Archive · 23 Sep 2026
Trump-Xi Summit Welcome Draws Unease From Both Parties
Xi Jinping is visiting China’s counterpart in a highly formal way.
The welcome includes military aircraft flying overhead.
Melania Trump is also meeting Peng Liyuan.
Rush Doshi compared this with Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing in May.
He said Trump did not receive the same kind of welcome.
Xi did not wait for Trump during that earlier visit.
There were no similar flyovers then.
Doshi believes the difference may mean something important about the relationship between the two countries.
Rush Doshi said Xi Jinping’s welcome is grander than Donald Trump’s earlier Beijing visit.
Xi’s visit includes a flyover by a B-2 bomber and four F-22 jets.
Melania Trump is scheduled to meet China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan.
Doshi said Trump’s May visit included none of those ceremonial gestures.
The article presents the differences as a sign of potentially broader significance.
- Who
- Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Peng Liyuan, and Rush Doshi are identified in the article.
- What
- The article compares the ceremonial welcomes given to Xi Jinping and Donald Trump during their respective visits.
- When
- Doshi discussed the comparison in a Substack post on Monday; Trump’s compared visit took place in May.
- Where
- The comparison concerns visits involving Beijing and China.
- Why
- Doshi said the more elaborate welcome for Xi may signal something broader in bilateral relations.
- Analyst
- Rush Doshi, who handled China policy on Joe Biden’s National Security Council
- Current visit
- Xi Jinping’s visit includes a B-2 bomber flyover and four F-22 jets
- Diplomatic meeting
- Melania Trump is meeting China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan
- Earlier visit
- Donald Trump’s compared visit to Beijing took place in May
- Key difference
- Doshi said Trump’s visit had no comparable flyovers or first-lady meeting
- Xi’s protocol
- Doshi said Xi did not wait for Trump during the earlier visit