Donald Trump used the arrival of Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a pet topic much closer to home.
The president broke with usual protocol by greeting Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews when they flew in Wednesday evening for the three-day state visit.
But he quickly returned to the more familiar subject of his half-constructed ballroom when he returned to the White House to prepare for Thursday’s State Dinner.
“We’re ahead of schedule,” he gushed. “We just touched the first column today, if you take a look. And we’re very much ahead of schedule. The entire left portion, the north portion, has been built structurally, and it will start to be covered up now with very powerful glass, and it’s going to be something.”
Xi’s visit comes at a difficult time for Trump and his Republican Party as the midterm elections loom. With the Iran war unresolved, GOP candidates across the country are worried that a lavish White House dinner is a bad optic when they are telling voters they have the answer to rising prices in stores and at the pump.
“Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But Trump kept harping on about his ballroom.
“I wish we had it for tomorrow night because we’ll be able to—we have a packed house tomorrow night for President Xi,” he added.
The two men walked down the red carpet and then stopped to take in a ceremony laid out for the welcome, including a band, ceremonial cannon fire, and a military flyover.
Trump, 80, appeared to wince at the sound of a military flyover staged to welcome the 73-year-old Chinese leader. Xi was unmoved, but Trump bared his teeth and ducked as the B-1 bombers flew overhead.
On Thursday, the president and First Lady Melania Trump will host a State Arrival Ceremony honoring Xi and Peng at the White House on the South Lawn, State Floor and in the Rose Garden.
Military personnel from every branch of the U.S. military will be taking part. The state dinner will be held in the White House East Room.
