Trump Greets Xi at Joint Base Andrews as State Visit Begins

President Donald Trump greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday, September 23, as Xi began a state visit to the United States. The personal airport reception was an unusual gesture ahead of the leaders’ planned talks in Washington on Thursday. The welcome broke with the usual practice of having protocol officials or other senior representatives receive visiting leaders at the airport. The reports describe it as a rare presidential tarmac greeting, though they differ in how they characterize its historical precedents. Trump had also welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin at an air base in Alaska in 2025. Xi’s visit is his first state visit to the United States since 2015. The agenda is expected to include trade and tariffs, Taiwan and artificial intelligence, among other points of tension between the two countries. The reports describe the summit as an effort to manage bilateral strains, while whether it will produce substantive agreements remains unclear. U.S.