Trump's Elite Xi Dinner: Sea Bass and Tech Titans Unite!

A highly anticipated state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump for China’s leader Xi Jinping on Thursday was meticulously scrutinized for its “softer” details of diplomacy, despite significant policy matters like tensions over Taiwan, trade, and artificial intelligence being discussed behind closed doors. The event, described by Trump as “the hottest ticket in town,” aimed to project warmth and a close personal connection between the two leaders.

The guest list for the White House’s East Room dinner was notably tech-heavy, featuring titans of the industry alongside banking world luminaries. Prominent attendees included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, Sundar Pichai of Google, OpenAI President Greg Brockman, and Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies. This mirrored, in part, a state dinner Xi hosted for Trump in Beijing, which also saw many tech figures like former Apple CEO Tim Cook and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.

First lady Melania Trump curated a sophisticated menu for the evening, beginning with yellow squash velouté complemented by wild mushrooms, fresh herbs, crispy pancetta, and scallion oil. The main course featured sesame-crusted sea bass served with braised baby bok choy, roasted garden eggplant, and sauce verte. Dessert offered vanilla crémeux with sour cherry confit and walnut frangipane, alongside ice cream drizzled with honey sourced from the White House.

The dinner was preceded by several unusual diplomatic gestures. President Trump personally greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews, a departure from the usual protocol of presidents awaiting state guests at the White House. During the arrival ceremony, Trump reaffirmed his friendship with Xi, stating, “From the time of my first election in 2016 President Xi and I have forged a friendship.” Furthermore, Trump has reportedly been building a new ballroom at the White House, which he refers to as the “Great Hall of the United States,” explicitly to rival Beijing’s Great Hall of the People where he previously dined.

This embrace of pomp and circumstance marks a shift for Trump, who in 2015, during his first presidential campaign, publicly criticized then-President Barack Obama’s state visit for Xi, suggesting he “take them to McDonald’s.” Despite this earlier skepticism, Trump later conceded Xi might be worthy of “probably a double-size Big Mac.” His interactions with Xi have, however, always been characterized by memorable moments. During Xi’s 2017 visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence – chosen for its relaxed setting – Trump famously recounted informing Xi of U.S. missile strikes on Syria just after dinner, while Xi was enjoying “the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake.”