US President Donald Trump adjusts his suit as he and first lady Melania Trump prepare to pose with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at the White House ahead of a state dinner in Washington, D.C., US, September 24, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump offered a special surprise for visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday: a tour of the construction site where he is building his controversial White House ballroom project.
"If I could go off script just for a second — as a special treat in honor of President Xi, I'd like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back," said Trump. "It's one year away from completion — the new ballroom that you've heard about… So in honor of you, you'll be the first people to step foot on that. This is in honor of President Xi."
This offer was swiftly buried in mockery from commenters on social media.
"Of the security bunker? Seems suboptimal," wrote Reuters reporter Charlie Syzmanski.
"Oh sure, show our greatest geopolitical foe your Fuhrerbunker," wrote Jim Stewartson of Mind War. "What could go wrong. Absolutely mind blowing."
"Guided tour of the super secure and classified military ballroom for officials of a foreign unfriendly nation," wrote S&P Global editor Jeff Domingues. "Totally reasonable."
"If the ballroom construction is such a sensitive national security matter, why is Trump inviting the Chinese delegation on a tour???" wrote American University associate professor David Ryan Miller.
"US foreign relations as show and tell," wrote Just Security's Brian Finucane.