Wild mushrooms are in their peak season across the U.S. in late September— and for a second time, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan were treated to the fungi at the White House.
On the menu for the state dinner hosted by President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump on Sept. 24 was wild mushroom fricassee as a first course. During the Chinese leader’s first state dinner, hosted in September 2015 by former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, the meal started with a wild mushroom soup.
After a day filled with words of mutual admirationand an Oval Office bilateral meeting, the two world leaders toasted each other at dinner as tech titans such as Tesla CEO Elon
Musk and Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI, mingled with members of Trump’s cabinet.
“As the leaders of our two nations, President Xi and I both understand that we represent different systems, but the ties between our people endure, and we've never gotten along better,” Trump said. “Since the first trade ships from New York left the harbor to arrive on the banks of the Pearl River, Americans and Chinese have always exchanged goods, knowledge, customs and ideas.”
Xi, for his part, said the friendship between China and the U.S. is “a worthy cause that holds great promise.”
“President Trump has pledged to make America great again and led the American people in making significant strides.,'' he said. "China is committed to achieving great national rejuvenation and Chinese modernization has kept breaking your ground.”
One of the most urgent topics of conversation among the leaders during the day had been issues around technology, security and artificial intelligence, which Trump has begun referring to as super intelligence.
“China and the United States must act as responsible major countries, meet the expectations of our peoples, keep pace with the trend of our times, and explore a new approach to major countries to get along with each other,” Xi said.
The guests sat in the East Room at tables draped in red linens and adorned with dahlias and ranunculus. The Reagan State Service, which features a scarlet red border with etched gold bands and a gold latticework overlay, graced the tables.
Melania Trump was dressed in a crisp white shirt with a dramatic bow paired with high-waisted black pants while Peng Liyuan wore a long red gown. Trump was outfitted in a black tuxedo with a bowtie and Xi opted for a high-collared black jacket. Seated at the same table as the two first couples were Musk, and CEOs of chipmakers NVIDIA, Jensen Huang and Advance Micro Devices, Lisa Su.
An unscripted moment - ballroom
In the middle of the speech, Trump asked if he could “go off script just for a second” - to loud laugher from the guests.
He then started on his favorite topic of discussion: the on-going construction of the 20,000-square-foot ballroom.
“I'd like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back, the door. It's all lit up and it looks beautiful,” he told the guests. “You will see something that I think you will really love.”
He said if the ballroom had been ready, he would have been able to host more than a 1,000 people as opposed to the 145 people who were in the East Room.
Who were some of the famous guests at the dinner?
Among the guests were Trump family members: Ivanka Trump and her daughter Arabella; Eric Trump and his wife Lara: Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos and Melania Trump’s father Viktor Knavs.
Business leaders included Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg; Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom; Sergey Brin, Google/Alphabet, Co-Founder; Satya Nadella, Microsoft, Chairman & CEO; Jim Taiclet, Lockheed Martin, Chairman, President & CEO and Sundar Pichai, Google, CEO.
Cabinet members included Health and Human Services Secretary Robert. F. Kennedy Jr and his wife, actor Cheryl Hines and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his wife Allison.
Supreme Court justices who attended the dinner were John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, who came with their spouses.
What was served at dinner?
The menu showcased “American ingredients with subtle Chinese influence, bringing the culinary traditions of both nations together,” according to the White House.
The meal began with a toast of Schramsberg "Blanc De Noir," honoring the historic “Toast to Peace” shared by President Nixon and Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1972.
The first course featured yellow squash velouté, wild mushroom fricassée, crispy pancetta and scallion oil. The second course consisted of fresh seabass coated in toasted sesame seeds, served with crisp baby bok choy and roasted garden eggplant.
For dessert, the guests enjoyed vanilla crémeux with a vibrant sour cherry confit center, set a top a rich walnut frangipane.
“The dessert’s fruit shaped form is complimented by a delicate ice cream made with harvested White House honey,” according to the White House.
What gifts were exchanged?
Xi announced earlier in the day that he was gifting two giant pandasto the U.S.
"In just a few days, the giant pandas "Ping Ping" and "Fu Shuang" will arrive at Zoo Atlanta to meet the American public," he said.
During the dinner, Trump unveiled the statue of a bald eagle. "The bald eagle is a national symbol of the United States and an embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America," said Trump as he presented it to Xi. "We hope it'll find a nice place, a wonderful place in Beijing."
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: China state dinner with Xi: Elon Musk, a bald eagle and Trump 'off script'
