Trump reportedly met Xi Jinping at the airport: Diplomatic protocol compared to the Pope and Khrushchev, Interpretation of US-China diplomatic protocol customs.
Multiple news agencies, including Reuters and Bloomberg, reported that a senior US official revealed on Friday (September 18th) that US President Donald Trump plans to visit Joint Base Andrews outside Washington to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit next week.
The protocol for state visits is highly formalized, but there is still room for flexibility within the format, sufficient to convey subtle political signals. The rank of the receiving official in the host country is traditionally the most direct barometer of the temperature of bilateral relations.
It is extremely rare for the US President to personally meet foreign heads of state at an airport. Excluding the exception of the Pope's visit to the US, this would be the first time a US President has welcomed a foreign head of state in this manner in over 60 years.
This decision occurs at a time when US-China relations are still under the shadow of trade friction and technological competition, making its symbolic significance particularly noteworthy. The following outlines the diplomatic logic behind this arrangement from three perspectives: historical precedents, changes in US-China reception protocols, and the standards of reception Xi Jinping has received in recent visits.
US Presidential Airport Reception: Rare in History
It is not unprecedented for a US President to personally meet a visiting head of state at an airport, but cases are concentrated in specific eras.
Documents from the Kennedy Library show that in the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy personally visited and received foreign heads of state at Andrews Air Force Base, including Ghana's President Nkrumah, Tunisia's President Bourguiba, Peru's President Prado, Ecuador's President Arosemena, Guinea's President Sékou Touré, and India's Prime Minister Nehru.
However, unlike today, during the early years of Kennedy's presidency, rather than arriving by air, it was more about holding the welcome ceremony directly at the airport.
In the later years of Kennedy's presidency, frequent airport arrivals often caused traffic congestion, so he reformed this protocol and formally established the South Lawn of the White House as the official welcoming venue for foreign guests. Subsequently, after foreign guests arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, the protocol officer would pick them up and fly by helicopter to the White House, where the President would hold the welcome ceremony on the South Lawn. This became the US diplomatic custom.
More comparable is the case of 1959, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower personally visited Andrews Air Force Base and welcomed Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev under the airstairs. This was also publicly announced and widely reported at the time and was considered a subtle and rare welcome during the Cold War.
However, in recent years, regarding protocol arrangements, the Pope of Rome is an exception: in 1987, Ronald Reagan welcomed Pope John Paul II at Miami Airport; in 1999, Bill Clinton welcomed Pope John Paul II at the airport again; in 2008, George W. Bush and his wife welcomed Pope Benedict XVI at Andrews Air Force Base; in 2015, Barack and Michelle Obama welcomed Pope Francis at Joint Base Andrews.
There has been no papal visit to the US in the past 11 years.
Compared to China's reception standards for Trump
If the information from the White House is true, the US arrangement this time exceeds the level of reception China provided when Trump visited in May of this year. At that time, when Trump arrived in Beijing, he was received at the airport by Vice Premier and former Politburo Standing Committee member of the CPC, Han Jeong.
During Trump's first visit to China, the person who met him at the airport was Yang Jiechi, who was then a member of the CPC Politburo and State Council. Yang Jiechi held actual decision-making power in China's foreign affairs and belonged to the "Party and State leaders" sequence, which was already high level.
The US President has always enjoyed higher honors in reception status than most foreign heads of state when visiting China. Most foreign heads of state visiting China were received by officials at the ministerial level, for example, when the German Chancellor Mertz (Friedrich Merz) and the UK Prime Minister Starmer (Keir Starmer) visited China, they were received by Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Finance, respectively.
It is worth noting that according to the itinerary revealed by the White House to reporters, Xi Jinping's wife Peng Liyuan will accompany him on the visit to the US, which is also a friendly signal, as his wife, Melania Trump, did not accompany him when Trump visited China in May.
How China Receives Foreign Leaders
When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China, he enjoyed a reception level similar to that of the US President. In May of this year, he was received by Wang Yi, a member of the CPC Politburo and Minister of Foreign Affairs; when he attended the SCO Summit in Tianjin in August 2025, he was received by Wang Huning, a member of the Politburo and Secretary of the CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee.
