Who Is the Woman Next to Ivanka? Trump’s Granddaughter Who Sang in Chinese for Xi Jinping 9 Years Ago

Attended Xi Jinping's Official Welcome Ceremony
Seated Ahead of the Secretary of State

At the official welcome ceremony for Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House, U.S. President Donald Trump’s granddaughter, who sang a song in Chinese during Xi’s last visit to the U.S. nine years ago, was seated in a more prominent position than the U.S. Secretary of State, drawing attention.

At the state welcome ceremony for Chinese President Xi Jinping held on the 24th at the White House in Washington D.C., Ivanka Trump (left) and her daughter Arabella Kushner await the honor guard inspection. Photo by EPA Yonhap News

At the state welcome ceremony for Chinese President Xi Jinping held at the White House in Washington, DC on the 24th, (from left) US Vice President JD Vance and his wife, Ivanka Trump, and daughter Arabella Kushner await the honor guard inspection. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

According to AFP and other foreign media outlets on the 24th (local time), President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and his granddaughter Arabella Kushner made a joint appearance at the state welcome ceremony. Notably, Ivanka and Arabella were seated close to President Trump and First Lady, as well as U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his wife. Next to Ivanka and her daughter was U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. This meant that Ivanka and her daughter were positioned in front of one of the key diplomatic officials.

Arabella formed a connection with President Xi during his visit to the United States in April 2017, during the first Trump administration. At that time, five-year-old Arabella, along with her three-year-old brother Joseph, sang a Chinese folk song for Xi and his wife. Later that year, in November, when President Trump visited China, a video of Arabella singing in Chinese and reciting the ancient Chinese primer "Three Character Classic" was brought along. On the first day of his visit, President Trump showed the video to the Xi couple over tea, and at the state banquet the following day, the video was displayed on a large screen. Arabella played a significant role as a bridge between the United States and China.

The video of Arabella became a major topic in China. At the time, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said during a regular briefing, "Arabella is a young ambassador of China-U.S. friendship and has received broad affection from the Chinese people." It is known that Arabella began learning Chinese from a Chinese nanny at around 16 months old.

In early 2017, after President Trump first took office, Ivanka visited a Lunar New Year event at the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC. Arabella accompanied her on this visit.

Arabella’s prominent placement at President Xi’s official welcome was interpreted as a gesture to emphasize past good memories and to promote friendship and cooperation.

Arabella, the eldest daughter of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, has made frequent appearances on President Trump’s public schedule.

Meanwhile, the two leaders were scheduled to meet again at a state banquet that evening, and on the 25th, before President Xi departs the United States, they plan to visit the National Archives together.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.