The pageantry surrounding Xi Jinping's arrival in Washington took an unexpected turn Wednesday evening when a low-flying B-1 bomber caught President Trump visibly off guard, mid-ceremony at Joint Base Andrews.
Standing at the end of the red carpet beside the Chinese leader, Trump had just wrapped up his salute during the playing of the national anthem dressed for the cold in a thick winter coat and black gloves when the aircraft thundered overhead. Video circulating afterward shows him reacting with a groan, and lip-reading expert Nicola Hickling says he can be heard remarking on just how loud and jarring the noise was. Xi, standing right next to him, showed no reaction at all.
Social Media Reacts Mixed Bag of Opinions
Unsurprisingly, the clip took off online almost immediately. Some viewers zeroed in on the moment as evidence of the president's age, while others framed the flyover as a deliberate and welcome show of military muscle timed for Xi's benefit.
Not everyone was convinced it landed the way the White House might have hoped, though. One critic dismissed the display outright, calling for less "tacky" flyovers and suggesting the money would be better spent elsewhere. Another commenter was more pointed, arguing that a fleet recently humbled by Iran isn't exactly striking fear into anyone.
Behind the Ceremony: A Deal-Free Visit?
Beyond the theatrics, there's a more consequential storyline unfolding. According to the Wall Street Journal, Xi has signaled he doesn't plan to finalize any agreements while in Washington this time around and reportedly considered skipping a business delegation altogether.
That would mark a notable departure from the tone Trump struck during his own visit to Beijing in May, when he brought along a heavyweight lineup that included Apple's Tim Cook, Tesla's Elon Musk (then heading DOGE), and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang. Trump later claimed that trip produced real progress, telling reporters, "I think a lot of good has come from this visit. We've made some fantastic trade deals, good for both countries" though he was light on hard details. He did point to specifics on aviation, saying the two sides had agreed on roughly 400 to 450 GE jet engines and 200 Boeing aircraft, with a possible expansion to 750 planes contingent on the initial order going smoothly.
Executive Presence Scaled Back
Sources familiar with the planning initially expected China to send a handful of top executives along with Xi, with some reportedly slated to attend Thursday's state dinner hosted by Trump. Somewhere along the way, those plans shifted China either pulled its business representatives or dramatically trimmed the list.
Even with that scaled-back presence, economists aren't ruling out meaningful outcomes from the summit. Analysts point to the possibility of extending the existing trade truce between the two countries, along with smaller concessions on either side. A breakthrough on AI export restrictions seems unlikely, but there's reportedly some appetite for compromise elsewhere.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a hint of what that might look like, telling reporters Sunday that early discussions have centered on establishing some kind of "notification mechanism between the two countries" specifically around AI development.
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