‘Xi Is a Great Leader’: Trump’s Tarmac Welcome, as Told by Xinhua — and Xi’s Pitch to Fold MAGA Into China’s Rise

Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan landed at Joint Base Andrews on September 23. Trump and Melania were waiting on the tarmac. Children handed over flowers, an honor guard lined the red carpet, the band played both anthems, a 21-gun salute fired, and fighter jets passed overhead.

Riding into the city, Xi’s motorcade passed Chinese nationals and students lining the road with both countries’ flags.

That is the scene as reported by Xinhua, China’s state news agency — which is also the principal source for what was said.

What Xinhua Put in Trump’s Mouth

According to Xinhua, Trump said he was “very pleased” to welcome Xi and Peng to Washington, that the visit is one “the whole world is watching,” and: “President Xi is a great leader, and this is a great moment.” He looked forward, Xinhua reported, to an in-depth exchange of views and to advancing the relationship.

The sourcing matters. The first detailed account of the American president’s words at this arrival came from the Chinese government’s own news service, published for a domestic audience that will read “a great leader” as a US president’s endorsement of Xi at the start of his run toward a fourth term. Whatever Trump’s exact phrasing, the version that will circulate across China is the one Xinhua chose.

Notably, Xinhua did not report anything Xi said aloud on the tarmac. His remarks came only as a written statement — controlled text, not a spontaneous exchange.

What Xi Actually Said

The written statement is where the substance sits, and it is carefully built:

• “China and the United States are both great nations, and the Chinese and American peoples are both great peoples.”
• The two sides should put cooperation first, keep competition “within proper bounds,” and keep differences “manageable.”
• They should be “partners, not rivals.”
• And the line built for its audience of one: “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and making America great again can proceed in parallel.”

Xi also reached back to May: during Trump’s Beijing visit, he said, the two agreed to build a “constructive strategic stability” relationship — setting the strategic direction for ties going forward.

The MAGA line is the most deliberate sentence of the visit. It takes Trump’s own brand and binds it to the Chinese Communist Party’s central political project — national rejuvenation — as a joint venture rather than a contest. It flatters, and it frames: if both greatnesses can proceed in parallel, then American moves that constrain China’s rise (export controls, Taiwan arms sales, chip bans) become obstacles to a partnership Trump endorsed, rather than defenses in a rivalry. The callback to “constructive strategic stability” does the same work: that May formula was read in Washington as the US accommodating China’s red lines, and Xi is now presenting it as the agreed foundation for everything that follows. Beijing is not asking for concessions in the arrival statement. It is setting the frame in which concessions will look like consistency.

Tomorrow Is the Test

The talks themselves come on September 24, following the White House ceremony. Xi’s delegation is heavy: Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Vice Premier He Lifeng — Beijing’s lead trade negotiator — who was waiting at Andrews with the ambassador.

As this site noted ahead of the arrival, the realistic deliverable is an extension of the trade truce that expires in November, with the US side led by Treasury rather than State or the NSC. The vocabulary to watch is on Taiwan — whether any joint language moves from “not support” to “oppose” independence.