President Donald Trump has spent plenty of time rattling sabers and directing xenophobic rhetoric at China. Yet when Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived, Trump’s supposedly tough posture melted into an extravagant display of admiration for another powerful leader.

Trump literally rolled out the red carpet for Xi, then began posting photographs from the visit with the enthusiasm of someone meeting a favorite social media celebrity. The performance looked less like hard diplomacy and more like a presidential fan encounter.

The first photograph Trump posted featured only three apparent participants: Trump, Xi, and someone who appeared to be trusted aide Natalie Harp. The picture later vanished from the internet, leaving the identity of the third person uncertain and adding another murky episode to an administration hardly known for transparency.

That uncertainty raises questions about how people are vetted before gaining access to Trump and sensitive presidential settings. Even the possibility that Harp joined Trump and Xi in such an intimate scene invites scrutiny about who gets close to the president.

Harp worked in the White House for a year without any security clearance. Against that record, her apparent presence in the photograph with two presidents was not exactly a comforting image of careful preparation and strict access controls.

Trump also described his bond with Xi as a “truly great friendship,” adopting the same gushy posture he has displayed toward other leaders who enjoy autocratic power. The tough talk apparently has limits, especially once Trump is standing beside someone whose power he admires.

While guiding Xi through the White House, Trump said, “A lot has changed since he was last here.” That much was undeniable, although Trump appeared especially interested in showing off the gilded decoration he has brought into the building known as the “People’s House.”

Xi, meanwhile, discussed avoiding the “Thucydides Trap” and said 100,000 American students were invited to visit and study in China during the next five years. Those subjects at least resembled the actual business of diplomacy between two major countries.

Trump treated the occasion more like a Hollywood event, focusing on his ornate surroundings, photographs, and personal presentation. The contrast made the visit feel less like a serious presidential summit and more like another opportunity for Trump to bask in proximity to power.

The spectacle reinforced a brutal assessment of the administration’s conduct. This did not look like the work of a serious president or a serious administration, particularly after all the chest beating that preceded Xi’s warm reception.

The New York Times called the summit a “sharp turn from a hard line on China,” a description that captures the gap between Trump’s familiar rhetoric and his behavior around Xi. Trump’s proclaimed positions once again appeared remarkably vulnerable to praise, attention, and the trappings of personal prestige.

The visit also unfolded with limited public visibility because none of it was aired live. The administration was still refusing access to CNN, MS NOW, and Politico despite a court order, creating another avoidable fight over press access.

In solidarity with those excluded outlets, the video press pool refused to cover the events. Access was reinstated later in the day, but by then the administration had already ensured that the public would not see the summit unfold live through the usual shared video coverage.

That left the print press pool to provide information about Trump’s day in pieces rather than through immediate televised coverage. It was an impressive own goal for an administration that routinely complains about its media coverage while restricting the journalists responsible for providing it.

Trump’s meeting with Xi ultimately offered a revealing split screen. Xi discussed diplomatic concepts and student exchanges, while Trump displayed his decorated White House, celebrated their friendship, and circulated glossy images before one mysteriously disappeared.