When North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un visited China, he was personally welcomed by Wang Huning, one of the seven members of the Politburo. The fact that one of the seven members personally received him was rare. However, this treatment continues the alliance-like "brotherly affection" between China and North Korea from the Cold War era and does not belong to the regular sequence of China's external receptions.
Outside the normal diplomatic framework, there are two instances where US Presidents received a higher level of reception than Putin and Kim Jong Un. In 1972, Richard Nixon's "Thaw Journey" visit to China, when Sino-US relations were not yet established, Zhou Enlai, the Prime Minister of the State Council, personally welcomed him at the airport, a level that has not been surpassed to date.
The other instance was Barack Obama's first visit to China in 2009, where he was received by Xi Jinping, then Vice President of the State Council. At that time, Xi Jinping held the position of a member of the Politburo and Vice President of the State Council of the CPC, and was recognized as the successor, making this arrangement generally viewed as an exceptional honor.
During Obama's second term, the US launched the "Asia Rebalance" strategy, and Sino-US relations experienced some turbulence, and the person who received them was immediately demoted to Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The rise and fall of the receiving official has become one of the barometers for observing the direction of US-China relations.
Receptions of Leaders Experienced by Xi Jinping
In recent years, it is not uncommon for foreign leaders to personally meet Xi Jinping during his visits.
The most recent instance was when Kim Jong Un personally welcomed him at the airport during his visit to North Korea on June 8th of this year. This continues the tradition of Chinese leaders visiting North Korea: previously, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin visited North Korea, and even earlier, Zhou Enlai, as Prime Minister, visited North Korea, all personally welcomed by the Supreme Leader of North Korea at the airport.
There are also instances where other countries have their heads of state personally welcome Xi Jinping at the airport, but this usually requires two conditions to be met: first, close relations with China, and second, a smaller national scale. In Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia in 2024, President Aleksandar Vučić welcomed him on the apron; in his visit to Hungary in the same year, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán welcomed him at the airport; in his visit to Cambodia in 2025, King Norodom Sihamoni welcomed him at the airport.
An earlier special case occurred in July 2014. While visiting the BRICS leaders' summit in Brazil, Xi Jinping made a technical stop in Rhodes, Greece. A technical stop usually only involves refueling and a brief rest, not formal diplomatic activities. However, the then-President of Greece Karolos Papoulias and Prime Minister Antonis Samaras specially flew from Athens to Rhodes to welcome Xi Jinping at the airport and hold talks. The heads of state of the two countries met once while transiting, which is extremely rare.
The context for this exceptional reception was that Greece was still deeply embroiled in the Eurozone crisis, with severe economic and employment conditions, and under strict fiscal constraints from international bailout programs, urgently needing foreign investment and infrastructure projects to support recovery. Xi Jinping's trip was only about ten months after he proposed the "Belt and Road" initiative. Following this meeting, China-Greece trade and economic cooperation significantly accelerated: in 2016, China gained control of the operator of the Port of Piraeus, and continued to increase investment in the port.
Overview of Xi Jinping's Visit to the US Reported by International News Agencies
September 23 (Wednesday)
Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan arrive at Joint Base Andrews.
Trump personally meets them at the airport, and the two parties hold a welcome ceremony at the military base, which is also very rare at Joint Base Andrews.
September 24 (Thursday): Talks and State Banquet
Trump will welcome Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan at the White House.
Subsequently, they move to the Rose Garden for a parade inspection and then engage in bilateral talks.
Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan will attend another event held in the Washington area; the White House has not yet announced specific details.
In the evening, the Trump couple will host a state banquet for Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan in the East Room of the White House. Trump and Xi Jinping will deliver speeches at the beginning of the dinner, with guests including executives from the technology and finance sectors.
September 25 (Friday): Tea Gathering, Tour, and Departure
The Trump couple will host a tea gathering for Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan in the White House.
Subsequently, they will go to the National Archives of the United States to visit the documents of the founding of the United States.
Xi Jinping and Peng Liyuan will then depart for Joint Base Andrews and leave the country.