Donald Trump is in Beijing, and is so taken with his host and hostess — General Secretary Xi and First Lady Peng Liyuan — that he’s already embedded them in the header of his Twitter profile. In Trump world that’s like one step away from bequeathing a first-born child.
Shanghai TV news anchor Li Suzhu took to micro-blogging platform Weibo this morning to comment on Trump’s visit generally, his Twitter homage and his brief cameo in 1992 box office smash hit Home Alone 2:
川普越来越有米蒂总统范儿了
Trump is looking more and more like an American president
Li uses internet slang for “American imperialism” (美帝 meidi, written here as 米蒂 midi) to add some bite to his comment.
Weibo user DomiAndNic is also impressed by the changeup in Trump’s Twitter game:
川普是不是被神秘的东方力量洗脑了
Was Trump brainwashed by the power of the mysterious East?
While Western media generates an entire news cycle out of Trump’s use of Twitter in China — a country where the social network is officially banned — Weibo user Minty Glaze (薄荷味琉璃) suggests that the US president try the Chinese equivalent:
#特朗普来了# 川普大爷应该开通个微博
#TrumpIsHere Mr. Trump should open a Weibo account
Worth noting that the “Mr.” here is 大爷 daye, which can mean “uncle” or “arrogant showoff” depending on the context.
A parody Weibo account named after Trump (@特朗噗) weighs in with a more detailed analysis of the President’s Twitter behavior since landing in Beijing:
昨天起特朗普访华，欢迎仪式很盛大。而直到今天凌晨两点，特朗普还没睡，还发推diss竞选对手….总统精力就是旺盛！
Trump arrived in China yesterday with a grand welcoming ceremony. As of 2am this morning he was still awake, still dissing his political opponents… his presidential energy is truly strong!
Meanwhile, on WeChat, Beijing-based rapper Dawei captions one of Trump’s many photo-ops from yesterday:
川普：Bro，再不能发Twitter我就要爆炸了！
Trump: Bro, if I can’t get on Twitter I’ll explode!
习：中美友谊地久天长，世界和平全靠筑墙
Xi: China and America’s enduring friendship and world peace all depend on building walls!
(The second one is a nice rhyming couplet in Chinese.)
Cover photo: Weibo user Owenwong21
