President Donald Trump will personally greet Chinese President Xi Jinping upon landing at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, marking the start of his historic state visit to the United States. This will be Xi’s first state visit to the U.S. in over a decade.
The main portion of the visit is set to begin Thursday with an arrival ceremony on the White House State Floor, where Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will greet Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. The two first ladies are scheduled for separate engagements during the event.
At a state dinner in the East Room later that evening, both presidents will deliver remarks. Trump previously told reporters at the White House on Friday: “Thousands of people would love to be at that dinner.” He added: “This is a very tough ticket for me. I’ve told a lot of very good friends of mine, ‘you just can’t come.’”
The state dinner will feature an exclusive guest list including Elon Musk (Tesla and SpaceX), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Sundar Pichai (Google), Sam Altman (OpenAI), and Tim Cook (formerly of Apple).
Following the ceremony, a B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptors are expected to conduct a flyover. The Trumps will also later provide Xi and his wife with a tour of the National Archives.
Critics of China’s communist government have highlighted the nation’s aggressive stance in the South China Sea as one of its most provocative actions. Xi’s last state visit to the U.S. occurred in September 2015 during the final term of former President Barack Obama.
