Chinese officials welcomed President Donald Trump with full state honors during his Wednesday visit to Beijing, including a red-carpet arrival ceremony at the airport led by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, military bands, and around 300 students waving American and Chinese flags chanting "welcome" in Mandarin.
Trump, flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and family members including Eric and Lara Trump, was greeted with a 21-gun salute, goose-stepping honor guards, and a formal welcome at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square.
Top U.S. business leaders on the trip included Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX), Tim Cook (Apple), Larry Fink (BlackRock), and Jensen Huang (Nvidia), all present at the state banquet. Musk was seated prominently and attended with his son X Æ A-12. The delegation underscored the economic focus of the summit, with Trump emphasizing trade and investment.
At the welcoming banquet, Xi Jinping called the visit "historic" and stated that "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation" and "Make America Great Again" can go hand in hand, describing U.S.-China relations as the world’s most important bilateral relationship. Trump praised the "magnificent welcome like no other", called Xi a "great leader", and invited him and his wife Peng Liyuan to the White House on September 24, 2026.
Highlights of the ceremonies included a military band playing the U.S. national anthem, a troop review, cannon salutes, and a visit to the Temple of Heaven, where Trump called the site "great" and "incredible." Both leaders delivered cordial opening remarks, with Trump noting that he and Xi resolved past issues quickly via phone calls.
The summit focused on Iran war diplomacy, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, AI chip exports, and potential Boeing aircraft deals, though no sweeping trade agreement was announced.
During the visit on Thursday, a tense security dispute occurred when Chinese officials blocked an armed U.S. Secret Service agent from entering the Temple of Heaven, sparking an "intense standoff" that delayed access for nearly 30 minutes.
According to reports from journalists traveling with Trump, including AFP correspondent Danny Kemp and Fox News’ Peter Doocy, the confrontation involved "heated and physical" exchanges between U.S. and Chinese security personnel, with Doocy describing "one very physical standoff" over the agent’s firearm. A compromise was eventually reached, though details were not disclosed, and Trump’s schedule proceeded unchanged.
American reporters and staff also faced repeated clashes with Chinese officials, being briefly detained both during entry to the Temple of Heaven and after the event when attempting to rejoin the presidential motorcade. Chinese security reportedly tried multiple times to block U.S. press and White House staff from leaving designated areas, prompting a "spirited debate" and leading one American official to remark, “You guys have been terrible hosts.”
The incidents unfolded amid heightened security protocols, with U.S. officials operating under concerns of surveillance—many traveled with stripped-down devices, assuming all communications in China could be monitored.
The standoff revived memories of a 2017 incident during Trump’s earlier visit, when Chinese security blocked a U.S. military aide carrying the "nuclear football" from entering the Great Hall of the People, reportedly leading to brief shoving.
The White House and Secret Service did not comment, but former officials confirmed that U.S. personnel are routinely briefed that "everything is monitored" in China.
Despite the tensions, the summit continued as planned, with Trump and Xi discussing trade, Iran, Taiwan, and energy security, while projecting diplomatic pageantry.
