the Chinese couple during their arrival ceremony at the White House. Speaking in their native tongue, she said, “Welcome to America,” The Post reported.
Xi and Peng responded warmly, telling Arabella they were surprised by how much she had grown since their previous meeting.
The couple last saw Arabella when she was 6, during President Trump’s first term. On a visit to Beijing, Trump showed Xi a video of his young granddaughter wearing a traditional Chinese-style dress and singing in Mandarin.
Xi praised the performance with an “A+” and dubbed Arabella a “child star.”
Arabella, the eldest child of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, lives in Florida with her parents and younger siblings, Joseph and Theodore.
For Thursday night’s dinner in the White House East Room, the teenager wore a black, floor-length ball gown with her hair styled up. Seated between her mother and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, she shared a table with other members of the Supreme Court.
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Ivanka Trump attended in a light blue Georges Hobeika corset gown covered in crystal embellishments.
The mother and daughter also took part in the formal welcoming ceremony earlier Thursday, where they sat in the front row. Arabella was seated beside Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
They later joined members of President Trump’s Cabinet for the military review.
For that portion of the day, Arabella wore a white belted midi dress by Self-Portrait, while Ivanka chose a robin’s-egg blue design by Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei.
Arabella has maintained a high profile on Chinese social media since Trump’s first term, when Ivanka posted videos of her daughter singing in Mandarin.
Those clips quickly went viral across China.
In one video message addressed to Xi, a young Arabella spoke in Mandarin and said, “Hello everyone, let me sing a song.”
She then performed a traditional Chinese folk song celebrating the country’s scenic landscapes.
