‘He has great interest in granite’: Trump shows Xi his new helipad, portrait of autopen

Washington: In the days leading up to Xi Jinping’s Washington visit, one of the main things on President Donald Trump’s mind was the physical appearance of the White House.

After all, Trump was wowed by the grandeur of Beijing when he visited in May – particularly by the capacious Great Hall of the People, and the military display Xi conjured.

What would the Chinese leader get to see at the seat of American democracy?

As they made their way from the central foyer of the White House to the Oval Office on Thursday (US time), Trump led Xi along the colonnade of the Rose Garden – one of the many spaces he has dug up and remodelled since returning to the office last year.

The wall is now lined by the Presidential Walk of Fame, a Trump addition featuring portraits of his predecessors. With one notable exception: Joe Biden.

Biden’s portrait was replaced by a framed picture of an automatic pen – the device Trump accuses Biden of using to outsource government to his aides. Even though presidents of all stripes have used the pen – himself included – Trump has portrayed this as more evidence that Biden “didn’t know what the hell he was doing”.

Trump aide Margo Martin posted a video of the interaction with Xi.

“Trump, and then Trump,” the US president says as he gestured towards the two portraits of himself. Then he points to where Biden should be. “And this is the autopen,” Trump says, as Xi laughs heartily.

The portraits also feature blurbs about each president, some of them with input from Trump himself. Biden’s begins: “Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History.” It continues in that vein.

Later, after their formal meeting, Trump took Xi on a tour of the new helipad that has just been installed on the White House’s south lawn. They inspected a stationary Marine Corps helicopter, with the US president and his Chinese counterpart spending just under two minutes inside.

But it was arguably the helipad that Trump was proudest to show off. He cut the ribbon on Monday at a short ceremony that was barely audible due to a TV network boycott.

The landing zone features a large amount of granite – which Trump says will have a “million-year life” – and is marked by large lettering that says: “Seal of the President of the United States”.

As he led Xi back into the White House and past a waiting press pack, Trump paused briefly to speak. “We had a great meeting, and he has a great interest in granite,” the US president said of Xi.

“He likes granite. He’s an expert on stone, aside from many other things. And he loves good granite. Thank you very much.” Xi remained silent throughout.

Meanwhile, first lady Melania Trump took her counterpart, Peng Liyuan, to see Sino-American art at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.

They visited the Peacock Room, an emporium of blue, green and gold created by American painter James McNeill Whistler in the 1870s to showcase Chinese blue-and-white porcelain. They also inspected a Chinese porcelain vase produced in Jingdezhen during the Qing dynasty.

For Xi, the autopen and the helipad do not mark the end of his cultural immersion. On Friday, Trump will take him to the National Archives, where they will view some of America’s founding documents, such as the original Declaration of Independence.

On Thursday night (US time), they will all attend a state dinner organised by Melania Trump. The menu, designed to showcase “American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence”, includes a yellow squash veloute with wild mushrooms, sesame crusted sea bass with baby bok choy and a vanilla cremeux with a sour cherry confit centre.

Entertainment will come courtesy of tenor Christopher Macchio, who performed at Trump’s 2025 inauguration.

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