Anti-China protesters put a damper on President Donald Trump’s wooing of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Dozens of protesters made their voices heard outside the White House North Portico on Thursday evening ahead of Trump’s star-studded state dinner with Xi.
As the two world leaders posed for photos outside before the dinner, protesters could be heard chanting “Free Hong Kong” and “Free Tibet,” among other anti-China sentiments, even amid the sounds of the U.S. Marine Band.
One protester could even be heard yelling what sounded like, “F--- you, Melania” as the two leaders and their wives entered the White House.
Among the non-governmental personnel present at Trump’s fawning dinner were tech billionaires Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos; Fox News personalities Jesse Watters, Bret Baier, and Laura Ingraham; and CEOs David Ellison, Darren Woods, and David Solomon.
Trump’s Cabinet officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Todd Blanche, were on the guest list, as were Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, and John Roberts.
Trump, 80, rolled out the red carpet for Xi—literally—on Wednesday, as the Chinese Communist Party leader was welcomed onto U.S. soil for the first time since November 2023.
While China’s paramount leader remained steadfast in his awareness of the significance of their meeting, Trump seemed more interested in the spectacle, bragging to Xi about his new helipad and his Wall of Fame mocking former President Joe Biden.
Xi stressed for the second time in four months that China and the U.S. need to avoid the “Thucydides trap”—a historical theory that warns tensions between a rising superpower and an established one can quickly spiral into war.
The Chinese president called for the two nations to “coexist in peace” and asked that U.S. competition be “kept within bounds.”
Trump, however, focused more on his relationship with Xi, saying his Chinese counterpart was a “truly great friend” and that the day they spent together was “magnificent.”
In a head-scratching move, Trump once again denied CNN, MS NOW, and Politico’s access to the state dinner’s arrivals without warning, even after reinstating their access to the White House earlier in the day in compliance with a federal judge’s ruling.
CNN reporter Kristen Holmes explained the confusing development as Trump and Xi met on the North Portico.
“We received an email from the White House asking who would be attending. We responded that… we would only be sending editorial. That is what the agreement has been,” she said, referencing the TV networks not sending a pool until the ban was listed.
However, Holmes said, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told them that the network’s invitation “was only to be a camera and audio, no editorial presence,” and the invitation was not a credential for the dinner itself.
