President Donald Trump personally greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews — a display of deference that observers say wasn't returned when Trump visited Beijing in May.
HuffPost senior reporter S.V. Dáte was among the first to flag the historic nature of the gesture, noting "going out to the airport to greet a foreign leader has not been done in 60 years," and that "presidents in recent decades have done that only for papal visits." His verdict: "Trump is doing it to honor a ruthless dictator."
Multiple accounts noted Trump and first lady Melania Trump stood at the bottom of the stairs as six F-16s and six F-22s sat parked behind them and a red carpet rolled across the concrete, kicking off a three-day state visit including a formal dinner. It was, several pointed out, the first time an American president has greeted a visiting head of state that way since John F. Kennedy welcomed British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962.
Xi did not extend Trump the same courtesy in May.
Social media users were quick to note the hypocrisy. One user going by Covie wrote: "Notice that President Xi didn't even go to the airport to meet trump when trump visited China but trump is at the airport putting on a whole show to greet Xi when Xi visits US. Republicans' daddy has a daddy." Tech commentator O.C. Omar added: "You know who is Boss."
An account tracking Chinese news, Dailylifenews, resurfaced an old Trump tweet mocking Barack Obama for hosting a visit from then-Vice President Xi Jinping in 2012, when Trump called the honors "so wrong."
Uppsala University peace and conflict researcher Ashok Swain contrasted the treatment with Trump's chillier reception of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who "didn't even come to White House front door."
Commentator Mario Nawfal noted the stakes: Beijing remains the top source of fentanyl precursor chemicals blamed for roughly 35,000 American deaths in the past year, with tariffs, chips and rare earths also on the table. "If he walks away from three days of pageantry without a single commitment," Nawfal wrote, "Beijing got the photographs for free."
The last President who went to the tarmac to receive a visiting head of state was John F Kennedy in 60s. Trump is rolling out the red carpet for Xi in the hope that America and China can manage the Great Reset. https://t.co/Ce76vytzk8
— Zakka Jacob (@Zakka_Jacob) September 24, 2026