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 brief group photograph before joining senior officials and business leaders for an opulent State Dinner.
Held in the historic East Room, the black-tie dinner is among the administration’s most star-studded events. The glittering gathering also provides an opportunity to ease long-standing geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The invited corporate leaders include Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai, Michael Dell, Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Jane Fraser and Tim Cook.
Political figures attending include Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chief Justice John Roberts and Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump family members Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump are also present, along with foreign dignitaries such as LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault. Fox News personalities Bret Baier, Laura Ingraham and Jesse Watters are among the prominent media guests.
Melania’s office said it personally arranged the evening’s elaborate décor, transforming the East Room with red linens, Reagan-era vermeil and overflowing urns of crimson dahlias. The First Lady said the design draws on “the color red’s longstanding cultural significance throughout Chinese history.”
Military musicians and inauguration tenor Christopher Macchio are scheduled to perform during the dinner, providing a grand musical backdrop as the leaders and their guests dine.
Guests are also raising glasses of Schramsberg “Blanc de Noir” in a symbolic toast that revives the historic 1972 “Toast to Peace” shared in China by Richard Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai.
White House chefs created a lavish, multi-course menu combining classic American ingredients with subtle Asian-inspired flavors.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump wait at the White House’s North Portico to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, for a State Dinner.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife, Lauren Sanchez, arrive at the White House for the State Dinner.
Apple Chairman Tim Cook arrives in a black suit and bow tie, raising a peace sign.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, left, and his wife, Lori Huang, walk toward the White House on Thursday evening.
The menu begins with a silky yellow squash velouté topped with crispy pancetta. It continues with sesame-crusted sea bass served over braised baby bok choy and concludes with a fruit-shaped vanilla crémeux alongside ice cream churned with White House honey.
The grand diplomatic occasion, however, carries a familiar dose of White House drama.
Trump has openly expressed frustration that his ambitious new White House ballroom is still unfinished, requiring the high-profile diplomatic dinner to be held in the East Room instead.
Although galas organized by the Office of the First Lady traditionally offer one of the most glamorous displays of American power, much of this evening’s event is taking place behind closed doors.
Private gatherings such as this have often helped set the stage for major trade agreements and historic treaties. The dinner is also the first White House State Dinner for China since former President Barack Obama hosted Xi in September 2015.
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This week, President Trump rolled out a formal welcome for Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
The visit began with full military pageantry, including marching bands, crisp salutes and the roar of jet engines. Trump also personally guided Xi through the White House’s gold-encrusted hallways.
The lavish black-tie State Dinner in the historic East Room is one of the administration’s most star-studded occasions, offering a glittering chance to ease intense geopolitical friction with the Asian superpower.
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.