WASHINGTON, United States – United States President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to Washington with an elaborate airfield reception at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday evening, as the United States Department of the Treasury announced a breakthrough diplomatic agreement extending the bilateral trade war truce between the world’s two largest economies through January 10, 2027, international diplomatic correspondents monitored in Washington on Thursday, September 24, 2026.
The runway greeting inaugurates a three-day state visit packed with ceremonial pomp, high-stakes trade negotiations, and sensitive deliberations over Taiwan, regional conflicts, and artificial intelligence safety protocols, marking President Xi’s first official state visit to the American capital in 11 years.
Okay News reports that breaking with standard diplomatic custom, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump traveled directly to the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to receive President Xi and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan, marking the first time in six decades that an American head of state has delivered a personal airfield welcome to a visiting foreign leader, outside of historical pastoral visits by the Pope.
The arrival ceremony featured a 100-foot red carpet, ceremonial battery cannon salutes, full honor guard platoons from each branch of the United States Armed Forces, and an aerial flyover by two supersonic B-1 Lancer strategic bombers as the United States Air Force band performed the national anthems of both nations.
Simultaneously, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed during a national television broadcast on Fox News that intensive bilateral negotiations conducted in New York and Washington with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng had successfully averted an imminent tariff escalation by prolonging the terms of the October 2025 Busan Agreement beyond its initial November 10 expiration date.
Under the renewed truce, Washington will maintain its freeze on proposed tariff hikes targeting Chinese manufacturing exports, while Beijing will continue pausing retaliatory export restrictions on rare earth elements and critical minerals indispensable to American semiconductor, automotive, and defense industries.
“We have agreed to extend the trade truce through January 10,” Secretary Bessent disclosed during the broadcast, acknowledging the complex economic stakes confronting both administrations. “I don’t know if a bigger deal can be done. I don’t know if we’ll just roll the current deal, but it provides both leaders the operational window required to explore deeper structural understandings.”
Delivering a written arrival declaration released through the Chinese Embassy, President Xi emphasized peaceful coexistence, asserting that both countries possess the capacity to pursue their domestic developmental priorities without descending into destructive geopolitical confrontation.
“The two countries should be partners rather than rivals,” President Xi stated in the official communique. “Realising the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can fully coexist, reinforce each other and benefit the world.”
Substantive bilateral summit talks shift to the White House on Thursday, encompassing restricted Oval Office discussions, expanded Cabinet Room sessions, and a prestigious East Room state dinner attended by leading American technology and corporate titans, including Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Tim Cook of Apple, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Sundar Pichai of Google, Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Michael Dell of Dell Technologies, and Jane Fraser of Citigroup.
While the lavish welcome has drawn criticism from hawkish Republican lawmakers—including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Mark Wicker, who questioned rolling out extensive military honors for Beijing’s leadership—the White House maintains that direct engagement between both presidents remains critical to stabilizing international trade and mitigating global strategic volatility.
