American service members were seen on their hands and knees smoothing the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in Washington on Wednesday.
Jinping, 73, exited his plane alongside First Lady Peng Liyuan to greet President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump—but not before a 100-foot-long red carpet was rolled out.
Service members were filmed brushing off the carpet and removing imperfections while members of Jinping’s staff looked down from the plane.
During the later stroll, Trump gestured deferentially toward the carpet alongside Jinping, who did not look particularly impressed.
Six F-16s and six F-22s were on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews for the arrival ceremony, which also featured a Salute Battery, a 21-person Honor Cordon, the U.S. Air Force band playing the U.S. and Chinese national anthems, and a flyover by two B1 bombers.
Trump, 80, winced during the flyover. The president’s choice to wear gloves in the 64-degree weather also drew attention online.
A U.S. president greeting a foreign leader—besides the Pope—at Joint Base Andrews, the military base in Maryland, is rare. Before Wednesday, the last time that had occurred was in 1962, when JFK met British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, the Daily Beast’s the Swamp newsletter notes.
Why Trump, who has raged against communism, chose to break precedent with Jinping is not clear. He will host a State Dinner for Jinping at the White House on Thursday—an occasion which he seems eager about.
Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn after the Marine One flight from Joint Base Andrews, Trump could not help but talk about his ballroom in the context of the visit.
“We’re ahead of schedule. 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,” he said. “And I wish we had it for tomorrow night because we’ll be able to—we have a packed house tomorrow night for President Xi.”
One White House project that was completed in time for Jinping’s visit was the South Lawn helipad.
