Trump Personally Welcomes Xi at Airport in Rare Protocol Break During First State Visit to U.S. in 11 Years

President Donald Trump personally welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping at the airport on September 23, offering a rare diplomatic gesture as Xi began his first state visit to the United States in 11 years.

Bloomberg reported that Xi arrived with his wife, Peng Liyuan, at Joint Base Andrews near Washington just before 6 p.m. Trump greeted the couple on the tarmac and shook hands with them. Excluding papal visits, it marked the first time in about 60 years that a U.S. president had welcomed a foreign leader at the airport.

The White House is scheduled to hold an official state arrival ceremony on the morning of September 24, with 479 troops taking part. It is difficult to find a precedent in recent U.S.-China diplomatic practice for an American president to greet a Chinese leader at the airport. During Xi's previous state visit to the United States in 2015, then-Vice President Joe Biden handled the airport greeting.

The central issue at the summit is an extension of the trade truce between the two countries. China wants to secure more time for technological self-reliance by extending the truce, after using the rare earth supply chain as leverage in last year's tariff war. The U.S. also wants to preserve the truce, though it is reported to prefer a shorter extension.

Trump is also seeking expanded Chinese purchases of U.S. agricultural products and aircraft, as well as the creation of communication channels in artificial intelligence. Still, it remains unclear whether the two sides can reach agreement on major issues, given persistent differences over trade, Taiwan and competition in AI technology.

The unusual reception has also drawn commentary from diplomatic experts. Jonathan Czin, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, said Trump was offering exceptional treatment to the leader of one of America's main geopolitical rivals. What the U.S. would receive in return, however, is less clear.

Separately, reports that the Chinese government obtained sensitive parts from a U.S. F-35 stealth fighter that was mistakenly shipped to Hong Kong have raised the possibility that the matter could also come up at the summit.