THIS IS HILARIOUS: Trump literally winced and flinched during a military flyover he personally staged to impress Xi Jinping, while the Chinese president stood there completely unbothered.
Trump rolled out the red carpet for Xi’s arrival Wednesday at Joint Base Andrews, complete with a band, ceremonial cannon fire, and a flyover of B-1 bombers roaring overhead. As the planes screamed past, Xi, 73, stood stone-faced. Trump, 80, ducked and bared his teeth. Read that again. The president staged an elaborate display of military might specifically to impress a foreign leader, and he’s the one who visibly recoiled when the planes actually showed up.
Trump reportedly pursed his lips in apparent astonishment, watched the bombers fly by, then leaned over and whispered something to Xi with a smirk, presumably trying to play it off. Here’s what makes this moment even more revealing. U.S. presidents rarely greet foreign leaders on the tarmac at all, typically waiting for them at the White House instead. But Trump chose to personally roll out this level of pomp for Xi’s first Washington visit in over a decade. According to Politico, administration officials say Trump is deliberately trying to position himself as Xi’s “equal” rather than the dominant figure in the room, a notable departure from his usual instinct to cast himself as the most powerful person anywhere.
Trump biographer Michael Wolff summed up the dynamic bluntly. “He needs good news,” Wolff said. “His way of getting good news is not to negotiate a good deal. His way of getting good news is to agree. So he goes into flattery mode.” So Trump staged a military show of force to impress Xi, then jumped when the planes actually flew over. Sometimes the body language says everything the talking points won’t.
