The Trump team is now in China and will be working on important issues, including Iran and trade.
The delegation with President Donald Trump includes, among others, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Elon Musk, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Trump has those CEOS and others with him to help push U.S. trade interests.
The belief that Secretary of State Marco could take on any role started early in the administration, as he seemed to be wearing multiple hats. Then the memes exploded, showing him taking on any role that might be needed at the moment.
But he may have just managed a truly neat trick with his visit to China with President Donald Trump. Rubio is supposed to be under sanctions, forbidden from entering China, because he condemned them on human rights when he was a senator.
Shortly before he took office in January 2025, the Chinese government and official media began using a different Chinese character for “lu” to represent the first syllable in his surname.
Two diplomats told the AFP news agency they believed that China made the change because Rubio was under sanctions, which included an entry ban, under the old spelling of his name.
China said Tuesday it would not block Rubio for his past actions.
“The sanctions target Mr Rubio’s words and deeds when he served as a US senator concerning China,” the Chinese embassy spokesperson, Liu Pengyu said.
Asked about the linguistic change last year, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that she “had not noticed it but would look into it”, according to Chinese state media. Mao said that Rubio’s English name was more important.
Did he just become a different person? The Chinese didn’t necessarily confirm it, but they didn’t necessarily deny it either. In any event, they just threw their sanctions under the bus to let him in. So it’s quite something that the Chinese acknowledge the importance of Rubio.
🚨 NEW: Fox’s Aishah Hasnie REVEALS Marco Rubio is traveling with President Trump to China: “Him coming is a big deal because you’ll remember back in 2020 China actually sanctioned him and banned him. This time they are waiving that so he can join the President.” pic.twitter.com/xyED9BhhDN
Rubio also drew a lot of attention after a picture of him on Air Force One en route to China, posted by Assistant to the President & White House Director of Communications Steven Cheung, went viral.
Rubio already effectively beat the meme makers to the meme.
And if you see the connection of Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and even Panama, it has even more meaning, as the actions in the other countries all tend to put pressure on China.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
