The origin of Trump's title "Chuan Jianguo"
Chinese netizens have always liked to give nicknames to politicians from various countries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is called "Golden Lion King", Indian Prime Minister Modi is called "Old Immortal", and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau is called "Little Potato". Former US President Trump is nicknamed "Comrade Chuan Jianguo".
This title comes from the Chinese transliteration of Trump's surname "Trump" in Chinese. It is rumored that Trump was born in Sichuan, China in 1946, and his father Fred Trump came to China to do business during the Anti-Japanese War. It is also claimed that the Trump family has always maintained a friendly attitude towards China due to the special relationship with China during the Anti-Japanese War, and Trump's uncle has made quite outstanding contributions to the new China.
This statement lacks real evidence, but its fun has triggered netizens' associations.
It is rumored that the Trump family has a special connection with China and maintains a friendly attitude towards China. Trump's uncle John George Trump is believed to have helped China's atomic bomb cause. However, most of these stories come from online rumors and lack official evidence.
In fact, Trump was born in Queens, New York on June 14, 1946. The reason why his name can be translated as Trump is just a coincidence of similar pronunciation, but some Chinese netizens have made associations based on this. The so-called Sichuan birth is purely fabricated.
Trump's "patriotic feat"
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2017, Trump said: "The Korean Peninsula was once part of China." This sentence caused heated discussions among Chinese netizens, further stimulating the ridicule of the title "Comrade Chuan Jianguo".
After Trump came to power, he withdrew from a series of international agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the Paris Climate Change Agreement. These actions were interpreted by Chinese netizens as weakening the international influence of the United States and benefiting China. After this, netizens further dug up a series of so-called deeds of the Trump family to help China. It was about this time that the saying that Trump was an undercover agent of our country in the world's largest imperialist country began to appear, and netizens began to call Trump "Comrade Chuan Jianguo".
So more and more Chinese netizens called Trump "Comrade Chuan Jianguo" and believed that he was an undercover agent of China infiltrating the United States gradually became popular on the Chinese Internet. Some netizens claim that "Comrade Chuan Jianguo" aims to bring down the world's largest imperialist country.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Trump administration failed to prevent and control the epidemic, and the United States became the epicenter of the global epidemic, so some American media also joked: Trump is making China great again. However, in fact, the so-called "Comrade Chuan Jianguo" who is an undercover Trump is just an online joke and is not true. Although this joke is interesting, it cannot be taken seriously. Everything Trump does is for the benefit of the United States.
Chinese media often emphasize that Trump's frequent withdrawal from international organizations has damaged the international image of the United States. It is true that the principle of America First does infringe on the interests of other countries, so Trump and his America First policy have a poor image internationally. However, from the US standpoint, this is not necessarily wrong. After frequently withdrawing from international organizations, the United States can focus on developing its own energy industry, thereby providing a large number of jobs for the American people.
Data from 2019 show that since Trump took office, the United States has added 4.2 million jobs, the employment rate has reached a record high, and the unemployment rate has hit a record low in 50 years. Although the principle of America First has damaged the international image of the United States, it has also promoted the development of domestic industries.
So, which aspect will Americans pay more attention to? I am afraid that ordinary Americans are more concerned about their own interests rather than their international image. Therefore, in order to consolidate his position, what will Trump do?
Trump is by no means serving China. In fact, he is an out-and-out anti-China element: launching a trade war against China and smearing China without reason during the epidemic. His strategy to contain China not only failed to achieve the expected results, but objectively promoted China's development. Therefore, calling him "Chuan Jianguo" is more of an ironic expression.