President Trump toasted China’s leader Thursday at the White House and gave him a gift of one of America’s most iconic symbols.
In his toast to President Xi Jinping at a White House state dinner, Mr. Trump noted their political differences but underscored what he has long called their great personal relationship and the deeper history of U.S.-China ties.
“President Xi and I both understand that we represent different systems, but the times between our people endure and we’ve never gotten along better,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump gifted Mr. Xi a gold sculpture of a bald eagle, the symbol of America. The president called it “a national symbol of the United States and an embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America.
“We hope it’ll find a nice place, a wonderful place in Beijing,” Mr. Trump said.
“Since the first trade ships from New York left the harbor to arrive on the banks of the Pearl River, Americans and Chinese have always exchanged goods, knowledge, customs and ideas,” Mr. Trump said. “This has been the foundation of commerce and mutual respect between our countries and together we can continue to build a relationship that promotes prosperity and security for future generations.”
In his return toast, the Chinese leader said his discussions with Mr. Trump earlier Thursday were “sincere and in-depth” and said through a translator that the two men had “reached a common understanding on many issues.”
“This has added new substance to the strategic guidance for China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability,” Mr. Xi said.
The Communist Chinese leader described “the friendship between two peoples” as “a worthy cause that holds great promise.”
“Let us join hands and move forward side-by-side. Together, let us nurture the beautiful flowers of Sino-U.S. friendship. Together let us write a new chapter in our friendly relations,” he said.
The guest list was heavy with Fox News hosts and America’s most prominent tech titans but short on the type of celebrity star power that traditionally attends state dinners.
The guest list includes some of the biggest U.S. tech executives, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Apple Chairman Tim Cook, Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, who run OpenAI, Michael Dell of Dell Computers, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The Fox News figures on the guest list include a litany of Fox News television hosts, including Bret Baier, Laura Ingraham, and Jesse Watters.
Other notable guests included Jane Fraser, head of Citigroup, New York University President Linda Mills, and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.
The guest list was short on the names of famous athletes, actors and musicians who traditionally attend state dinners. The only such celebrity to make the list was actress Cheryl Hines, who is attending with her husband, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
The guests dined on a lavish three-course meal with dishes chosen to emphasize American ingredients “with a subtle Chinese influence.”
Chefs served a yellow squash velouté with wild mushrooms, crispy pancetta, and scallion oil and a main course of sesame-crusted sea bass and braised baby bok choy.
The two dishes bring “the culinary traditions of both nations together,” the White House said.
For dessert, state dinner guests dined on vanilla cremeux with sour cherry confit, both topped with a walnut frangipane, ice cream made with honey gathered at the White House beehive.
First lady Melania Trump unveiled the new beehive on the White House grounds in April.
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