Even Chinese Food is Getting Better Representation Than Women at the Trump-Xi Summit

Over plates of crispy beef ribs, tomato soup, and roast duck on Wednesday, Trump kicked off his two-day visit to Beijing with some… strange exaggerations of choice at the State Banquet, in the Great Hall of the People.

“Chinese restaurants in America today outnumber the five largest fast food chains in the United States all combined,” he boasted. “That’s a pretty big statement.” Well, flatly untrue, but I guess Trump could learn a thing or two about what real facts—or real representation—looks like. But I shan’t dare dream too big. 

The president this week is being accompanied by 17 businesspeople on his trip to China, of which just two are women. (Jane Fraser, Citi’s chief executive; and Dina Powell McCormick, Meta’s president.) In some ways, this is somewhat of a measly step up from the number of women he invited with him on his visit to China in 2017 (which was none), but then, considering he’s let Brett Ratner—an accused sex pest and the director of the Melania documentary—and Elon Musk tag along, I’d say that’s another 281,323,152 steps back. 

The summit marks the first time a U.S. president has visited China in nine years (the last was when Trump visited in 2019), and could clarify the state of relations between the two countries, which have been relatively wobbly. Trump and Xi are expected to discuss, among other things, the war in Iran; the U.S.’ stance on Taiwan; and AI. Speaking to an official broadcast early Thursday, Xi also reportedly said the summit might help the two to avoid a “Thucydides Trap,” referring to a theory that suggests war becomes likely when one rising power threatens to displace another. Yikes! 

Of course, all this comes as the very awkward aftermath of Trump’s aggressive tariff wars, which he waged (or tried to wage) against China last year. While the president’s tariffs at one point hit more than 140%, Xi did not back down—and instead withheld rare earth minerals and magnets from going to the U.S. Eventually, Trump caved. Welp. Water under the bridge, I guess.

Alas, despite everything, one common ground the two countries seem to have—off the bat—is building an anti-women regime, if not country. (It’s worth also saying that literally a day before he jetted off to Asia, Trump insulted another female reporter, and called a MS Now journalist a “dumb person” after she asked why the price of his ballroom doubled… again.) The Chinese Politburo has no female leader in its 24 members; the women of the Trump administration just keep getting fired; and—yep!—almost no women were present in either of the political delegations at the summit.

Ahead of Trump’s banquet speech, a Chinese military band played their rendition of “Y.M.C.A.” for him—making this the second time that the 1978 Village People hit has served as a lowlight to a male-dominated meeting with international stakes. And to rarely, rarely, rarely, rarely side with Melania: please, just make it stop.