Melania Trump Appeared ‘Overawed’ by Xi Jinping’s Wife, Body Language Expert Says

First Lady Melania Trump joined Madame Peng Liyuan, the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, for a visit to the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art on Thursday in a display of cultural exchange between the United States and China.

Following the White House welcoming ceremony for President Xi Jinping, the two first spouses toured the museum’s Peacock Room, an ornate setting featuring Chinese blue-and-white porcelain from the Qing dynasty, which ruled from 1644 to 1911.

They stopped to admire James McNeill Whistler’s celebrated painting Princess from the Land of Porcelain as museum curators described the history and inspiration behind the work.

Body language expert Judi James told Our News Outlet that both women appeared captivated by the lavish surroundings and seemed to be expressing a sense of awe as they viewed the collection.

The figure in the painting was modeled by Christina Spartali, a young woman of Greek descent shown wearing a kimono and holding a fan.

According to the museum, Whistler’s work reflects Asian artistic influences, drawing on Japanese ukiyo-e prints as well as the imagery found on Chinese porcelain.

For the museum visit, Melania Trump wore a black, single-breasted light-tweed jacket and matching skirt by Alexander McQueen, paired with black Christian Louboutin stilettos.

Madame Peng selected a navy-blue cheongsam with a high mandarin collar, complemented by a single silver floral brooch.

“Melania’s very severe and stylish black suit, with its side-button jacket, is only some white piping away from being an exact match to Madame Peng’s jacket, and the two women walk and stand in almost identical ways here, as they did when they sat watching Trump’s speech,” James told Our News Outlet.

“Melania’s desire to mirror Peng suggests respect, perhaps to the point of feeling slightly overawed by a woman who was a famous opera singer in China and a major general in the People’s Liberation Army,” James added.

The Peacock Room is decorated in shades of blue, green and gold. Its main wall features a second Whistler painting, depicting two fighting peacocks in a scene representing a battle between “Art and Money.”

Architect Thomas Jeckyll designed the room, which Whistler painted in the 1870s for English shipping magnate Frederick R. Leyland.

Art collector Charles Lang Freer later purchased the collection before it was acquired by the Smithsonian in 1920.

The pair then took part in a private tour of Gallery 13, which features imperial and historical Chinese art and examines the rules governing Chinese dynasties from 1368 to 1912.

Trump and Peng later watched a performance by a children’s choir made up of local students from the Hope Chinese School, who waved Chinese and American flags as they sang.

The 36-member choir, led by its director, performed two songs: “Jasmine Flower” and “Songs & Smiles.”

At one point, Madame Peng, who is a famous opera singer in China, sang along with the songs and clapped her hands.  

The First Lady smiled at Madame Peng during the performance and applauded and said, “Bravo!” after each song. 

Trump and Peng are familiar with each other after they first met in April 2017 at the president’s club at Mar-a-Lago.

In November 2017, Melania Trump joined the president for his state visit to Beijing, and the pair toured the Forbidden City and visited a primary school together.

The first lady, however, did not go on the president’s official visit to Beijing in May 2026.