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US Republicans Weren’t Happy With Trump’s Hosting of Xi

A spate of Republican senators took umbrage at Trump’s reception of “a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator.”

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis during a congressional delegation visit to Taipei, Taiwan, Mar. 29, 2026.

Surrounding Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington, D.C. – capped by a summit at the White House with U.S. President Donald Trump – was a spate of commentary from both sides of the political aisle. Clearly, not everyone was convinced of the need for Xi to visit in the first place.

Even Trump loyalists such as Louisiana Senator John Kennedy spoke out against having Xi at the White House.  One of the Senate’s most colorfully spoken members, Kennedy made his point of view known in no uncertain terms, speaking on the Will Cain show.

Kennedy opined: “All four of them are the same. It’s like the same hooker in different dresses. They all lie like time share salesmen. You can’t trust ‘em.  You can’t turn your back on any of ‘em, even if I thought, I knew they were two days dead.”

Kennedy was referring to the leaders of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia – Xi Jinping, Masoud Pezeshkian, Kim Jong Un, and Vladimir Putin, respectively.

Kennedy went on to dub the quartet “a colony of reptiles,” giving Xi pride of place as the “chief reptile” and “quarterback.”

Taking a more serious approach from his powerful perch as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, also a strong Trump supporter, forcefully stated his opposition to the state visit and summit. From the Senate floor, Wicker said, “Quite frankly, had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States of America based on all of the troubling issues we have with President Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.” 

The Senate Armed Services Committee carries enormous influence and prestige in Washington and beyond, and Wicker used that platform to call out Trump’s decision to bring Xi to Washington, and roll out the red carpet for him.

Key among the core functions of the committee itself is responsibility for aeronautical and space activities associated with the development of weapons systems, and for the Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, and Air Force. It also oversees military research and development.  

With that authority behind him, Wicker said, “I want to take a moment to suggest a list of topics that the president might mention during the summit.”

“This summer,” he continued, “it was all over the press that China gave Iran satellite imagery intelligence, and that intelligence led to the death of American troops. So I would certainly suggest that the president try to get an answer to that.”

Wicker’s list continued. He wanted answers on the plight of the Uyghur people, along with Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, and Falun Gong practitioners. “Why not suggest,” Wicker reflected, “releasing all imprisoned Christians and allowing all people of whatever faith to worship freely?”

Finally, Wicker listed the abuses by China of its neighbors, of Taiwan, of Hong Kong, of African nations, of dissidents, and of Jimmy Lai, the 78-year old former Hong Kong newspaper publisher who ran afoul of security laws pushed through by Beijing and who is now serving a 20-year sentence for sedition and........

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