Financial Times: Trump to break 60-year-old protocol for Xi Jinping

US President Donald Trump will personally meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at Andrews Air Force Base, breaking a protocol observed for nearly 60 years, the Financial Times reports.

‘’It will be the first time a US commander-in-chief has greeted a world leader at the base since John F Kennedy met UK prime minister Harold Macmillan on the tarmac in 1962. In May, Xi did not even travel to Beijing’s airport to greet Trump,’’- the article reads.

The gesture will demonstrate deep respect, the newspaper notes.

This is not the first time Trump has personally met the leader of another global power. In August 2025, he personally greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac in Anchorage.

Xi Jinping will visit the US from September 23 to 25. This will be his first state visit to America in 11 years.