President Trump’s ceremonial welcome for Xi Jinping has drawn open pushback from Republican senators who say the red-carpet treatment collides with the party’s hard anti-China message.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker and several other Republicans voiced frustration this week as President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a multi-day summit that began with an arrival ceremony at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
Fox News reported that the gathering kicked off Wednesday afternoon and included a Thursday bilateral meeting in the Oval Office, coming just weeks after Republicans left their midterm convention in Dallas chanting “Common sense versus communism.”
The optics landed poorly with some of the party’s China hawks. Wicker made clear he would have steered the White House in a different direction.
Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said:
"Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America, based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party,"
That critique sits against a backdrop of real stakes. Lawmakers hoped the two-and-a-half-day summit might produce progress on the AI race, trade talks aimed at ending the trade war, and pressure on Beijing to help reopen energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz.
White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly framed the visit as straightforward reciprocity after Xi hosted Trump in China earlier.
Anna Kelly stated:
"President Xi hosted President Trump in China for a historic summit this summer, and President Trump is reciprocating his hospitality by welcoming the Chinese delegation for a reciprocal visit this week,"
She added that the president will forge relationships with anyone to advance national interests and make good deals for the American people. The Andrews arrival marked the first time a U.S. president had met a foreign dignitary there since 2015.
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina pointed straight at the gap between the campaign trail and the red carpet.
Tillis said the president campaigned on an anti-China policy and reminded colleagues what those MAGA rallies sounded like when Trump vowed to take it to China. He did not soften the point.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said:
"Any time we roll out the red carpet for a despot from Russia, or a despot from China, I feel the same way,"
He summed up his view simply: it’s kind of not good. The tension echoes other moments when Republican senators openly question leadership choices inside the broader Trump-aligned orbit.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn struck a similar note of caution without rejecting talks outright. He said he was not enthusiastic about the summit and described China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as an axis opposed to the United States.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said:
"I hope the president's clear-eyed about who he's dealing with,"
Cornyn added that Trump tends to call some of these dictators friends, and they are no friend. His warning lands in a Senate already watching high-profile cross-currents, including a former Cornyn aide joining a Democratic Senate bid in Texas.
Not every Republican saw a problem. Senate Majority Leader John Thune argued there is value in talking with adversaries, especially when the two largest economies share a deep economic link.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said:
"I think there's value in being able to talk with your adversaries,"
Thune noted the symbiotic relationship between the countries. Montana Sen. Steve Daines, who was invited to the dinner and once worked in China, went further.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said:
"This relationship is too big to fail, and it's only appropriate that President Trump and his team extends respect to Xi Jinping, and it's really reciprocal to what they did for President Trump back in May when they showed him great respect when he showed up in Beijing,"
North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer declined to second-guess the president’s style even while admitting personal discomfort. He called hospitality one of Trump’s strengths and said he trusts the president’s instincts.
That willingness to manage internal disagreement tracks with other recent party dynamics, including when Trump signals tolerance for GOP dissent on major economic builds.
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy took no issue with the meeting itself but urged hard skepticism toward Xi’s word, especially on Iran and the Strait.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said:
"I just suggested, and I don't think he will, the president's a pretty good judge of character, not to believe President Xi’s bulls***, because he's lying. Particularly about helping Iran, and Xi could get the Strait open immediately if he wanted,"
During the summit so far, Xi promised two new pandas while Trump has been mulling whether to allow Chinese electric vehicles to be built in the United States. Concrete results beyond those signals remained limited as Trump stayed tight-lipped after the Oval Office session.
Intra-party friction of this kind is not new. Republicans have watched colleagues test boundaries before, from a senator demanding process over Trump family dealings to legislation that would constrain the president’s public fights with broadcasters, as when Cruz advances a bill with direct implications for Trump’s criticism of media outlets.
The Chinese Communist Party still runs a surveillance state, builds a military aimed at American interests, and props up adversaries. A reciprocal visit and a red carpet do not change that record.
Deals are worth chasing. Illusions about Beijing never are.