Trump greets Xi with tarmac ceremony after years of calling China a 'cheat'
Chinese president's state visit marks dramatic shift in rhetoric from Trump's earlier accusations of theft and economic warfare.
What to know
- Trump greeted Xi at Joint Base Andrews—the first such tarmac reception of a foreign leader by a US president since 1962, signaling diplomatic warmth.
- The state visit yielded only a two-month extension of the trade war truce despite high-profile pageantry; no major shifts in relations on AI competition, rare-earth metals, Taiwan, or Iran.
- Trump's rhetoric has undergone a sharp reversal: from calling China an 'enemy' guilty of 'the greatest theft in history' to praising Xi and his wife, reflecting the broader diplomatic shift.
“We can't continue to allow China to rape our country and that's what they're doing. It's the greatest theft in the history of the world.”
Trump, US President (campaign rally) · Al Jazeera ↗
Donald Trump US President
Xi Jinping Chinese President
How it unfolded 1 development · click the chart to see its coverage articles
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Al Jazeera maps Trump's dramatic rhetorical shift on China over a decade
Coverage documents Trump's language transformation from calling China a 'cheat' that 'destroyed entire industries' and 'ripped us off' to praising Xi and his wife as part of this week's warmth. Past statements included calling China an 'enemy,' accusing it of the 'greatest theft in history,' and claiming no country has 'ripped us off like China.'
“There are people who wish I wouldn't refer to China as our enemy. But that's exactly what they are.”
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background
Xi-Trump meeting extends trade war truce but produces limited substantive shifts — The state visit—the first by a Chinese leader to the US in 11 years and the third face-to-face Trump-Xi meeting in less than a year—delivered little significant shift in relations beyond extending the trade war truce for another two months, though Washington provided hours of pageantry and lavish tours.
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background
Trump greets Xi with rare tarmac ceremony at Joint Base Andrews — Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Wednesday evening, and President Trump traveled to Joint Base Andrews to greet him on the tarmac—the first time a US president has greeted a foreign leader this way since 1962, when John F Kennedy welcomed UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan.