A video from Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump’s meeting in Beijing has gone viral online, with social media users debating whether Trump was intentionally made to look shorter during the talks.
In the clip, Xi appears to be sitting on a slightly taller sofa while meeting Trump, prompting speculation across X and other social media platforms.
“The sofa must be custom-made. The sofa Xi Jinping sat on was clearly higher than Trump’s sofa, while Trump is 10 cm taller than Xi Jinping. The CCP spares no effort in scheming over these details,” one X user claimed while sharing the video.
However, another viral post offered a different explanation, claiming Trump himself removed a cushion from his seat.
“The Chinese president measured it out to the centimeter by placing a small cushion on Trump’s chair so that they would appear to be the same height. Trump ordered the cushion to be removed... which made him look shorter than the Chinese president while sitting,” the post said.
Trump was on a three-day official visit to China at Xi’s invitation — the first visit to China by a sitting US president in nine years.
The US president departed China on Friday after highlighting several business agreements reached during the visit, even as Beijing warned Washington against mishandling the sensitive Taiwan issue and criticised the Iran war.
“We’ve settled a lot of different problems that other people wouldn’t have been able to solve,” Trump said after meeting Xi in Beijing during the second day of talks.
Social media has since been flooded with memes and viral clips from Trump’s China visit.
In another widely shared video, Xi is seen briefly pausing while walking up the stairs beside Trump at the Great Hall of the People.
“During the walk up to the Great Hall of the People, Xi Jinping noticed Trump appeared tired on the stairs, so he paused and gave a brief explanation of the square, allowing him a moment to catch his breath,” a post accompanying the video claimed.
Earlier, reports had also claimed that Trump — who has long said he does not drink alcohol — was served wine during a toast in China.
