Trump Gifts Xi Jinping a Bald Eagle Statue at White House, Claims Improved Ties
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump presented Chinese President Xi Jinping with a roughly three-foot statue of a bald eagle, America’s national bird, during an official state dinner at the White House.Trump said he personally helped design the statue with First Lady Melania Trump and an American artist, calling the eagle a symbol of “America’s…
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump presented Chinese President Xi Jinping with a roughly three-foot statue of a bald eagle, America’s national bird, during an official state dinner at the White House.
Trump said he personally helped design the statue with First Lady Melania Trump and an American artist, calling the eagle a symbol of “America’s free and soaring spirit.” He expressed hope the gift would be given a prominent place in Beijing.
The dinner, held on September 24, saw Trump and Melania welcome Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan. Trump claimed US-China relations were “better than ever,” while Xi stressed the need for regular military-to-military communication and keeping competition within healthy bounds to prevent tensions from escalating into conflict.
The two leaders held roughly three hours of talks, though no major breakthroughs were publicly disclosed on contentious issues including trade, artificial intelligence, Taiwan, and Iran. The dinner was attended by prominent tech figures including Elon Musk, Apple’s Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
