PALM BEACH, Fla. — Mar-a-Lago will finally fulfill its founder’s vision as a presidential summit retreat when a Chinese delegation arrives Thursday for two days of contentious talks on everything from currency to North Korea.

The South Florida seaside resort offers President Donald Trump a laid-back setting for his first in-person meeting with the leader of a country he bashed throughout the 2016 campaign and recently targeted with executive orders designed to cut the U.S. trade deficit.


Trump has the home-field advantage by hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he’s also facing a big early test trying to mix his brash and spontaneous personality with the charm and ambiance of a glitzy Trump-branded private club — an unusual venue to fight a battle he’s pinned much of his presidency on.

Past American chief executives charmed Chinese leaders with beer, barbecue and celebrity chefs, inviting them to their personal homes and historic estates. Trump being Trump, his initial meeting with a fellow leader of a global superpower means they’re likely to be surrounded by dues-paying members, daily bridge games and, if the club’s weekly dinner menu stays the same, a Thursday night all-you-can-eat roast beef buffet.

“The idea at the core of this strikes a smart tone,” said David Wade, who served as chief of staff to Secretary of State John Kerry. “In both American and Chinese culture, to welcome someone into your home as your guest is a sign of great respect. In principle, it’s a deeply meaningful gesture. But in practice, it requires a lot of work and a little bit of luck to make it a success.”

Wade, who helped Kerry prepare for a 2013 U.S-China presidential summit at the Sunnylands estate in Southern California, said Trump’s team must navigate the challenges of scheduling a free-form two-day meeting with the Chinese, where ad-libbed diplomacy can easily backfire.

“There’s typically a suspicion among the Chinese delegation that westerners can use a spontaneous one-on-one walk or pull-aside as a gambit to gain some advantage and veer off script,” he said. “You have to build trust first. Otherwise American-style spontaneity breaks a lot of crystal glasses instead of breaking the ice.”

Xi’s visit to Mar-a-Lago won’t involve the same pomp that accompanied Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s February visit. For one thing, Trump and his guest won’t be golfing. The Chinese leader isn’t known to play, and the ruling Communist Party back in Beijing has likened the sport to indulgent eating and drinking and urged its members to stay off the links.

There also won’t be the trappings of a Saturday night at Mar-a-Lago, when charity galas and other events mean hundreds of additional guests pack the beachfront property. After Trump’s dinner with Abe, which got sidetracked when its participants were forced to respond to a North Korean missile test, the two leaders crashed a wedding.

While more than 2,500 Asian-Americans, including many Trump supporters, are planning to greet Xi upon his arrival in South Florida, it’s not clear whether the Chinese should expect a larger cultural exchange. When Abe came to Florida, his wife accompanied first lady Melania Trump at a nearby botanical Japanese garden.

“We really lucked out on that one,” said Steve Abrams, a Trump-supporting Palm Beach County commissioner. “We can’t offer an attraction to the leaders of every country.”

Without even leaving Mar-a-Lago, Trump and Xi will have chances to forge connections. Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, is a fashion-savvy former professional singer who will make for a much-watched pairing alongside the first lady. And Ivanka Trump’s 5-year-old daughter Arabella is a viral sensation in China after her mother posted an Instagram video of her singing a New Year’s greeting in Mandarin.

Trump’s longtime friends and club members say just getting the new president away from Washington will be beneficial for the Chinese.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Mar-a-Lago this week, there won’t be the trappings of a Saturday night at the club, when charity galas – like March 24’s Republican Party of Palm Beach County Lincoln Day Dinner – and other events mean hundreds of extra guests pack the property. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

“If I was a foreign leader who wanted to really connect with Donald Trump and get to know the real president of the United States, I’d meet him here rather than in Washington,” said Chris Ruddy, a conservative media publisher and Mar-a-Lago member. “This is his natural environment. He’s very relaxed. He has time to focus.”

The Trump-Xi summit will have plenty of substantive policy topics, starting with North Korea’s recent missile tests and the country’s long-stated intention to build nuclear weapons. China, meantime, has warned of a nuclear arms race in response to Washington’s deployment of a controversial antimissile defense system in South Korea. China has also expressed alarm over a Trump administration plan to sell U.S. weapons to Taiwan, and the two countries have jousted over China’s placement of military installations on several newly constructed small islands in the South China Sea.

