First Lady Melania Trump, who has kept a light public schedule through much of her husband’s second term, stepped back into view on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, as Chinese President Xi Jinping landed outside Washington for a three-day state visit — and she offered an explanation for why the president would set aside protocol to meet him at the plane.
Appearing on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” the first lady said President Donald Trump decided to go to Joint Base Andrews himself because of the rapport between the two leaders. “He’s coming on our soil, and we need to welcome them with the most respect,” she said of Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan.
It is unusual for a U.S. president to meet a foreign leader at the plane rather than wait for the guest to reach the White House. Past exceptions have included papal arrivals: then-President Barack Obama welcomed Pope Francis in 2015, and then-President George W. Bush greeted Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, as each arrived in the United States.
The First Lady’s Announcement
The airport greeting was only the opening act. On Monday, September 21, the first lady’s office published the details of the visit in a statement that used the honorific “Excellency” eight times. The release called the trip a significant milestone in the relationship between the two countries, noting that more than a decade has passed since Xi and Peng were last at the White House. That visit, also a state visit, came in September 2015, when Obama was the host.
The enthusiasm marks a shift for a first lady whose public appearances have been infrequent. She did not join the president for his May trip to Beijing, and she was absent from the Republican midterm convention in Dallas and from his September trip to Ireland. She has surfaced for select occasions — the Pentagon ceremony marking 25 years since the September 11 attacks; the Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C., in August; and a trip to North Carolina for her Be Best initiative. She did travel to China with Trump during his first term.
Pomp on the South Lawn
The centerpiece came on Thursday, September 24, when the Trumps hosted a state arrival ceremony spanning the South Lawn, the State Floor and the Rose Garden, drawing 479 military personnel from every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. An Armed Forces Full Honor Cordon flanked the South Drive up to a display of American and Chinese flags, with the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets sounding a fanfare from the South Portico. Inside, “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band played both national anthems before the two leaders spoke.
A presidential salute from the U.S. Marine Silent Drill Platoon and U.S. Joint Forces Command followed on the South Lawn, then a military review in the Rose Garden with performances by the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps and “The Commandant’s Own” U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps. A B-2 Spirit bomber and four F-22 Raptors closed the ceremony with a flyover. Afterward, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan toured the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.
That evening, the couples met again at the North Portico for a black-tie dinner in the East Room, where the Trumps also hosted Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla on April 28. The guest list was expected to lean heavily toward technology and finance: Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI chief Sam Altman, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser and Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell. The visit winds down on Friday, September 25, with tea in the Red Room and a stop at the National Archives to view records tied to the American and Chinese relationship.
Objections From the President’s Own Party
Not everyone in Washington is applauding the red carpet. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized the welcome in a Senate speech on Tuesday, September 22, saying Trump should not have invited the Chinese leader “based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.” He went on to suggest topics for the state dinner, among them China’s military buildup and its support for Iran.
The visit comes amid real friction. A string of disputes — commerce, AI, the president’s conflict with Iran and Beijing’s ambitions regarding Taiwan — has weighed on ties between the two countries, and expectations for a breakthrough are low. The two leaders are set to meet behind closed doors before the dinner, with Trump looking to keep relations between the rivals steady even as he has lavished praise on Xi and called him a friend.
Trump has made no secret of wanting the staging to impress. He has told reporters he is delighted that his new helicopter landing pad will be ready in time, while complaining that construction leaves his planned White House ballroom unavailable as a venue for Xi.
When Trump was received in Beijing. Xi was not at the airport; Chinese Vice President Han Zheng handled the arrival. But a red carpet was rolled out to Air Force One, a military honor guard and a military band were assembled, and about 300 Chinese youths waved Chinese and American flags, the children in white and light blue uniforms that mirrored the colors of the presidential plane.
