With a Red Carpet and Two Aircraft, Trump and Melania Welcome Chinese President Upon His Arrival in the US

Al-Taj News – US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania welcomed his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, and China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, where they took part in a brief welcoming ceremony.

Xi stepped off his plane accompanied by his wife, while the Trumps were waiting for them at the end of a red carpet. The two sides exchanged handshakes and a few words for several minutes through an interpreter. The Chinese president also received a bouquet of flowers, which he quickly handed to one of the accompanying staff members.

This is Xi’s first visit to Washington, D.C., since 2015, while Trump visited China in May to attend a series of events with Xi.

The welcoming ceremony included a 21-gun salute, an honor guard of 21 personnel, two flag-bearing teams carrying the US and Chinese flags, and the US Air Force band playing the US and Chinese national anthems, in addition to the flyover of two B-1 aircraft over the site.