Video of US military adjusting red carpet for China’s Xi sparks online backlash
A video clip showing uniformed US military personnel on their hands and knees making last-minute adjustments to a red carpet has gone viral online, as President Donald Trump rolled out a lavish welcome for his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews.
The 12-second clip, which circulated widely on US social media, captured several service members hurriedly smoothing and cleaning the 30-metre (98 feet) carpet moments before Xi emerged from his aircraft.
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US military personnel frantically clean red carpet for Xi
Chinese officials – including Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the ministry’s protocol chief Hong Lei – can be seen watching the operation from the aircraft doorway.
Trump delivered an unusually lavish welcome. It is rare for a US president to greet a foreign leader plane-side at Joint Base Andrews. In 1962, John F. Kennedy travelled to the base to meet the British prime minister Harold Macmillan as he landed.
The ceremony included military flyovers by two B-1 Lancer bombers, six F-16 and six F-22 fighters, along with honour guards and a 21-gun salute. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at the foot of the aircraft stairs to greet Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan as they descended.
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