President Trump and President Xi Jinping of China exchanged both pleasantries and symbolic gifts during a summit in Washington this week.
In remarks ahead of a state dinner at the White House on Thursday, Mr. Trump introduced a gift for Mr. Xi: a statue of a bald eagle, perched on a branch atop a podium.
Mr. Trump said the statue was designed “in personal collaboration” between himself and the first lady, Melania Trump.
“The bald eagle is a national symbol of the United States and an embodiment of the free and soaring spirit of America,” Mr. Trump said. “We hope it’ll find a nice place, a wonderful place, in Beijing.”
Mr. Xi rose from his seat to applaud the gift after Mr. Trump gestured toward him.
The Chinese president did not offer a gift in return during his toast. But earlier in the day, Mr. Xi had announced that China would send two pandas to Zoo Atlanta as “envoys of friendship.”
Pandas have long been diplomats for China. It sent two pandas to the United States shortly after President Nixon’s landmark visit to Beijing in 1972, when the first lady, Pat Nixon, told China’s premier, Zhou Enlai, that she loved the bears. Zoos in San Diego and Memphis have also hosted pandas, who are often sent home to China after periods on loan.
Zoo Atlanta sent a family of pandas back to China in October 2024 and had since been in talks to acquire another pair. For the first time in decades, there were no pandas in the United States. But Mr. Xi’s gesture on Thursday makes it official: The Atlanta zoo will soon receive Ping Ping, a male panda, and Fu Shuang, a female panda. Both were born in China in 2020.
