Donald Trump used a private tour of a historic garden in Beijing to quiz the Chinese leader about his relationship with other world leaders.
The 79-year-old president met President Xi Jinping, 72, in the Zhongnanhai Garden to pose for a “friendship photo” on Thursday.
In a video clip showing the two men strolling through the old imperial garden, Trump can be heard grilling an interpreter, while lowering his voice, “Ask the president… when other people came from other countries... presidents and prime ministers, does he bring them here?"
President Xi can be seen shaking his head, as if to say no, while the interpreter’s response is inaudible.
Following their garden stroll and ahead of another round of high-stakes talks, the U.S. president pushed his connection with Xi.
“He’s a man I respect greatly,” Trump said, “We’ve become really good friends, we’ve known each other 11 years, nearly 12 years, that’s a long time.”
Trump’s visit is the first trip by a U.S. leader to China since his last trip there, in 2017.
Xi revealed he was gifting Trump with rose seeds from the Zhongnanhai gardens after their tour, despite the president paving over the White House Rose Garden last year.
“These are the most beautiful roses anyone’s ever seen,” Trump told Xi during their walk, according to the White House press pool.
“I asked the president, ‘Could you get me some for the Rose Garden?’, and he said yes. I’ve never seen roses so big!”
Press pool reporter Danny Kemp reported Xi said in Chinese, “We will provide the president with some of our Chinese rose seeds, as he wants to plant some in the Rose Garden.”
As they took tea together, Xi followed up on his horticultural promise to Trump. “There is a lot of history around this compound,” he said, referencing a tree they saw on their walk that was over 400 years old.
“The president was interested to learn all about that,” Xi said, also referencing the Chinese roses he had commented on.
“I have agreed to send the seeds for these roses to the president as a gift,” he said.
Trump noted, “I love that. That’s great.”
Trump said that he had spoken with Xi about his war on Iran.
“We did discuss Iran,” Trump said. “We feel very similar about (how) we want it to end. We don’t want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the Straits open... We want them to get it ended because it’s a crazy thing there, a little bit crazy. And it’s no good, it can’t happen.”
Trump was interviewed in China by Fox News’ Sean Hannity, for a program that aired on Thursday evening.
In the interview, conducted before the garden walk and bilateral lunch, Hannity asked Trump if he thought Xi agreed with him that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon.
Trump said, “I think he did.”
Hannity asked Trump how his relationship with Xi had evolved over the years. “I think he’s a warm person, actually, but he’s all business,” Trump said of the Chinese leader
“There’s no games, there’s no talking about how nice the weather is—‘Let’s look at the stars, let’s look at the sun.’ No, he’s all business, and I like that. That’s a good thing.”
The president then reverted to his standard trope of comparing people to movie stars.
“I say it about him—and I say it about some, not as complimentary frankly, but I say about him—if you went to Hollywood and you looked for a leader of China to play a role in a movie, you couldn’t find a guy like him.”
Trump then noted, “Even his physical features, he’s tall, very tall, especially for this country, because they tend to be a little bit shorter.”
The bilateral working lunch, the last official event on Trump’s diary in China, ran over time.
Trump was then given a presidential send-off at the Beijing Capital International Airport, complete with dozens of people waving American and Chinese flags in formation.
The aging president, who turns 80 next month, walked cautiously up the stairs of Air Force One, before turning to pump his fist at the door of the aircraft.
