Trump Welcomes Xi at Joint Base Andrews with Full Honors
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived at Joint Base Andrews near Washington D.C. at 5:40 p.m. for a three-day state visit, where President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump personally greeted him. The two leaders shook hands and conversed on the red carpet, with Xi introducing his accompanying Chinese officials to Trump. The arrival ceremony featured both national anthems, a 21-gun salute by the U.S. Army, and a flyover of U.S. military aircraft, including two B-1 supersonic bombers. More than ten F-16 and F-22 fighter jets and four cannons were also positioned on the tarmac for the occasion. Xi was accompanied by senior officials including Cai Qi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. This meeting follows the May Trump-Xi summit in Beijing and marks Xi's first visit to the U.S. since September 2015, signaling a new round of high-level engagement between the two nations.