President Trump honored Chinese President Xi Jinping with a state dinner on Thursday. Xi announced a new gift of giant pandas, on their way to a zoo in Atlanta, part of what Xi called an "envoy of friendship" between the two nations.
Page A3From§Eachthe wee small hours edition — 25 September 2026
GUEST LIST
Court orders White House to restore press access to Xi dinner; press still turned away
As it ran on the front
Let's start with the part everyone's getting backwards. The President did not "ban" three news organizations from the White House. He made a personnel decision about who gets to stand in a room, which is a distinction I will keep making until someone explains why it stopped working around September 21st, when CNN, MS NOW, and Politico all announced they were done covering his daily activities until the ban lifted — that's not a boycott, that's scheduling.
The case landed with Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump nominee, which tells you everything about how seriously the White House treats — actually, it tells you the judge ruled against the man who appointed him, on September 24th, ordering access restored. So: victory for open government. The doors reopened.…
…(cont) Except CNN and MS NOW got turned away from the arrivals event anyway, hours after the order, at the event that was supposed to be open. The TV pool is still suspended. I want to be clear that this represents full compliance with the — it does not represent full compliance with the court order. I'm told that's still being worked out.
Meanwhile the dinner itself proceeded exactly as planned: bald eagle statue gifted to Xi, a ballroom tour offered, giant pandas inbound to Atlanta as what Xi called an envoy of friendship, and a toast to the "long relationship between China and America" — delivered by a President who, two months ago, gave a primetime speech accusing China's government of interfering in the 2020 election. Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, and also apparently of foreign policy.
The guest list ran heavy on tech: Meta's CEO, OpenAI's co-founder, Tesla and SpaceX's CEO, Amazon's founder, all in black tie for a head of state whose government the New York Times ranked among the most repressive in the world. Republican senators are asking questions too — Thom Tillis called the whole reception a "WTF moment," and his own colleagues are demanding answers about F-35 parts that turned up diverted to Hong Kong. Senate Democrats say the administration is still failing to close the export loopholes China's using on AI. None of that made it into the toast.
Outside, protesters chanting "Free Hong Kong" were loud enough to be heard over the dinner. I'd call that a distraction from an otherwise dignified state visit, if the point of a state visit weren't dignity, and if the chanting weren't the only part of the night nobody scripted.
“They ban the press, get overruled by a judge THEY appointed, and still lock the door anyway — that's not a legal strategy, that's a guy who doesn't think the rules apply to him finding out real slow that they do. Meanwhile the guest list is Zuckerberg, Altman, Musk, and Bezos toasting a government we're told is a "menace" two months ago, and somehow the only honest sound in that whole building was people outside yelling about Hong Kong. You want to know who this dinner was for? Look at the tuxedos, not the toast.”
“Look, the President has every right to determine his own press pool — that's not a ban, that's editorial discretion, and frankly it's overdue. Sure, a federal judge — his own nominee — ordered access restored and the outlets got turned away anyway, but access issues at high-security events happen, that's just logistics, it's not — okay, it's not great optics, I'll give you that. As for the toast, look, diplomacy requires warmth even toward governments you've called a menace, that's called statesmanship, not — okay, it's a little bit whiplash, sure.”
The receipts
Journalists from CNN and MS Now say they were turned away from the arrivals event of the state dinner that was supposed to be open to the press. This comes despite or court order to restore access to the White House. NBC News legal analyst Misty Marris breaks down the details in the case.
A group of Senate Democrats on Tuesday said President Trump is failing to block China from accessing sensitive American technology to accelerate its development of artificial intelligence, ahead of the Chinese leader's state visit to Washington this week. Trump must close loopholes that China has used to subvert U.S. export bans on…
A judge ordered President Trump to reverse his ban on three media outlets, but it took several hours for them to get back in. The White House TV pool remains suspended.
After President Trump announced this week he was banning Politico, CNN and MS NOW from accessing the White House, the three media outlets reported Saturday their journalists were denied access to the executive premises. White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) President Jacqui Heinrich called on the White House to “immediately”…
President Trump’s abrupt move to withdraw White House press credentials for three news organizations triggered a rare moment of unity among television networks, with several media outlets announcing Monday they would not cover the president’s daily activities while the ban on the trio remains in place. Both Trump and the White House have…
The showdown over President Trump’s partial media ban played out as he welcomed President Xi Jinping, whose government is ranked among the most repressive in the world.
President Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House for a state dinner Thursday, whose guest list is full of tech billionaires and some of the world’s most powerful business leaders. Dressed in black tuxedoes, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder…
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping kept the compliments flowing during Thursday night’s state dinner at the White House. The dinner capped a long, but friendly, day of meetings and celebrations, as the world’s two most powerful leaders seek to settle trade differences while simultaneously thawing the icy relationship…
Protesters chanting "Free Hong Kong" and demanding freedom for political prisoners were heard over Trump's State Dinner welcoming Xi Jinping.
Just two months ago, President Donald Trump gave a primetime speech accusing China of interfering in the 2020 election.
The retiring North Carolina senator was critical of President Trump's reception of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The judge who will decide whether President Trump constitutionally banned a trio of media outlets from the White House is one of the president’s nominees — and he’s no stranger to Trump’s clashes with the press. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, whom Trump nominated to the federal bench in the nation’s capital during his first...
The Pentagon has failed its audit eight years running - the only major federal agency never to pass one Military Times, 19 December 2025
GOP lawmakers concerned after F-35 equipment ended up in ChinaWelcome to The Hill's Defense & NatSec newsletter {beacon} Defense &National Security Defense &National Security The Big Story GOP lawmakers concerned after F-35 equipment ended up in China Republican lawmakers are concerned and are demanding more information from the Pentagon after sensitive F-35 parts were inexplicably diverted to Hong…
At a White House state dinner, President Trump gifted Chinese leader Xi Jinping a bald eagle sculpture and invited guests to tour a new ballroom.
President Trump is facing criticism for his warm treatment of China's Xi Jinping as the two leaders meet at the White House to discuss Iran, AI, and more. CBS News' Katherine Watson has more.
Thursday’s spectacle was embarrassing, but mostly because it was so predictable
· NATO is a side quest. Trump has already moved on to China from the morgue, 14 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.