Joe Biden touches down in Peru only to be overshadowed by Donald Trump

President Joe Biden arrived in Lima, Peru Thursday for his diplomatic swan song – but it was China's President Xi Jinping who got a hero's welcome.

The Chinese leader was treated to an elaborate red carpet ceremony outside the country's Government Palace, complete with military honors, sword-wielding troops in dress uniforms, a military band, and equestrians as part of an official state visit.

Xi greeted Peruvian President Dina Boluarte and waived to greeters as the two strode the red carpet into the ornate palace, on a trip where they will celebrate a massive Chinese infrastructure investment.

Biden, meanwhile, touched down aboard Air Force One at the country's Jorge Chavez international airport, with plans to attend meetings Friday, where he will huddle with leaders from the Asia-Pacific region who have already switched their gaze to the disorienting return of Donald Trump.

He was greeted by a military cordon sporting blue uniforms and white gloves as he stepped off the presidential aircraft. Joining him on the farewell diplomatic tour was granddaughter Natalie Biden and daughter Ashley.

Then, Biden greeted Peru's Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzen and got into 'the Beast,' his presidential limo. He slipped on his Ray Bans, and drove toward his upscale hotel and called it a night.

Biden has long prided himself on the the kind of personal diplomacy that gets forged at global gatherings like the annual APEC summit. Now, he faces fellow leaders after having his party swept from power by the man he called a threat to American democracy.

With just two months to go in his term, Biden is a 'super lame duck' being overshadowed both by his returning nemesis he had vowed to defeat and the imposing figure of China's Xi Jinping.

The Trump factor is running so strong that world leaders are trading notes on their interaction with the returning president. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto about his recent chat with Trump.

'He had a phone conversation with President Trump, as I did last week, so we discussed that and what it might mean for the world,' he told reporters. 'Obviously, that's part of the backdrop of APEC and the G20 is what the impact of a change in US Administration will have.'

Biden is set to meet Xi on the sidelines of the meetings on Saturday. But Xi, whose country has eclipsed the U.S. as Peru's top trading partner, was already making his importance known.

The two governments had scheduled a grand opening of a massive China-financed Chancay port project timed to the start of the summit. It was set to open just minutes after Biden touched down in the Peruvian capital. In Washington, the massive project is viewed with suspicion, and officials are eyeing it for potential military applications.

'We need to jointly build and manage well the Chancay port, make "from Chancay to Shanghai" truly become a prosperous path to promoting the joint development of China-Peru, and China- Latin America,' Xi wrote in an op-ed in the local El Peruano newspaper.

With Xi also holding an official state visit with Peru, he got an elaborate welcoming ceremony as he met Peru's President Dina Boluarte at the government palace.

The U.S. wants to manage the relationship 'through this delicate period of transition where we want to maintain a degree of stability,' White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.

Trump was flexing his muscles back in D.C. and Florida by daring Senate Republicans to resist his nominee to be attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, who was battling a House Ethics Committee probe of sex trafficking allegations. 

With all the geopolitical tensions at play, there were also security ones. The leaders gathered a day after a suicide bomber armed with explosives blew himself up a the Brazilian Supreme Court in Brasilia, days before the G20 leaders including Biden are set to meet in Rio de Janeiro. 

There was already tight security in Lima, where Biden is just one of 21 leaders attending the Asia Pacific Economic Conference. Peruvian authorities have put 15,000 police and soldiers on the streets, amid protests over public safety.

Students have been kept home for ‘remote’ classes, and people have been asked to telework to free up some of the Peruvian capital’s notorious traffic. Protesters who have been raising concerns about public safety and gang shakedowns have clashed with police in riot gear outside the summit.

Armored police vehicles have been establishing a presence in some of the city's most visited neighborhoods, and law enforcement and security guards are taking conspicuous positions outside hotels hosting visiting delegations. 

The 81-year-old lame duck president brought along granddaughter Natalie, days after attending an event to memorialize her late father, Beau in Biden's hometown of Claymont, Delaware. Natalie is Beau's only daughter.

'Not only is he a lame duck, but a super lame duck because his successor is going to have very different policies,' Erin Murphy, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the AP. 

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Also coming along for the ride is former Sen. Chris Dodd, a longtime friend and former colleague who is his special advisor for the Americas. 

Biden joins the conference despite telling allies at the Munich security conference in 2021 that 'America is back; the trans-Atlantic alliance is back. And we are not looking backward. We are looking forward together.'

'He promised that America is back and instead Donald Trump is back,' mused Richard Haass, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, on CNN.

Also on tap is a meeting with Japan's new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, plus South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, as the Democratic president has tried to strengthen the ties between Japan and South Korea to counterweight a rising China. 

Ishiba reportedly wants to meet with Trump in the States before he heads back to Japan.

During a press call organized by the Biden Administration, a senior administration official batted down question after question from reporters wanting to know how Trump's stunning election win would impact the summit or undermine Biden's message.

'I’ll refer you to the incoming administration on any questions on what they intend to do. We really can’t comment on that,' was one variation of the reply.