Donald Trump used a White House state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping to showcase the residence’s planned ballroom, inviting a gathering of political leaders and technology executives to tour the construction site.
The event brought together Mr Xi and Mr Trump with Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Tim Cook at the head table, while Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Altman were among the guests in attendance.
Mr Trump departed from his prepared remarks during the dinner, telling guests: “If I could go off-script, just for a second”. After a round of applause, he invited them to pass through a curtain at the back of the State Dining Room to see the ballroom, which he said was one year from completion.
“You’ll be the first people to step foot on that,” he said, suggesting the tour could take place after the evening’s entertainment.
The president did not discuss the future of advanced technology in his speech. Instead, he concentrated on the construction project and the occasion’s display of ceremony, telling guests they could walk through a “nice and clean and sparkling” building site.
“This is in honor of President Xi, Madam Peng,” Mr Trump said, referring to Mr Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan.
He had earlier shown Mr Xi a new helipad and driveway at the White House. As they returned inside, Mr Trump told reporters that the Chinese president was “an expert on stone” and appreciated “good granite”.
The exchange of gifts added to the pageantry. Mr Xi announced that two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, would live at Atlanta Zoo, while Mr Trump unveiled a large bald eagle statue intended for Beijing.
“We hope it’ll find a nice place, a wonderful place, in Beijing,” Mr Trump said.
White House state dinner overshadowed by media dispute
The dinner took place amid a dispute between the Trump administration and several news organisations. Mr Trump had barred CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House campus last Friday, although a judge ordered the administration to allow the reporters back on Thursday.
The television networks nevertheless declined to broadcast the president’s event live while CNN remained excluded from the White House television pool rotation.
Shortly before the dinner, Mr Trump accused CNN and MS NOW of being “fake” in a post on his website, claiming they had refused to cover Mr Xi’s arrival because they did not want credit to go to him.
He described the state visit as “one of the Biggest and Most Beautiful Events to take place in many years” and said the dinner would be “spectacular”. Journalists were present at the White House as Mr Xi arrived, although some chose not to focus on the ceremony in solidarity with colleagues targeted by the ban.
