Jeff Bezos, the Clintons and Robert De Niro join Biden for star-studded state dinner with Japan

On Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden hosted stars including Robert De Niro, Tiffany Chen and Jeff Bezos at the White House for a state dinner with Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister.

President and First Lady Jill Biden hosted more than 200 guests at the glitzy event in the East Room of the White House, where they dined on a specially prepared menu featuring house-cured salmon, dry-aged rib-eye and of matcha ganache.

The guest list reads like a who’s who of prominent Democrats, tech moguls and members of the Biden family.

Hollywood actor and staunch critic of Mr. Trump, De Niro, arrived hand in hand with his girlfriend, Tiffany Chen.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived at the summit table.

Big Tech moguls Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos, joined by Lauren Sanchez, were also in attendance, as was Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase.

On the political and administrative guest list were US Vice President Kamala Harris, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

Several members of the Biden family, including granddaughter Naomi and her husband Peter Neal, were also in attendance, as were labor luminaries Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers, and United Steelworkers President David McCall – whose unions supported Mr. Biden’s re-election.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Kishida took the stage for a light and warm speech to the crowd, where the former spoke of the “friendship” of the two nations and the latter invoked an iconic phrase from Star Trek.

Speaking in English, Mr. Kishida told guests at the White House that he hoped the “unwavering relationship” between his country and the United States would “boldly go where no one has gone before.”

“I would like to toast our journey to the frontier of Japan-U.S. relations with this word: Go boldly,” he said, quoting the iconic opening monologue from the original. Star Trek series.

The two leaders, who expressed true friendship, pledged to continue to combine the interests of their countries in the face of global challenges.

Mr. Biden, 81, said he and Kishida, 66, came of age as their countries forged strong ties in the decades after their confrontation in World War II.

“We both remember the choices that were made to forge a friendship,” he said. “We both remember the hard work, what he did to find healing.”

“Tonight,” Biden continued, “we pledge to continue.”

Dr. Biden had transformed the White House upstairs into what she called a “vibrant spring garden” for the evening’s event.

The floor of the famous Cross Hall was decorated with images giving the impression of walking on a koi pond, a nod to the fish which symbolize “friendship, peace, luck and perseverance”, said the first lady during a media preview Tuesday.

Guests were entertained by musical guest Paul Simon who sang two of his biggest hits, “Graceland” and “Slip Slidin’ Away.”

A state dinner is a tool of American diplomacy, an honor accorded sparingly and only to America’s closest allies. In the case of Japan, the president grants this honor for only the fifth time to an ally he considers the cornerstone of his policy towards the Indo-Pacific region.

Mr Kishida is on an official visit to the United States this week, with the state dinner hosted by Mr Biden for the first time this year.

The Associated Press contributed to this report