{"id":70340,"date":"2026-05-14T02:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T02:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/70340\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T02:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T02:44:18","slug":"surprise-trumps-diplomatic-china-visit-is-just-another-grift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/70340\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise! Trump\u2019s \u2018diplomatic\u2019 China visit is just another grift."},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump and his entourage arrived in China Wednesday for what is ostensibly<\/a> a diplomatic trip where he will try to persuade Chinese President Xi Jinping to buy more soybeans from U.S. farmers and also, pretty please, maybe help with the Strait of Hormuz. But this voyage is looking a lot like Trump\u2019s Middle East trip last May, where handpicked CEOs tagged<\/a> along so they could do some business deals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And this time around, we don\u2019t just have some lucky ducky business titans hitching a ride. Also on the official diplomatic trip? Nepo baby Eric Trump<\/a> and his wife, Lara. But don\u2019t worry\u2014Eric says they are merely joining the trip \u201cin a personal capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EricAttribution: APEric and Lara Trump, followed by Elon Musk, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, walk off Air Force One after arriving with President Donald Trump on May 13, at Beijing Capital International Airport. <\/p>\n

Honestly, we weren\u2019t aware that one could somehow be part of an official diplomatic delegation but also just be there as a widdle guy taking in the sights or something. A Trump Organization spokesperson explained that Eric pinky-swears he is totally not gonna do any deals while he is there.<\/p>\n

\u201cEric is deeply proud of his father and the accomplishments of this term, and is attending in a personal capacity as a supportive son. He does not have business ventures in China nor plans on doing business in China,\u201d the statement insisted. \u201cHe will not be participating in private meetings, but will instead stand alongside the president to mark this historic occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hmm. That might be more persuasive if Eric didn\u2019t already have a partnership<\/a> with a shady Chinese crypto company. Eric\u2019s very own grifty crypto scheme, American Bitcoin Corp.\u2014wow, such branding\u2014has a partnership with Chinese bitcoin mining rig manufacturer Bitmain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bitmain had been under a national security investigation here for months<\/a>, in part over concerns that Bitmain computers could be controlled remotely from China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senate Republicans on the Intelligence Committee issued a breathless report<\/a> just last July, saying they were \u201cconcerned that Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mining facilities inside the United States pose a danger to national security. Located throughout the 50 states and equipped with machinery made by Bitmain, a privately-owned Chinese company with ties to the CCP, these mines are located near sensitive defense installations or critical U.S. infrastructure such as power grids, creating several disturbing vulnerabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

All of this is such a shadowy mess<\/a> that no one can even say whether Bitmain remains under investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sounds like exactly the sort of thing that America Firsters like Eric and his dad would be howling about while really digging into some deep anti-China bigotry. But now that Eric needs to make a buck, it\u2019s all good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if Eric is making money, his daddy Donald is making money. Eric runs the Trump Organization, the family business we all pretend the president isn\u2019t involved with, and gosh, the company is just so successful it rakes in billions<\/a> based on sheer grit and savvy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related | Trump took the Qatari jet bribe. Most voters have a problem with that<\/a><\/p>\n

In reality, of course, the Trump family does nothing but ride the president\u2019s coattails and cash in thanks to their White House connections.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The president himself made millions<\/a> during his first term from Chinese officials who curried favor by staying at his dumb hotels. He\u2019s even boasted about his great financial connections to China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI love China! The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower,\u201d Donald Trump has boasted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ivanka Trump got a little gift during her father\u2019s first term when China fast-tracked 18 trademarks<\/a> to companies tied to her and to the president.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Melania Trump didn\u2019t come along for this griftapalooza. Perhaps she wanted to stay home alone with her weird robot<\/a>? However, the director<\/a> of her fake documentary, accused sex pest Brett Ratner, is somehow along for the ride, which also seems totally official and diplomatic, right?<\/p>\n

\"PresidentAttribution: APPresident Donald Trump talks with Elon Musk, right, during an arrival ceremony on May 13 at Beijing Capital International Airport.<\/p>\n

And about those CEOs: This time around<\/a>, the lucky duckies include Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, Tesla and SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk, and Apple\u2019s Tim Cook, among others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Donald Trump is not even pretending that these super-rich dudes are there for official reasons. In a Truth Social post mistakenly calling Cook \u201cTim Apple,\u201d Trump said his \u201cvery first request<\/a>\u201d to the Chinese president would be \u201cto \u2018open up\u2019 China so that these brilliant people can work their magic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really saying the quiet part out loud for Trump to admit that his very first order of business during what is supposed to be a diplomatic trip at a time of great worldwide chaos is that world\u2019s richest man Elon Musk should be allowed to make more money in China.<\/p>\n

Musk is a repeat tagalong, as is Huang. Both went to the Middle East with Trump so they could snatch some deals<\/a>. Trump came back with a \u201cgifted\u201d luxury jumbo jet<\/a> from Qatar valued at $400 million.<\/p>\n

Diplomacy might be dead, but the grift is going strong.<\/p>\n

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