Trump Greets Xi at Andrews by Personally Repainting Runway Centerline While B-1 Circles Overhead for Three Hours
President Trump welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews by hand-painting the runway centerline himself, then extending the trade truce to January 10 while a B-1 bomber circled overhead for the entire three-day visit.
President Donald Trump personally repainted the centerline of the main runway at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday, completing the task in under four hours so that Chinese President Xi Jinping could land on a stripe the American president had laid with his own hands. The White House described the gesture as «a standard expression of hostly diligence» and confirmed that Trump used a roller, not a brush, because «a brush would have taken until Thursday.»
The trade truce, which had been scheduled to expire on November 10, was extended to January 10 after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the agreement on Fox News while standing on the freshly painted tarmac. Bessent said the extra two months would give both sides time to «figure out what a deal actually looks like,» adding that the previous eleven months of truce had been «mostly a vibe.» A military band played throughout the repainting, and an artillery salute was fired every time Trump finished a section of the stripe.
A B-1 bomber circled overhead for the entire three-day visit, according to flight logs, because the original flyover was scheduled for a moment when the runway was still wet. The bomber remained in a holding pattern above Maryland until the paint dried, refueling twice. Xi, who arrived for his first U.S. trip in nearly three years, said through an interpreter that «China and the United States must be partners, not competitors,» then asked whether the paint was oil-based.
No joint press conference was held. Each side issued its own statement. Trump's statement consisted of a single sentence: «The runway looks great.»
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