President Trump presented Chinese President Xi Jinping with a custom-made bald eagle statue during his official state visit on Thursday.
The president announced the gift at the White House during an evening State dinner.
“In that spirit of friendship, it’s my honor to present President Xi with a gift made by an extraordinary American artist, one of the greatest in the world, and designed in personal collaboration with Melania and myself,” the president said.
“The bald eagle is a national symbol of the United States and an embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America, and we hope it will find a nice place, a wonderful place in Beijing,” he added.
The president issued his gift after giving Xi a brief tour of the White House ballroom that is still currently under construction.
“As a special treat in honor of President Xi and Madame Peng, I’d like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back door,” Trump said. “It’s all lit up and it looks beautiful.”
“You’ll be the first people to step foot on that,” the president continued, “and we’ll do that maybe after we’re finished with the entertainment tonight. Anybody who wants to walk into a construction site that’s nice and clean and sparkling, it’s our honor to have you do so.”
According to NDTV, President Trump and President Xi discussed a range of issues during their meeting.
Xi Jinping, China’s president, during a state dinner in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (Annabelle Gordon/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“The gift came during Xi’s three-day visit to Washington. Trump and Xi held talks at the White House earlier in the day before attending the state dinner, which was also attended by senior officials and several prominent US business and technology leaders,” it noted.
“The two leaders discussed several issues linked to US-China relations, including trade, technology and artificial intelligence. Xi said the two sides had held “sincere and in-depth exchanges” and reached a common understanding on several issues,” it added.