‘Chinese Trump’ wins fans and followers with his spot-on impersonation

Chongqing, China – We don’t know how long President Donald Trump will visit China, but in the meantime, China in Ryan Chen.

His talent for the identity of the American president transformed Chen, 42, into a social media star, sweeping Instagram and Tiktok as “Chinese Trump”.

“Guys, you know where we are?” We are in Chongqing, Chi-Na! ” Chen says in a video typical of his hometown, describing the city of more than 30 million people as “formidable”.

He started last fall, when Chen published a video on Chinese social media as a challenge, with disjointed linguistic style and Trump’s hand gestures.

“It has become viral. I thought it was very good traffic,” Chen told NBC News in his very first interview with an American press organization. “So I started to do it since.”

After Trump’s electoral victory last November, Chen widened his repertoire and reaching by publishing his printing videos on American social networks, with a clip showing him the song of successful song “Apt”. In a blonde wig, a red tie and Trump’s voice.

He acquired an even wider American audience at the start of this year when an American ban by Tiktok, the short video application belonging to the Chinese company bytedance, triggered a influx of users to Chinese platforms such as Rednote, also known as Xiaohongshu.

Chen has published a series of videos welcoming Tiktok refugees and even taught them to use Chinese slang while imitating Trump.

“You look like him,” said a Californian user on one of Chen’s Rednote messages. “But I came here to get away from him.”

While he is gaining popularity, Chen has filmed with visitors from abroad, notably Dana White, CEO of the Ultimate Combat Championship, and the American star of YouTube Ishowspeed, who broadcast his tour in China earlier this year to his 44 million subscribers.

“I want people to consider me a bridge” between cultures, said Chen. “This is a different perspective in a fun way.”

American-Chinese relations were tense in Trump’s second term by an ongoing trade war, technological competition and differences in wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Earlier this month, Trump said after a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping that the two leaders would meet on October 31-NOV. 1 APEC summit in South Korea and that he would go to China at the start of next year.

In a survey of the Chinese public published this month by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Carter Center, only 17% of respondents said that the United States was a friend of China – the lowest percentage of all the countries interviewed – while 83% said it was not the case.

Chen, a former marketing director, never set foot in the United States and said that he had learned English by himself. He attributes years to watch American television series, including the starry reality show by Trump “The Apprentice”, for his almost native accent.

“If you want to be good to do so, you should look at the right imitators because they somehow exaggerate its features,” said Chen during a Chongqing noodle lunch.

“If you had to classify me, I wouldn’t do the top 10, but I’m the only Asian Trump and the only Chinese Trump. So that makes me special!”

Leaving politics aside, Trump is a “funny guy” and an “artist”, he said.

“I like it when he said,” You are dismissed. It’s quite entertaining.

Chen looks at the news to perfect his technique, but he avoids everything that is political. In a country with many sensitivities and vigilant censors, he prefers to use his platform to teach foreigners Chinese cuisine, travel and culture.

“I am not interested in politics, in fact,” said Chen. “The initial reason I wanted to do Trump is because I think it’s funny. I want to make people laugh.”

His almost impeccable Trump’s impression won him millions of Chinese followers, some of which prevent Chen in the street from asking for selfies and advice on learning English.

Chen is also increasingly recognized by people outside China.

“Oh, I think I know you, you are the Trump,” said Vadim Mitko, a 20 -year -old man in Russia when he met Chen in a street in Chongqing.

“I thought, Chongqing is so far from the United States, how does this type speak with this accent?” Mitko said about the videos he had seen on Tiktok.

Chen, who plans to make his first trip to the United States, said that he had never thought of meeting Trump in person, but that if he had the opportunity, he would tell Trump to visit China.

“You should come to Chongqing,” said Chen in Trump’s voice, to try the famous spicy hotpot of the city.

“You say that you are a hard to cook,” he said. “Maybe you should try very hot.”

Janis MacKey Frayer and Dawn Liu reported Chongqing, China and Peter Guo from Hong Kong.