Trump’s China trip sparks split in network coverage from ABC, CBS and NBC

President Donald Trump flew to China this week to get on good terms with communist leader Xi Jinping. It was not like the Cold War or recent trade wars. The word “detente” was being thrown around, so it wasn’t a good look for anti-communists in China who didn’t like President Richard Nixon or President Jimmy Carter kissing Soviet dictator Leonid Brezhnev on the cheek.

Trump called Xi a “great leader” and it sounded more like the Chamber of Commerce than the Museum of the Victims of Communism. The word “communist” is often missing from broadcast networks covering China, which began complaining about “capitalist” China decades ago under Deng Xiaoping.

The worst channel in Beijing was, unsurprisingly, ABC News, which portrayed Trump in the most negative light. His trip to China was disrupted by the war in Iran, which Trump allegedly lost. White House correspondent Mary Bruce, who often gives positive or defensive notes about President Joe Biden, touched on the issue.

“The President had predicted that he would arrive here today with victory in Iran,” he explained, “and that he would use that momentum to help secure deals on trade and technology, other investments and artificial intelligence, and that this was a chance to reset the U.S. relationship with China. But those ambitions have now been largely overshadowed by the war with Iran.”

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ABC turned to foreign correspondent James Longman, who has been shadowing the Iranian situation: “The big question: How much more can the United States suffer from the high gas prices created by the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz? And, you know, in many ways the Iranians have realized that they don’t need a weapon of mass destruction, a nuclear weapon. They have this weapon of mass destruction in the Strait of Hormuz.” I was reminded of this quote on the front cover of the Economist last month: Napoleon Bonaparte said: ‘Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.’ “This seems like China’s strategy right now.”

The Economist magazine is as reliably anti-Trump as ABC News, so it was no surprise that it was cited.

Later, ABC foreign correspondent Ian Pannell saw America sinking for another body blow: “In some ways this is a diminished America. I think its influence, if not its power, is now in serious doubt, not just from its enemies but from its friends as well.” The war in Iran has separated Trump from his European allies: “I think the general consensus here is that this is a war of choice and that it brings nothing but economic misery, not just to the old world, but especially to Asia.”

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The surprising network was CBS News because – surprise! – they somehow failed to get a visa for new evening host Tony Dokoupil to enter China. Instead, he broadcast from Taiwan this week, ending “CBS Evening News” on a different note on Wednesday, May 13. “Finally from Taiwan tonight: As President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepare to meet, you will hear a lot about the decline of America and the rise of a powerful new China.” Yes, from ABC.

He continued: “Xi’s China is a miracle in many ways, but it also has its downsides: “But China’s population is in decline, well below replacement rates. Unemployment is high, millions of people live in poverty in rural areas, and huge housing complexes are now empty. Most importantly, and perhaps I am stating the obvious here, none of these issues are the subject of the Chinese evening news. In fact, pessimism itself is banned on the Chinese internet. The freedoms we have, they simply don’t do.” This is the advantage of not having “caretakers” following you around.

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On Thursday, Dokoupil noted that “in the former Soviet Union, communism failed” and democracy appeared to have triumphed, but today China is challenging that claim. So Dokoupil brought up “democracy activist” Jimmy Lai, who is currently in a Hong Kong prison. He released a clip of CBS’s Holly Williams noting that Hong Kong is a wonderful city full of prosperity. Lai replied: “That’s what the Chinese think. They think we only have a body, we don’t have a soul. You just earn money, have a good life, don’t think about politics, don’t think about freedom, don’t think about human rights, don’t think about law, just eat. Enjoy life….We have a soul. We are not dogs.”

The worst channel in Beijing was, unsurprisingly, ABC News, which portrayed Trump in the most negative light.

“And when you step back, that’s the big picture of this week,” Dokoupil concluded, “not just which superpower will walk away with a stronger military or a bigger economy, but whose ideas should guide the future?” This marks a departure from the former Peter Jennings or Dan Pretty model, and could make the case that Bari Weiss has at least changed things up from time to time.

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NBC anchor Tom Llamas was in Beijing and arranged an interview with Trump; liberals thought it was not confrontational enough. CNN’s “fact checker” Daniel Dale claimed that Trump lied repeatedly and that Llamas failed to correct him in real time. Some were clearly wrong (like Trump claiming he won in 2020) and some were looking for fault (China doesn’t pay tariffs). NBC posted its own “fact check” online.

The outcome was less negative than a typical week on broadcast networks, as the tone between the two leaders was positive. But if Trump’s conservative supporters start complaining that they’re too tolerant of communists, they might predictably attack the “MAGA divide” and “more negative news for Trump.”

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