Hong Kong (CNN) As US Tomahawk missiles pounded an airbase in Syria, President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping sat down for dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. The two leaders were meeting for the first time, but what should have been a prime opportunity to forge a personal connection and recalibrate the world's most important bilateral relationship has been overshadowed by the biggest military action of Trump's presidency. Trump made the decision to strike an airfield Syrian aircraft used to launch a chemical attack shortly before his dinner with Xi. The Chinese delegation left before 9 p.m. Shortly after that, Trump addressed reporters and explained why he'd ordered the attack.