New Delhi, Sept. 24 -- Fourteen years after US President Donald Trump criticised the Barack Obama administration for the reception it gave Xi Jinping in Washington, Trump himself has staged an even more elaborate welcome for the Chinese president.

On February 14, 2012, Trump wrote: "So wrong! Barack Obama is hosting China's VP Xi Jinping today at the Pentagon with a full honor ceremony with music and cannons."

A day before the Pentagon ceremony, he wrote: "A day after Barack Obama released a trillion dollar budget deficit, he is hosting China's future leader VP Xi Jinping. America's new reality."

On Wednesday, Xi arrived in Washington for a three-day state visit featuring extensive military pageantry. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump...