Trump's 9-course banquet in China as staff served McDonald's in parking lot
Topics: Donald Trump, China, Politics
William Morgan
Featured Image Credit: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Donald Trump, China, Politics
China's President Xi Jingping has thrown out the red carpet for Donald Trump on his first state visit since 2017, in a show of diplomatic strength that culminated in a lavish nine-course banquet.
Even by the standard of normal state visits, the displays of pomp, ceremony, and China's 3500-year-old cultural heritage put on for President Trump were a sign of the importance placed on the negotiations going on behind the scenes.
This was most evident during the luxurious banquet thrown for the American delegation on Thursday night, where guests including billionaire Elon Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, himself sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party, were served nine succulent dishes.
Although, it appears that while the great and powerful of the world's two superpowers supped on lobster and beef ribs, the White House staffers and members of the press pool who accompanied the president were separately handed Big Mac burgers.
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While this was likely the only time that McDonalds-loving President Trump would have been jealous of junior staffers, the more luxurious meal presented to America's ruling class revealed China's subtle diplomatic prowess.
Donald Trump's state visit has been all about the shared strength of the world's only real superpowers, China and the United States, with both Xi Jingping and the president presenting a friendly front as they negotiate tariff negotiations.
This year's state banquet was a sharp juxtaposition of the meal served during Trump's state visit to the UK, where he was served a series of French-haute cuisine dishes with complicated names that were likely lost on the president.
But in Beijing, they settled on a menu of delicate and simple classics, showing a mixture of Chinese and western influence, finished with flawless execution. And, of course, no state visit to China would be complete without the national dish - Beijing roast duck.
Trump was served six main dishes at the state banquet:
Followed by three dessert courses:
Then, with a medley of eastern and western foods mingling in their stomachs, coffee and tea were served to the dozens of powerful delegates gathered in China's Great Hall of the People.
And although the meal was a far cry from the president's preference for simpler food, China's food diplomacy appeared to work as Trump jetted off on Friday. He told reporters that 'we’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve'.
“We’ve made some fantastic trade deals for both countries," Trump also said, though he was only able to offer a deal on soybeans and oil as examples of agreements made during the visit.