Through much of her husband’s second term, First Lady Melania Trump has kept a sparse public schedule; she stepped back into view Wednesday, September 23, 2026, to explain why President Donald Trump set aside protocol to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at his plane.
Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” the first lady said Trump decided to go to Joint Base Andrews himself because of the rapport between the two leaders. Of Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, she said: “He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect.”
Xi arrived at Joint Base Andrews that day for a three-day state visit. Trump and Melania Trump greeted Xi and Peng planeside with handshakes. The welcome featured a 100-foot red carpet flanked by a 21-person honor guard, and two B-1 bombers flew over it.
The visit concluded Friday, September 25, and the White House said little about what was achieved.
A Rare Welcome at Andrews
A foreign leader is seldom collected at the aircraft by a sitting president, who normally waits for the guest to reach the White House. Popes have drawn the exceptions: then-President Barack Obama met Pope Francis in 2015 on his arrival in the United States, and then-President George W. Bush gave Pope Benedict XVI the same treatment in 2008.
The White House broadcast the September 23 Trump–Xi meeting via social media. Numerous major networks, including Fox News, did not cover the diplomatic visit, following the president’s White House media ban.
Wednesday’s welcome also answered the reception Trump received in Beijing in May, where Xi stayed away from the airport and left the arrival to Chinese Vice President Han Zheng. In Beijing, a military honor guard and a military band turned out, and a red carpet reached all the way to Air Force One. About 300 Chinese youths waved Chinese and American flags there, the children in white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the colors of the presidential plane.
Details From the First Lady
The first lady’s office published trip details Monday, September 21, in a statement that used the honorific “Excellency” eight times. A significant milestone in the relationship between the two countries was how the release described the trip, which also noted that more than a decade has passed since Xi and Peng were last at the White House. Xi and Peng’s previous stay was also a state visit, in September 2015, with Obama as host.
On Thursday, September 24, the Trumps greeted Xi and Peng on the South Portico, held an arrival ceremony in the White House Grand Foyer and later met the Chinese leaders in the Oval Office. The day’s program drew a contribution from every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and called for 479 military personnel across the South Lawn, the State Floor and the Rose Garden.
The plan put an Armed Forces Full Honor Cordon along the South Drive up to a display of American and Chinese flags, and U.S. Army Herald Trumpets sounded a fanfare from the South Portico. Indoors, both national anthems were to be played by “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band before the two leaders spoke. A silent drill platoon review on the new helipad drew the two couples to the Blue Room Balcony to watch.
Also on the program were a presidential salute on the South Lawn by the U.S. Marine Silent Drill Platoon and U.S. Joint Forces Command; a military review in the Rose Garden with the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps and “The Commandant’s Own” U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps; and a closing flyover by a B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptors.
Choir students from the Hope Chinese School performed that day at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art, where Melania Trump hosted Peng.
Dinner in the East Room
The Trumps held a black-tie state dinner in the East Room on the evening of September 24, the same setting where they hosted Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla on April 28. Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase CEO, was among the dinner guests, as were Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm, Sam Altman of OpenAI and Jensen Huang of Nvidia.
“You have the entire tech world, the entire banking world, and a lot more,” Trump said of the guests.
Bok choy accompanied the sesame-crusted sea bass on the menu, and Schramsberg sparkling wine opened the meal as a nod to President Richard Nixon’s 1972 toast in China. The two leaders met behind closed doors before the dinner.
At the dinner, Trump called Xi and his wife “truly outstanding, amazing people,” and said the U.S. and China should “continue to build a relationship that promotes prosperity and security.” Xi said he would like to forge a relationship defined by “strategic stability” and called for the two sides to “act as responsible major countries.” Xi also said the two sides “reached common understanding on many issues.”
On the final day, Friday, September 25, the schedule set aside time for tea in the Red Room. A stop at the National Archives was also planned, to view records tied to the American and Chinese relationship.
Few Breakthroughs, Some Criticism
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, used a Senate speech Tuesday, September 22, to criticize the welcome, saying Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader “based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.” Wicker went on to suggest China’s military buildup and its support for Iran as topics for the state dinner.
As the summit began on September 24, Trump hailed a “truly great friendship” with Xi, and Xi urged “healthy” competition between the two powers. Points of friction included commerce, AI, the president’s conflict with Iran and Beijing’s ambitions regarding Taiwan — a string of disputes that has weighed on ties. Expectations for a breakthrough were low.
Trump said on September 25 he had a “great meeting” with Xi but did not answer questions on the substance of the talks. Asked by CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes at the conclusion of the visit on September 25 whether the leaders achieved anything new on artificial intelligence, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said a “dialogue” with China on AI had been established. No specific new AI developments were announced.
Xi said the two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, will arrive at Atlanta’s zoo in the coming days.
Beyond an extended trade truce and talk of a U.S.-China “Board of Trade,” few concrete breakthroughs emerged. One analyst described the summit to CBS News as “largely for show.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used Fox News Channel to announce, as Trump greeted Xi on September 23, that the two countries’ trade truce — scaling back tariffs and refraining from new trade restrictions — was extended to January 10. Bessent noted that the leaders could gain more time from the extension to talk at upcoming summits in China in November and Florida in December.
“I don’t know whether a bigger deal can be done. I don’t know whether we will just roll the current deal,” Bessent said on Fox News Channel.
The U.S. ambassador to China told Fox News that Trump “made it very clear, this is unacceptable to us, to have any interaction with Iran with regards to the support of this war.”
Trump wants relations between the rivals to stay steady, even as he has lavished praise on Xi and called him a friend. He did not hide his wish for the staging to impress, showing Xi the new White House helicopter landing pad, finished in time for the visit. Trump had complained that construction left his planned White House ballroom unavailable as a venue for Xi.
Melania Trump has made public appearances only infrequently. The president traveled to Beijing in May without her, and she skipped the Republican midterm convention in Dallas and his September trip to Ireland. She attended a Pentagon ceremony on September 11 marking 25 years since the attacks, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C., in August, and a North Carolina stop for her Be Best initiative on September 15. During Trump’s first term, she did travel with him to China.