Trump once said he'd feed Xi Jinping a double Big Mac and tell him to fix his currency.
Thursday night, President Trump sat down across from Xi for an entirely different kind of meal.
What ended up on Xi's plate is not what anyone expected.
No Red Meat for the Man Who Got Steak in Beijing
Back in 2015, candidate Trump had a simple plan for any Chinese leader who wanted to sit across from him.
He'd order a double-size Big Mac, hand it over, and get down to business.
"They want our people to starve," Trump said at the time, blasting Beijing over currency manipulation and stolen American jobs.
Eleven years later, Trump is the one hosting the state dinner.
Thursday's menu, released by First Lady Melania Trump's office, skips red meat entirely.
Squash velouté to start, sesame crusted sea bass in the middle, vanilla crémeux with White House honey ice cream to finish.
No steak. No ribeye. Not even a chicken breast.
Compare that to what Xi's own government put in front of Trump in Beijing back in May.
Chinese banquet planners worked beef ribs into the Great Hall of the People menu that night, a menu built around Trump knowing how he likes his steak.
Beijing made room for red meat.
Democrats Can't Decide Which Attack They Want to Use
Melania Trump posted a preview video of the state dinner setup last week – chandeliers, place settings, the works.
Progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen mocked it online, joking that struggling Americans should feel better knowing the White House looks nice.
That's attack number one: Trump is out of touch, throwing a lavish party while grocery prices bite.
Attack number two isn't new, but Democrats haven't dropped it either.
Back in May, after the Beijing summit, ten Senate Democrats, including Jeanne Shaheen and Chris Murphy, said Trump's approach had already left America in "a position of weakness."
So which is it?
Is Trump too indulgent, or too weak?
Democrats have spent the year switching between both, whichever fits the news cycle.
What Neither Attack Accounts For
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced this week that the US and China agreed to stretch their trade truce two more months, to January 10.
Tariffs are still brutal on both sides – roughly 36.5 percent on Chinese goods coming into America, and 31 percent on American goods going into China.
That's not the record of a president who folded.
China Institute academic Reza Hasmath told Al Jazeera the summit was built to stabilize the relationship, not to strike a bargain.
Translation: Trump isn't handing Xi anything for free, dinner plate or otherwise.
Rare earths, AI safety, Taiwan, Iran – all of it stayed on the table Thursday, tariffs and all.
The fancy fish course doesn't change that Beijing is still sitting on 31 percent tariffs against American exporters.
The Dinner Was Leverage Democrats Still Don't Understand
A state dinner is leverage with a wine pairing, not surrender dressed in linen napkins.
Nixon figured that out in Beijing in 1972, when a banquet of lacquered duck and Maotai toasts did more to thaw the Cold War than a dozen formal negotiating sessions.
Trump's doing the same thing here – charm Xi at the table, then hold the line on tariffs the next morning.
The sea bass isn't weakness, and the chandelier isn't a scandal.
It's the same instinct that had him talking about a double Big Mac back in 2015 – using food as a message, not just a meal.
Back then the message was contempt.
Thursday night the message was leverage.
Democrats still haven't settled on one insult for Trump and China.
Xi spent the week negotiating with a man who still hasn't dropped a single tariff.
Sources:
- Peter D'Abrosca, "What's on the menu for Trump's state dinner with China's Xi? One American staple is notably missing," Fox News, September 24, 2026.
- Stacy A. Anderson, "Trump hosts Xi Jinping: What's on the menu," WKBW, 2015.
- "Melania Trump Branded 'Out of Touch' After Sharing 'Opulent' White House Video," TVInsider, September 2026.
- Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats, joint statement on the Trump-Xi Beijing summit, merkley.senate.gov, May 2026.
- "Trump, Xi Buy Time on Trade With Neither Able to Afford a Fight," Bloomberg, September 24, 2026.
- "Trump and Xi summit will focus on 'stabilising' ties, experts say," Al Jazeera, September 24, 2026.
- "Beijing state banquet sets the table for Trump-Xi diplomacy," Reuters via MarketScreener, 2025.
