Senate Republican suggests Trump should take Xi to Panda Express

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said Thursday he would like to see President Trump take Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Panda Express during the Chinese leader’s state visit to Washington.

“I won’t be a bit surprised if he decides at one point to say, ‘President Xi, let’s go visit Panda Express and see what you think of their broccoli beef,’” Lee said during an appearance on Fox Business’s “Kudlow.”

“I’d love to see that happen,” he added.

Lee made the suggestion to take the Chinese leader to the popular American Chinese fast-food chain while defending Trump’s treatment of Xi after host Larry Kudlow asked whether the president was being “too nice” to his U.S. counterpart.

Trump personally greeted Xi at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday upon his arrival in the U.S. — a gesture not every arriving foreign leader receives.

The Chinese leader and his wife, Peng Liyuan, then received a formal welcome to the White House on Thursday as part of Xi’s first official state visit to Washington in more than a decade.

“One of the many things I love about President Trump is that he is the consummate host,” Lee said. “When a foreign dignitary, whether from China or anywhere else, comes into town, he likes to show them around.”

Lee said Trump tries to figure out what his guests are interested in and “makes sure he shows them a good time when they’re visiting.”

Trump rolled out an elaborate welcome for Xi amid high-stakes talks between the U.S. and China over trade, artificial intelligence and Taiwan.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump also hosted the Chinese leader and first lady for a state dinner in the White House East Room. The lavish guest list included the world’s top tech and business moguls, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang.