Rapid-fire to restrained: China state visit reveals a changed Trump on social media

US President Donald Trump – known for his combative and prolific social media style – struck an unusually restrained online tone during his state visit to China.

Trump has shared only 10 social media updates since landing in Beijing on Wednesday evening – mostly videos of his arrival in Beijing and official greetings received from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The latest posts include hailing Xi as “one of the World’s Great Leaders” and asserting that the US should have a ballroom like China does, a sentiment seemingly inspired by Thursday’s state banquet in the Chinese equivalent.

Another post included a screenshot of an American media report citing a Chinese academic as rating Trump’s visit as “9.99 out of 10”.

‘A milestone visit’: Xi and Trump set sights on stability for China-US relations

The message was consistent with his other lengthier and upbeat posts that focused on highlighting the successes of his trip.

At 5.42am Beijing time on Friday, hours before meeting his Chinese counterpart, Trump wrote on social media that Xi had congratulated him “on so many tremendous successes in such a short period of time”.

South China Morning Post