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Trump welcome to Xi demonstrates 'attraction' to dictators: top Democrat

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By AFP
  • Published Sep 25, 2026 1:13 am KST
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference following the Democrat weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a press conference following the Democrat weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Reuters-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer accused President Donald Trump Thursday of being in thrall to authoritarian leaders — pointing to his red-carpet welcome for China's Xi Jinping.

"If you're a foreign authoritarian, Trump won't just invite you to visit America, he'll greet you plane-side," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "That's what Trump did, sort of as a supplicant, for Xi yesterday. That's what Trump did for Putin in Alaska last year. This man has an atavistic attraction to dictators, to bad people."