- President Donald Trump invited the guests of a White House state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping to tour the ongoing East Wing ballroom construction site.
- “And if I could go off script just for a second,” Trump said as dinner guests in the East Room of the White House laughed. “But as a special treat in honor of President Xi and Madame [Liyuan] Peng. I'd like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back.”
- The 90,000-square-foot golden ballroom project is expected to cost up to $600 million and expand event seating capacity to 650 guests. The tour offer raised security concerns among observers because the construction site sits directly above a classified White House military bunker.
- High-profile attendees at the event included Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and prominent tech leaders Elon Musk, Sam Altman, and Mark Zuckerberg.
- President Xi Jinping thanked President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump for their gracious hospitality during the official state dinner.
IN FULL
