Resurfaced clip shows Trump saying he’d serve Xi Jinping a McDonald’s hamburger instead of a dinner. Then he hosted him a lavish state dinner

In an August 2015 interview with then-Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, Donald Trump was asked whether he would host Chinese President Xi Jinping for a big White House dinner if he became president. O’Reilly said of Xi, “He’s getting a big dinner, free, at the White House, addressing the UN,” and asked, “If you were president, would you throw him a big dinner?”

Trump answered, “I would not be throwing him a dinner.” He went on, “We’ve had this conversation. I’d get him a McDonald’s hamburger, and I’d say, ‘We gotta get down to work.’” Trump was a presidential candidate when he made those remarks.

According to Mediaite, CNN’s Jake Tapper played that clip on Friday’s edition of The Lead. Days earlier, Trump hosted Xi and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, at a White House state dinner.

CNN host pressed a Republican guest on the tarmac greeting and dinner

Tapper told Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) on the same program, “He changed his position, which is fine. People change their positions when they get elected president, but what was accomplished, what was achieved with all of this lavish rolling out of the red carpet?” The comment referred to Xi’s arrival on Wednesday.

Trump met Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews that day. Mediaite reported it was the first time a U.S. president had greeted a world leader that way, aside from the pope, since 1962. The elaborate welcome drew criticism from figures like Elizabeth Warren, who said it was par for the course for Trump, as when he welcomed Xi Jinping with fanfare at Joint Base Andrews. Uniformed U.S. military personnel unfurled a red carpet and, at times, dropped to their hands and knees to adjust it.

The New York Times said that the dinner included sesame-crusted sea bass with baby bok choy and roasted eggplant, then vanilla crémeux and White House honey ice cream. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sam Altman, and other tech industry leaders were among the guests. Opera singer Christopher Macchio performed.

Fox News said First Lady Melania Trump’s office provided the menu and described the meal as a pescatarian event with no red meat. The event highlighted Trump’s media strategy, such as when a Fox News correspondent asked him to lift a ban on CNN and Politico.

The first course was yellow squash velouté, wild mushroom fricassée, crispy pancetta, and scallion oil. The office described the velouté as made from sweet yellow squash, with wild mushrooms sautéed with fresh herbs, plus crispy pancetta and scallion oil.

The second course on that menu was sesame-crusted sea bass with braised bok choy, roasted garden eggplant, and a French green herb sauce. The description said the fish was coated in toasted sesame seeds and finished with a sauce verte of fresh herbs.

Dessert was listed as vanilla crémeux with a sour cherry confit center on walnut frangipane, served with ice cream made from White House honey. The First Lady’s office said a beehive had been unveiled on the White House South Lawn earlier this year.

Fox News reported that Macchio had also performed at the Republican National Convention in Dallas a few weeks earlier, and that Army and Marine Corps musicians were part of the program. The First Lady’s memo said the décor used red, with urns of red blossoms and tables in red linen with dahlias and ranunculus.