Trump Goes ‘Off Script’ at State Dinner with Ballroom Invite - Newsweek

During remarks at a state dinner in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, President Donald Trump went "off script" and invited guests of the dinner to walk into the construction site of the White House ballroom.

The ballroom and its ongoing construction have sparked numerous legal battles, with the Supreme Court recently handing Trump a major victory by allowing the construction to move forward. The White House has argued the ballroom project is necessary for security and is funded through private donations rather than taxpayer money.

"If I could go off script just for just a second," Trump said during the dinner, "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. It's all lit up, and it looks beautiful. It's one year away from completion. The new ballroom that you've heard about, and you will see something that I think you will really love ... you'll be the first people to step foot on that, and we'll do that maybe after we're finished with the entertainment tonight. Anybody wants to walk into a construction site that's nice and clean and sparkling, it's our honor to have you do so.”

The dinner comes after Trump and first lady Melania Trump greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Wednesday evening in a rare welcome. The dinner and bilateral meetings come amid the backdrop of diplomatic tensions between the two countries regarding artificial intelligence, trade and other policies.

The two heads of state touched on the historic relationship between the countries during their remarks.

Trump highlighted his previous visit to China earlier this year, saying in part, "The hospitality of the Chinese people was on full display during my visit to Beijing earlier this year—and tonight, we hope to show you the same honor as you return to Washington for the first time in over a decade."

"As the leaders of our two nations, President Xi and I both understand that we represent different systems—but the ties between our people endure, and we've never gotten along better," Trump later said. He added that the two can continue to build a relationship "that promotes prosperity and security for future generations."

The president also presented Xi with a gift from an artist, a statue of a bald eagle, America's national symbol.

In closing, Trump raised a toast to Xi, saying in part, "May all of our people know a future of harmony, peace, and success."

In Xi's remarks, he thanked Trump and the first lady for their hospitality and planning of the visit. He also touched on Trump's earlier visit to China, saying the two agreed to build a "constructive" relationship.

"Today, President Trump and I had sincere and in-depth exchanges, and reached common understanding on many issues. This has added new substance to the constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability and provided new strategic guidance for China-U.S. relations," Xi said.

"Today we have come to another historic juncture for China-U.S. relations," the Chinese president later added. "China and the United States must act as responsible major countries, meet the expectations of our peoples, keep pace with the trend of our times, and explore a new approach for major countries to get along with each other."

Numerous lawmakers, business leaders and Trump family members were in attendance Thursday night. Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Apple CEO Tim Cook were present along with Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman were also seen at the dinner.

Many Chinese government officials including Cai Qi, CPC Political Bureau Standing Committee member and chief of staff to President Xi; Wang Yi, CPC Political Bureau Central Committee member; and He Lifeng, CPC Political Bureau Central Committee member and vice premier of the State Council, were in attendance, according to a list sent to Newsweek by the White House.

Trump recently released new renderings of the inside of what will be a 90,000-square-foot ballroom set to replace the East Wing of the White House.

The images depicted a large space with numerous chandeliers, intricate gold-ornamented ceilings and walls, large windows and a hallway leading to the ballroom.

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors about this story: Edward T. Cummins