Donald Trump Faces Backlash Over Lavish Red-Carpet Welcome for Xi Jinping: 'An Ego-Stroking Spectacle'

President Donald Trump was slammed for rolling out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, September 23.

The exceptionally lavish welcome — marking the first time a U.S. president has met a world leader planeside at the base since 1962 — included military flyovers by B-1 Lancer bombers, F-16s, and F-22s, alongside a 21-gun salute.

The high-profile protocol drew swift condemnation from political opponents and members of his own party, who termed the display "excessive hospitality" for America's premier geopolitical adversary.

Hardline Republicans, including Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. John Moolenaar, were irate by the greeting, noting that China remains "America's most significant external adversary." They urged Trump to confront Jinping directly over the use of Chinese space imagery in Iranian military actions that resulted in American deaths.

A viral video showing U.S. military service members on their hands and knees adjusting and cleaning the red carpet on the tarmac drew fierce pushback online.

Critics, including former Marine fighter pilot and Democratic politician Amy McGrath, argued that American service members should not be utilized as "props in some authoritarian ego-stroking spectacle.”

Top Democrats and policy experts voiced deep concerns about possible concessions during the three-day state visit, specifically warning the White House against easing U.S. export controls on advanced computer chips, which may undermine the country's lead in artificial intelligence.

MeidasTouch co-founder Ben Meiselas described the spectacle as “utterly humiliating.”

Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern posted on X, “Trump is literally rolling out the red carpet for a brutal dictator. Birds of a feather.”

“Just when you thought Trump could not possibly humiliate himself and America any further, he put the United States military on its hands and knees to buff the red carpet so Xi wouldn't get dust on his shoes,” posted songwriter and activist Bill Madden.

“Imagine if Barack Obama literally rolled out the red carpet for Xi and then got mogged this hard,” mused political strategist Sawyer Hackett.

Even so-called “Trump whisperer” Laura Loomer was incensed, writing on X, “A red carpet for a communist dictator who is giving satellite imagery to Iran to target and kill American service members fighting in the war with Iran…"

The event marks the first official Chinese state visit to Washington in more than a decade.

While Trump previously espoused aggressive rhetoric about Chinese trade policies, his tone has softened to praise Jinping's leadership. The administration defended the protocol as part of high-risk diplomatic attempts to establish a trade truce, address global AI safety standards, and curb Beijing's economic and resource support for Iran during escalating Middle East tensions.

“He needs to put America’s interests first, not his interests. He is the most corrupt president in our lifetime. He is not fighting to implement the sanctions to try and slow China’s rapid advance in AI... and he’s not standing up for the values that underlie the American Constitution. He is someone who is literally rolling out the red carpet for Xi Jinping rather than representing the free world in the face of aggression,” blasted Delaware Democrat Sen. Chris Coons on Morning Joe's Thursday, September 24, show.