Trump hails their 'great friendship'. Does Xi feel the same?

As President Donald Trump showed off everything from his new helipad to a portrait mocking his predecessor, it was clear he wanted to look like best friends with Xi Jinping.

The question is whether China's leader feels the same way.

Trump launched a major charm offensive during Xi's state visit to the White House, repeatedly touching the Chinese leader on the arm and hailing their "truly great friendship."

At times, Xi seemed to play along.

"Trump, and then Trump -- and this is the autopen," Trump said as he showed Xi the presidential portraits in the White House Colonnade, where former president Joe Biden's photo was replaced with an image of an automated signing device.

As Xi laughed, Trump patted the Chinese leader on the arm to emphasize the point, according to a video posted by a Trump aide.

In another video, Trump points to a photo on the wall of the West Wing showing a previous meeting with Xi.

"Who is that? I don't recognize him!" Trump joked, again patting Xi's arm, before adding: "We have a lot of respect for you."

- 'He likes granite' -

A day earlier Trump had set the tone when he personally went to greet Xi at the airport -- the first time a US president has ever done so for a Chinese leader, and a courtesy that Xi did not afford him for his Beijing state visit in May.

On Thursday, Trump's bid to consummate their bromance climaxed when he took Xi to see the giant landing pad he's built on the South Lawn of the White House.

For the piece de resistance, Trump even took him inside the US presidential helicopter, Marine One, for a tour of one of the most sensitive aircraft in the world.

Afterwards the pair ignored questions from reporters about issues from Iran to Taiwan and AI. Trump talked about stone instead.

"He likes granite," Trump said, pointing to Xi. "He's an expert on stone, aside from many other things, and he loves good granite."

Xi -- who had sat stone-faced through much of the formal pageantry earlier in the day -- briefly chuckled.

Such was Trump's fervor that he even praised Chinese reporters in the Oval Office for being the friendliest press corps -- days after he banned three US media outlets from the White House.

- 'Personal chemistry' -

Trump has a long history of reaching out to authoritarian leaders -- and expressing admiration for their power.

But he has seemed particularly keen to foster a friendship with Xi since his return to the White House.

It's a remarkable turnaround for a leader who spent much of his first term raging against China over trade and the Covid pandemic.

Ryan Hass -- who served as former president Barack Obama's top China advisor and is now an expert at the Brookings Institution -- said it was "striking" that an already limited schedule had been further trimmed to allow a helipad tour.

"Xi talks in terms of state-state relations and power. Trump talks in terms of personal chemistry. The contrast is pretty stark," Hass wrote on X.

But while Xi laughed along with Trump's jokes at the White House, he took a cooler tone in his remarks.

As Trump hailed their friendship, Xi spoke of their "responsibility" to coexist peacefully, and even set out what he said were Beijing's red lines on key issues such as artificial intelligence, Taiwan and Iran.

Analysts say that while the Chinese leader is happy to let Trump feel they are friends, he is also playing for time as he knows Trump will be out of office in just over two years.

But ultimately for Xi, it may be about respect.

"It's more like China, as the middle kingdom, is once again getting the acknowledgement and respect that it deserves," Judith Shapiro, a China specialist at American University, told AFP.

"For Xi, getting a state visit at the White House is the very least that he could expect."