‘Utterly Disgusting’: Trump Mocks Biden in Front of China’s Xi, Sparking Furious Online Backlash

(Screengrab via X)

President Donald Trump drew a furious online reaction on Thursday after using a White House tour with Chinese President Xi Jinping to mock his predecessor, Joe Biden, personally directing Xi’s attention to the administration’s “autopen” depiction of the former president.

Trump was walking with Xi along the White House colonnade during the Chinese leader’s state visit when he stopped at the so-called Presidential Walk of Fame, where portraits commemorate former commanders-in-chief, some complete with Trump-penned captions.

Biden is represented not by a traditional portrait, but by an image of an autopen signing his name in a display Trump installed as part of his long-running effort to ridicule his predecessor.

Pointing out his own portraits marking his first and second terms, Trump then turned Xi’s attention to the Biden display.

“Trump, and then Trump, and this is the autopen,” Trump said, according to video of the encounter.

Xi and members of his entourage laughed before Trump tapped the Chinese president on the arm and made sure he understood the target of the joke.

“It’s Biden,” Trump said.

The unusual exchange came during a heavily choreographed state visit intended to showcase improving relations between Washington and Beijing, with Trump lavishing ceremonial attention on Xi as the two leaders discussed trade, technology and other major points of friction between the rival powers.

The Biden portrait moment, however, quickly ricocheted across social media, where critics found the president’s mockery in front of a foreign rival rather unpatriotic.

Former congressman John Delaney dragged the move as “the most un-American thing an American president has ever done.”

Former Trump White House aide Sarah Matthews similarly wrote: “Nothing says ‘America First’ like mocking a former American president in front of a communist dictator. Trump may think he’s humiliating Biden, but all he’s doing is humiliating the United States.”

Wall Street Journal editor-at-large Gerard Baker offered a shorter assessment: “Just utterly disgusting.”

Others were quick to pile on:

Trump’s MAGA base, meanwhile, saw the exchange very differently.

New York Post columnist Miranda Devine responded simply with a laughing emoji, while Newsmax host Rob Schmitt called the moment “Hilarious.”

Conservative influencer Nick Sortor declared the moment “the HIGHLIGHT of the day so far.”

Trump’s treatment of Biden has remained a recurring feature of his second term. A Reuters review published days before Xi’s visit found Trump had mentioned his predecessor nearly 900 times during 2026, repeatedly invoking Biden while campaigning ahead of the midterm elections.

On Thursday, however, that political routine acquired an unusual new audience – the president of China.

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