On the economic front, Trump’s presidential campaign centered around an “America First” message that was aimed directly at Beijing. He threatened repeatedly during his improbable 2016 run to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese imports. Fact-checkers, meantime, repeatedly debunked the Republican for saying China still manipulated its currency.

Last week, Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric on Twitter, saying his meeting with Xi “will be a very difficult one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits … and job losses. American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives.”

The Trump administration has shown willingness to save face with China. After Trump broke with more than 35 years of U.S. policy shortly after his election by engaging with Taiwan, he called Xi to offer reassurance that the United States still backs the “one China” policy of recognizing a single Chinese government in Beijing.

Trump has plenty of private places at Mar-a-Lago to conduct talks with Xi. But he can’t exactly shut down his club easily. Club members expect they’ll still have access to at least part of the grounds Thursday while the world leaders are there. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

During a recent visit to China, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson drew criticism for echoing a Chinese Communist Party slogan when he vowed the U.S. and China have “a very positive relationship built on non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and always searching for win-win solutions.”

Trump’s more blustery stances on China need to have some backbone, otherwise he could weaken his standing in the long run, said Laura Rosenberger, a former senior official in Obama’s National Security Council.

“One of the worst things you can do with the Chinese is do empty chest-beating tough rhetoric and then in practice be extraordinary in your accommodation. What the Chinese see is not strength. They see total weakness,” she said.

By inviting Xi to Mar-a-Lago — giving the Chinese a powerful photo opportunity that will go over well back home – Rosenberger said Trump is presented with a big opening to force concessions on the policies he’s pursuing.

“He has the protocol to trade for the substance and the real question is, does he have a strategy to do it?” she said.

Past high-profile Chinese diplomatic missions to the U.S. have involved a mix of American culture and substance. In 1979, the Chinese delegation drank beer and leader Deng Xiaoping wore a cowboy hat during a visit to a Texas rodeo. In 2002, President George W. Bush drove Chinese President Jiang Zemin around his Crawford, Texas, ranch in a pickup truck and they lunched on fried catfish, barbecue brisket and pork ribs amid talks of their unified opposition to North Korea’s claim it was building nuclear weapons.

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At Sunnylands, Obama hosted Xi just three months into the Chinese leader’s presidency. The get-to-know-you session included celebrity chef Bobby Flay preparing Porterhouse steaks and lobster tamales and a morning outdoor walk in long sleeves despite nearly 100-degree desert temperatures.

“That’s not where we are now nor what Mar-a-Lago is about for either side,” said Ely Ratner, who served as deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. “For Xi, it’s mainly a photo op and a prestige play. He also wants to temper the more hawkish voices in the administration. For Trump, it’s a chance to take the measure of Xi and see if he’s willing to bend more on North Korea and economic issues.”

Trump also must overcome skepticism that a club like Mar-a-Lago is a smart location to conduct foreign policy.

Even though the Trump International Golf Club is close to Mar-a-Lago, Trump and his guest won’t be golfing. The Chinese leader isn’t known to play, and the ruling Communist Party back in Beijing has likened the sport to indulgent eating and drinking and urged its members to stay off the links. | M. Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO

“I do know in the past an ideal setting for real serious negotiations has been Camp David,” Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. Asked about Trump preparing his response to the North Korea missile test in front of dues-paying club members, McCain replied, “If you live long enough,” then he walked away.

Trump has plenty of private places at Mar-a-Lago to conduct talks with Xi. But he also can’t exactly shut down his club easily, either. While members told Politico that all dinner reservations for Thursday night are booked up, they still expect they’ll have access to at least part of the grounds while the world leaders are there.

Back during the campaign, Trump promised that his first get-together with China wouldn’t be formal. “I’d get him a McDonald’s hamburger, and I’d say we gotta get down to work because you can’t continue to devalue,” he said during an August 2015 appearance on “The O’Reilly Factor,” as Obama was preparing to host Xi for a State Dinner at the White House.

But fast food is probably not what’s on the menu when the two leaders and their wives meet Thursday night. Dinners at the club traditionally involve continental European fare, including Americanized French and Italian dishes. Thursday nights also mean the roast beef buffet, though Trump famously has his go-to meal.

“Donald’s favorite dish is Mary Trump’s meatloaf,” Ruddy said. “And so I think the president of China is going to love that with mashed potatoes, the gravy and the onion rings. I think he may never go back to eating Chinese food after he’s done.”