Beyond the Rose Garden and the military review, Trump and Xi get down to business

After weeks of frustration, delays and posturing, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump got down to business on Thursday, kicking off their high-stakes summit, Xi’s first on US soil since 2015.The two started the morning with a formal arrival ceremony on the White House South Lawn and Rose Garden that included nearly 500 military personnel, the Chinese and American national anthems played by the US Marine Band and opening remarks from both leaders.Both leaders sought to find areas of common ground, shared history and cultural touchstones, citing shared efforts during World War II.If they focused on common interests, Trump said, there was much the two nations could achieve, citing people-to-people connections that “even made us allies in World War II”.