Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville says he knows exactly why President Donald Trump is really going to China.
Trump has arrived in Beijing for two days of talks on key topics including trade, AI and Taiwan. It is the first visit to China by a U.S. president since Trump’s previous visit in 2017.
Carville, 81, told Politicon podcast co-host Al Hunt in a video published on Wednesday that the 79-year-old president’s diplomatic voyage to China is really just a cover to line his own pockets.
While discussing Trump’s absurd statement on Tuesday, where he said, “I don’t think of Americans’ financial situation,” the former Bill Clinton aide said he thinks the president really means what he said.
“You know what? He might be telling the truth,” Carville said. “Because I think there’s only one thing that he’s thinking about in his trip to China: and that is a big grift.”
“Look at who he’s taking with him. Look at what he’s doing,” he added.
Among the president’s caravan to China this week are billionaire tech CEOs Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Apple’s Tim Cook, as well as other wealthy executives like Goldman Sachs’s David Solomon and Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg. Notably absent from the trip are any China experts and the president’s wife, first lady Melania Trump.
“And the Chinese... there’s going to be economic exchanges. There’s gonna be investment opportunities,” Carville continued. “You can see this is where this is going. They just buy him off! He does not care.”
The “Ragin’ Cajun” went on to say that the president doesn’t even care about any Republicans in government, local or national.
“He does not give one s--t about you,” he said. “It is the last thing he is worried about.”
“As long as he can go there and make as much money as fast as he can make it, that’s all that he cares about,” Carville added. “You’re going to watch a grift and graft over there like you can’t imagine. That’s all this trip is about.”
“And I got news for you, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Six-Pack, or whoever you are out there: He doesn’t give a s--t about you, your future, your finances, your retirement, your anything. He just cares about making all the money he can, as fast as he can,” he concluded. “And all the people who don’t realize that are just woefully stupid.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for comment on Carville’s remarks.
Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that he plans to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he called “a Leader of extraordinary distinction,” to “open up” the country to do business with American companies.
“In fact, I promise, that when we are together, which will be in a matter of hours, I will make that my very first request,” the near-octogenarian wrote. “I have never seen or heard of any ideas that would be more beneficial to our incredible Countries!”
