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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan at the North Portico for an opulent State Dinner alongside top business titans and government elites.
The lavish black-tie State Dinner in the historic East Room stands as one of the most star-studded evenings of the administration, offering a glitzy opportunity to smooth over notoriously fierce geopolitical friction with the Asian superpower.
President Trump took the podium to kick off the grand evening.
‘You are truly outstanding, amazing people… we hope to show you the same honor as you return to Washington for the first time in over a decade,’ President Trump started in his speech.
'As the leaders of our two nations, President Xi and I both understand that we represent different systems, but the ties between our people endure and we have never gotten along better.'
President Trump invited guests to take a look at his new ballroom, which he lamented was not ready in time for their dinner.
'Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that's nice and clean and sparkling, it is our honor to have you do so,' Trump said to laughter, the one part of his speech he noted was 'off script.'
Trump gifted Xi something made by an American artist; a bald eagle. He called it a 'national symbol of the United States and embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America.'
Xi then gave his speech, where he thanked the Trump's for hosting them, saying they made them feel 'truly at home.'
