Trump welcomes Xi for state visit with rare tarmac greeting at Joint Base Andrews

President Trump kicked off a controversial visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to the U.S. on Wednesday with a rare tarmac greeting at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Xi’s plane touched down just before 6:00 p.m. EDT, and Trump, along with First Lady Melania Trump, greeted the Chinese president and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the bottom of a 100-foot red-carpet. They were accompanied by two children bearing bouquets.

The ceremony included the firing of a canon salute, a 21-person honor cordon, and two three-person color guards carrying the U.S. and Chinese flags. Six F-16s and six F-22s were lined up on the tarmac.

And Xi was serenaded by the U.S. Air Force band playing “Fanfare,” and the American and Chinese national anthems. The event concluded with a flyover of two B1 bombers.

Xi’s arrival kicks off a three-day state visit in the U.S., where Trump’s expected lavish treatment has drawn criticism from key Republicans and widespread condemnation from Democrats.

“I know the President intends to discuss trade and AI with the Chinese leadership — and rightfully so… But, during every minute of dialogue, our commander-in-chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America,” Sen Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on the Senate floor Tuesday night.

A group of senior Senate Democrats lashed out at Trump’s fawning over Xi at a time when the Chinese Communist Party is supporting America’s adversaries — Russia and Iran — threatening democratic partner — Taiwan — and jailing U.S. citizens.

“As Americans face rising prices for gas, food, housing, and more, President Trump is rolling out the red carpet for President Xi and hosting closed-door dinners so his billionaire friends can strike deals that threaten American jobs and national security,” the Democratic senators wrote.

“President Xi gets the royal treatment while President Trump hurls threats and wages trade wars on allies like Canada,” they added. “This is not leadership, and Americans deserve better.”

Trump’s grand ceremony went beyond the greeting Xi afforded him in Beijing in May. At the time, Trump was greeted by China’s Vice President Han Zheng, among other officials.

Trump’s welcome included a red-carpet with a crowd of children waving U.S. and Chinese flags in sync.

The first lady said earlier Wednesday that her husband decided to host the rare welcome at Joint Base Andrews because the two leaders “have a great relationship.”

“He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends.”

Other presidents who have welcomed foreign leaders on the tarmac include former President Obama, who greeted Pope Francis in 2015 . That honor followed President Bush greeting Pope Benedict XVI on the tarmac in 2008.

Trump has earlier afforded such an honor to Russian President Vladimir Putin, greeting him on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska and inviting him to ride in the presidential motorcade.

The White House frames such engagement as Trump’s personal brand of diplomacy. But some foreign policy and national security experts criticize these actions as providing improper deference to America’s major adversarie and potential security risks.

Xi was last in the U.S. in 2023 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), but his last state visit was over a decade ago during the Obama administration.