Red carpet, a hundred guests, the biggest names in global technology at one table and a bald eagle sculpture as a gift. The evening at the White House had all the makings of a carefully staged show of rapprochement between the United States and China .
Donald Trump and Xi Jinping exchanged messages of cooperation and stability after their talks on the future of bilateral relations. The US president said the two countries had “never done better”, while the Chinese leader called on the two sides to seek “a new way of coexistence of major countries “.
The state dinner was the final and most symbolic moment of a day of contacts. Xi Jinping received a red carpet welcome , as had happened during the US president’s visit to China earlier this year, while the two leaders, along with their wives, shook hands in front of the cameras before entering the White House.
Speaking to the guests, the Chinese president stressed that the two countries’ goals “can be mutually reinforcing ” and that the two sides “must act responsibly.” He also called for a new approach to how major countries coexist, speaking of the need to build a relationship of strategic stability .
Referring to the previous talks, Xi claimed that there had been “sincere and in-depth exchanges of views”, which had strengthened understanding between the two countries. Characteristically, he chose to look back on the common historical path , with references to the cooperation between the US and China during World War II against Japan, but also to the “ping-pong” diplomacy that paved the way for rapprochement during the presidency of Richard Nixon. He concluded with a toast to the health of Donald and Melania Trump.
The American president maintained an equally positive tone. “We’ve never gotten along so well before,” he said, while in his statements he referred to the friendship that has developed between the two, built, as he said, on mutual respect and the vital interests of the two peoples, noting that the two sides represent different systems but the bonds of the people endure.
His speech was more of a dinner party than a formal policy statement. In an off-the-cuff digression, he even mentioned the new White House event space under construction, inviting guests to visit it. “Anyone who wants to walk through a construction site that is clean and shiny, it is an honor to do so,” he said. At the end of the evening, he presented Xi with a sculpture of the eagle , the national symbol of the United States, saying it symbolized “the free and rising spirit of America.”
The guest list was perhaps the most telling element of the entire evening. Among the more than 100 people in attendance were Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg , OpenAI head Sam Altman , Amazon founder Jeff Bezos , and X owner Elon Musk .
Also present were Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook , Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang , BlackRock Chief Larry Fink , Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg and Blackstone founder Steven Schwarzman .
This composition is not decorative. These are the people who control semiconductors, artificial intelligence, supply chains and capital, precisely the fields in which the two countries’ competition is currently judged. Their presence highlighted the economic dimension of the relationship, beyond the purely diplomatic level.
Despite the warm welcome, the day was not without friction. CNN reported that two of its reporters were initially barred from covering Xi’s arrival at the dinner, with only a photographer and a sound technician allowed in. The incident came after the government announced that it was restoring access to some media outlets that had previously been blocked, following a row that began when the US president accused certain outlets of “fake news.”
