During President Trump’s China trip, online mockery spread widely under Beijing’s tightly managed internet. Seth Meyers seized on the contrast between Trump’s warm words for Xi Jinping and the memes cracking jokes about trade and tariffs.
When President Trump sat down with Xi Jinping this week, his trip was packed with promises of confrontation on trade, AI, and war. But back online, the mood looked completely different—at least through the lens of Seth Meyers.
On Thursday night’s “A Closer Look. ” Meyers focused on how openly Trump has been ridiculed online while he’s in China. with posts going viral despite Beijing’s strict internet sensors.. He pointed to memes that included lines like “Trump came to China.. We won the tariff war,” and “Trump, you’re welcome to visit China and learn from us.”
Meyers said the contrast was so sharp it barely made sense.. “What happened to the fantastic relationship?” he asked.. “I mean, China gave Trump a lavish greeting while quietly mocking him behind his back.. Although, internet memes and posts are hardly behind Trump’s back.. They’re mocking him where he’s most likely to see it.”
He also compared the situation to an image from classic Winnie-the-Pooh logic: “This is like Tigger writing ‘Pooh is dumber than a rock’ and putting it in a jar of honey.”
The jokes land even harder because Trump himself has leaned hard into the idea that the two leaders are getting along.. During the trip. he bragged about a “fantastic” relationship with China. showering Xi with praise and calling him a “great leader.” Trump also said. “it’s an honor to be your friend.”
For Meyers, that’s where the confusion turned into a punchline. “Dude, what happened to standing up to China?” he scoffed. “He’s like your buddy who finally works up the courage to dump his girlfriend, and you see him the next day, and he’s like, ‘Guess who’s engaged?!’”
Viewers can catch the full segment in the video included above.
Seth Meyers Trump China Xi Jinping memes internet censorship tariff war A Closer Look
China’s censoring memes?? sounds like they’re scared of jokes more than trade. lol
If Trump said it’s a fantastic relationship then obviously the memes are fake or bots or whatever. People love saying “muh censorship” but maybe it’s just Trump haters getting boosted.
I don’t even get the Pooh thing like why is that relevant. Also isn’t Winnie-the-Pooh banned in China or something? Kinda proves the whole censorship angle though.
The whole “tariff war” meme thing is wild because tariffs are literally policies, not vibes. But Seth acting like Trump didn’t already know the internet was roasting him? Trump’s been doing friendly speeches and then tweeting attacks after, so this seems kind of normal? idk