Viral AI-generated videos of Donald Trump and his team are circulating online as China and the US are on the verge of a full-scale trade war. One clip mocking White House officials shows President Trump, tech tycoon Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance working on a production line.
The trio can be seen making trainers while sporting blue overalls and protection goggles. The footage, shared by Chinese social media accounts, is a dig at Mr Trump’s goal to take back manufacturing to the US. A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Mao Ning, shared one AI meme showing a red MAGA hat with the label “made in China” on the side. Underneath the garment, a price tag shows the initial $50 cost crossed out, with the new price hiked to $77 as a dig to the US for the increasing tariffs.
Other AI-generated videos include an image of life in a re-industrialised America, with obese factory workers stitching clothes. Beijing Business Daily shared another AI clip of a penguin wearing a red ‘Make America Go Away’ hat with a speech bubble saying: “We have to pay taxes too?”
The White House announced US tariffs on China now amount to a staggering 145%. As the trade war between Beijing and Washington deepens, Mr Trump’s office said tariffs on China were hiked from 84% to 125% on Wednesday following the US President’s latest executive order.
However, officials told CNBC, this levy needs to be added to the 20% fentanyl-related tariff already on China by the Trump administration.
This comes amid China’s decision to impose 84% tariffs on US goods, but this figure might increase.
The CCP said: “The US’s practice of escalating tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake, which seriously infringes on China’s legitimate rights and interests and seriously damages the rules-based multilateral trading system.”
Despite the escalating US-China trade war, Mr Trump announced a 90-day pause on some of the sweeping tariffs he announced last Wednesday. In a message shared on the afternoon of April 9 on his social media platform Truth Social, the US President said that more than 75 nations have reached out to US representatives to negotiate a deal.
