President Trump presented Chinese leader Xi Jinping with a sculpture of a bald eagle and invited him to tour the White House ballroom “construction site” during his toast at the state dinner Thursday night.
“The bald eagle is the national symbol of the United States and an embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America,” Trump said. “And we hope it will find a nice place, a wonderful place, in Beijing.”
Trump said the gift was made “by an extraordinary American artist” and “designed in personal collaboration with Melania and myself.”
President Trump presented Chinese President Xi Jinping with an eagle sculpture at the White House state dinner on Sept. 24, 2026. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
“The bald eagle is the national symbol of the United States and an embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America,” Trump said. “And we hope it will find a nice place, a wonderful place, in Beijing.”
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Just before he revealed his gift to Xi, the president invited his dinner guests to walk through the massive new White House ballroom that is still under construction.
“As a special treat in honor of President Xi and Madame Peng, I’d like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back door,” Trump said. “It’s all lit up and it looks beautiful.”
“You’ll be the first people to step foot on that,” the president continued, “and we’ll do that maybe after we’re finished with the entertainment tonight.
“Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honor to have you do so.”
Trump and Xi shake hands after the presentation. Getty Images
The first couple greeted Xi and his wife as the first lady wowed in a white bow blouse and sleek black tuxedo-inspired pants.
Thursday night’s state dinner menu consisted of a three-course meal that featured “American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence,” and was inspired by the first lady’s palette.
“There is a lot of details that comes in to plan the state dinner,” Melania Trump told “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning. “There is protocol that you need to follow. Every detail I was involved [in] from tomorrow.”
Earlier in the day, Trump showed off the new renovations of the White House grounds, including the Rose Garden and the recently installed granite helipad where Marine One was sitting.
Xi’s visit coincides with the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but the Chinese leader remained in the US Capital for the three-day summit with Trump.
During the high-stakes meetings, the two leaders and other officials discussed several topics including “pressing issues concerning security, technology, and super-intelligence,” Trump said.
Trump kicked off the days-long visit by greeting Xi at the bottom of his plane after he arrived at Joint Base Andrews on Thursday, a rare, historic move and the first time a US President has done so since John F. Kennedy welcomed British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1962.
It is the second time the two leaders have met this year after Trump traveled to Beijing in May.
US Military officials in the Pentagon were working to retrieve parts of an F-35 fighter jet that were seized by the Chinese government in May, according to a report first released by Politico after Xi had landed in the Capitol Region.
“The F-35 Joint Program Office and Department of War are aware of a shipment issue of unserviceable F-35 Lightning II components,” the Pentagon said in a statement provided to The Post.
“We are actively working with US authorities and industry partners to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,” the statement added.