politics
Trump Tours Beijing Leadership Compound Zhongnanhai With Xi Jinping, Receives Rose Seeds as Gift
President Trump and Xi Jinping toured the 1500-acre Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing on May 15, 2026. Trump praised the roses there and received a commitment for seeds of Rosa chinensis to plant in the White House Rose Garden. The visit, only the latest by a handful of U.S. leaders since 1972, included talks over tea and a meal of kung pao chicken and scallops.
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President Trump and Xi Jinping toured Zhongnanhai Garden in Beijing on May 15, 2026, with Trump expressing admiration for the roses growing there. “These are the most beautiful roses anyone’s ever seen! ’ and he said yes.
Trump declared during the final day of his trip to China. Xi Jinping promised to send seeds of Chinese rose (Rosa chinensis) to President Trump. ” President Trump replied, “I love that. ” Xi Jinping agreed to send seeds for the Chinese roses to President Trump as a gift.
He invited Trump to the highly secretive compound as thanks for hospitality at Mar-a-Lago in 2017. ” Zhongnanhai is a 1500-acre compound located 13 miles east of Tiananmen Square. ” Chinese leaders have been based at Zhongnanhai after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao.
Mao Zedong opted to use Zhongnanhai instead of the imperial palace. The compound has been the center of Chinese power since the end of the civil war in 1949. U.S. leaders have visited Zhongnanhai since Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972.
Xi Jinping held talks with former President Barack Obama in the compound in November 2014. George W. Bush visited Zhongnanhai during a 2002 visit and met then-president Jiang Zemin. Xi Jinping mentioned that Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously visited Zhongnanhai.
“Can I ask the president.. ” President Trump asked regarding other leaders visiting Zhongnanhai. Xi Jinping replied “Very few” and stated, “We usually don’t hold diplomatic events here. Even after we started having some, it’s still extremely rare.
