On Wednesday, President Trump actually went to Joint Base Andrews to greet Xi Jinping as he got off his airplane.

This is Xi’s first state visit since 2015, and it seems that Trump is going all out to welcome him. And that includes a B-1 bomber flyover that even made the president wince.

Yes, it was all the pomp and circumstance and flex that Trump loves to display when foreign leaders come to visit. But no one else but Trump is happy to play host to Xi right now.

Xi’s arrival kicks off a three-day state visit in the U.S., where Trump’s expected lavish treatment has drawn criticism from key Republicans and widespread condemnation from Democrats.

“I know the President intends to discuss trade and AI with the Chinese leadership — and rightfully so… But, during every minute of dialogue, our commander-in-chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America,” Sen Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on the Senate floor Tuesday night.

A group of senior Senate Democrats lashed out at Trump’s fawning over Xi at a time when the Chinese Communist Party is supporting America’s adversaries — Russia and Iran — threatening democratic partner — Taiwan — and jailing U.S. citizens.

“As Americans face rising prices for gas, food, housing, and more, President Trump is rolling out the red carpet for President Xi and hosting closed-door dinners so his billionaire friends can strike deals that threaten American jobs and national security,” the Democratic senators wrote.

Xi is a dictatorial tyrant on his good days, and Communist China is certainly no “friend” to the United States. President Trump has been right to say that if the United States goes mushy and weak-kneed on developing AI, the Chinese will certainly not have any problems continuing to build data centers and going full steam ahead on the technology. Which is why it is always so weird to see Trump play at being “besties” with Xi. This is the same China that has never admitted to their roles – or fault – in unleashing COVID-19 on the rest of the world, had zero problems instituting lockdowns when they felt like it, and likely fudged the number of deaths in order to make it look like they had the virus in hand. We know that Trump is good at disarming people with flattery – witness how he handles Zohran Mamdani in person. It still feels icky to see the president treating Xi Jinping like a respectable person, instead of Pooh Bear with a hammer and sickle and a god complex.

And while President Trump has Xi in front of him, perhaps he could ask about some missing F-35 parts that were in Hong Kong, never made it to their intended destination in Australia, and instead ended up in Chinese hands?

The Pentagon is investigating how parts of the nation’s most advanced fighter jet ended up in Hong Kong, with a news outlet reporting Wednesday that China has obtained the F-35 equipment.

The F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement that it and the Defense Department are aware of “a shipment issue” with F-35 components.

“We are actively working with U.S. authorities and industry partners to retrieve these components, investigate the incident, and place safeguards to avoid a future occurrence,” the office said.

Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles acknowledged that the jet components ended up in Hong Kong when responding to questions from reporters Tuesday. But he denied that the missing parts were “sensitive equipment.”

Bloomberg reported Wednesday that China has the F-35 parts — a cockpit canopy and weapons-bay door — after the shipment was unexpectedly diverted to Hong Kong while on the way from Australia to the United States for either repair or disposal months ago. It was not clear how the shipment was diverted.

Politico earlier reported that it prompted a congressional inquiry over concerns that China could have access to key components of the highly classified technology.

China already may have had at least some intelligence, albeit several years old, on the planes already. The Defense Science Board, which advises the Pentagon, released a report in 2013 alleging that Chinese cyberattacks accessed data from dozens of Pentagon programs, including the joint strike fighter.

The F-35 is “widely recognized as America’s best and most advanced fighter jet,” according to Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington-based think tank.

Bowman told the AP in November that American military systems are constantly being updated and improved, counteracting any possible secrets stolen years ago.

Well, if the Pentagon is working on getting the parts back, why not just have President Trump ask his friend and guest Xi if he could arrange to get them back ASAP? Putting Xi on the spot is probably not diplomatically kosher, but it might get the job done faster.

And can we discuss the myriad ways that this “shipment issue” got screwed up? Who was in charge of shipping these parts to Australia? How did they end up in Hong Kong – which is under iron Communist Chinese control? And then who took control of them at that point? “Sensitive” parts or not, there is no reason that China should see shipping containers marked for Australia and think “oh, those look interesting, and they’re in Hong Kong, so we’ll just inspect them and see what’s inside, oooh nice we’ll take those, okay thanks bye.” Who allowed the shipment to be diverted? There was a breakdown somewhere, and China ended up as the beneficiary of someone’s mistake. Whether that mistake was intentional or unintentional, we will probably never know.

The president is certainly aware of this situation, and the resolution will likely play out behind closed doors. This entire snafu is a reminder that Communist China cannot be trusted, and we should always be aware that their sticky fingers are going to keep trying to take stuff that doesn’t belong to them.

Featured image: President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping in May 2026, cropped, official White House photo via Wikimedia Commons, public domain