A reverse image search shows the clip is from September 2016, of Obama’s G20 visit, not a state visit
Multiple accounts were sharing a video on the social media platform X since May 13, 2026, comparing the reception given to United States President Donald Trump during his state visit to China with that of his predecessor Barack Obama. However, the clip is actually from the latter’s visit to China for the G20 Summit in 2016, which was not a state visit.
Trump arrived in Beijing, China, on May 13, 2026, for a state visit. He was greeted by officials at Beijing Capital Airport to begin high-stakes meetings with President Xi Jinping regarding trade and international issues, including Iran, trade, and Taiwan.
Xi had greeted Trump with a red carpet welcome at the opulent Great Hall of the People with military band fanfare, a gun salute, and a host of schoolchildren jumping and chanting “welcome!”.
HOW IT STARTED
On May 13, American commentator and YouTuber Benny Johnson shared a video on X, comparing Trump’s state visit to China with that of Obama’s, with the following caption: “When Obama visited China, he was forced to exit off the ‘ass’ of Air Force One because they didn’t even get stairs for him. Trump just got a red carpet hero’s welcome with 300 students waving flags and chanting. It feels good to be respected on the world stage again.”
The post gained 5.4 million views.
Another media user shared the same clip. It gained 42,300 views.
Another account posted the same clip, gaining 40,000 views.
The same clip was posted by another social media user, accumulating 37,000 views.
Subsequently, other X users also shared the same video, as can be seen here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here; collectively gaining 50,500 views.
METHODOLOGY
A fact-check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its high virality and keen public interest in Trump’s recent state visit to China.
Some users in the comments section of the videos pointed out that Obama’s clip was not from a state visit. According to a research paper on state visits and international trade by economist Volker Nitsch, a state visit is the highest-ranking, most formal type of international visit, designed to strengthen bilateral ties between two nations, whereas a G20 summit visit is a multilateral, functional gathering of many world leaders focused on global economic and policy issues.
A reverse image search to corroborate the clip yielded a YouTube video shared by China Global Television Network on September 3, 2016, titled: “US President Obama arrives in Hangzhou for G20 Summit”.
The viral clip starts from the beginning till 0:10-second mark of the old video.
As per the description of the video, Obama landed in Hangzhou for the G20 Summit; it was not an official state visit. It was his last visit to China before he stepped down as the president of the United States.
Obama’s visit to the China G20 Summit was also covered by New China TV on its YouTube channel.
Furthermore, a keyword search yielded a news report by a Chinese news outlet, Xinhuanet, with the following headline: “US president arrives in China for G20 summit”.
As per the news report, Obama arrived in this eastern Chinese city on Saturday for the 11th summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.
The former president first went to China on his official state visit in 2009. He undertook his second and last state visit to China from November 10-12, 2014, as per the Obama White House Archives, a website for press releases and content related to the former president’s tenure.
The official pictures released by the White House from Obama’s 2014 state visit to China showed that he received a proper reception. The former president was welcomed by a large crowd and received a bouquet after he walked the red carpet upon landing from the plane.
During the visit, Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to deepen cooperation on nonproliferation and counter-proliferation issues within the US-China Nonproliferation Joint Working Group. The two heads of state exchanged views on a range of subjects and agreed to expand practical cooperation on global, regional, and bilateral issues.
FACT-CHECK STATUS: MISLEADING
The claim that a viral video shows the differing reception given to Trump during his state visit to China compared to the one given to Obama is misleading.
The video is old, from Obama’s visit to China in September 2016, for the G20 Summit, which was not a state visit. Obama was provided the same level of protocol and reception during his last state visit to China in 2014.
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This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
