President Trump’s welcome at the grand ceremony in Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday followed the same pomp and protocol as his 2017 trip — but the event seemed “significantly more jovial” than his previous visit, according to an expert. “What changed tonight was not the ceremony — it was the chemistry,” said Isabelle Vladoiu, founder of the US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights. Vladoiu noted that the Chinese hosts had “preserved the same highly choreographed and grand ceremonial structure” as Trump’s first state visit, but both sides were more personable and friendlier. “Tonight’s ceremony appeared significantly more jovial, conversational, and personally interactive,” she said. Chinese President Xi Jinping greets President Donald Trump at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 14, 2026. via REUTERS Trump had visited China in 2017 as part of a five-country Asia tour to discuss trade imbalances and the nuclear threat North Korea posed on the world at the time.…