Trump plans state dinner for Xi during China leader’s US trip
The visit will be the latest mile-marker in the roller coaster relationship between the two countries
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THE US will hold a formal state dinner in honor of President Xi Jinping when the Chinese leader visits Washington later this month, President Donald Trump said.
Trump told reporters Friday (Sep 4) that he will host the dinner on Sep 24, while downplaying tensions between the US and China over Beijing’s ties with Iran.
“We’re going to have a state dinner, and we’re gonna – we do great things with China, we’ve been doing very well with China,” Trump said.
“He’s a great gentleman, we get along great, we have a very good trading relationship, and you know, they’re a competitor and all of that, but we have a very good relationship with President Xi,” Trump added.
“He’s coming with his beautiful wife, she’s a beautiful woman and a great woman, respected all over the world, they’re coming together.”
The visit will be the latest mile-marker in the roller coaster relationship between the two countries, which were in a spiraling tariff war last year before striking a trade truce of sorts and teeing up Trump’s visit to China earlier this year.
China has been the main buyer of Iran’s oil, and Beijing has resisted Trump’s calls to cut off trade with Iran, as the US president seeks to increase economic pressure on Tehran to force them to cut a deal that would end the conflict that has stretched more than six months.
With regard to Iran, “I said ‘please don’t get involved’ to President Xi – I have a very good relationship – and they’re not really involved,” Trump told reporters Friday in the Oval Office. BLOOMBERG
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