China Censors Trump's Bomb Threat on Beijing

A recent audio recording of Donald Trump has revealed the former president allegedly warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping that he would “bomb the s*** out of Beijing” if China invaded Taiwan—a comment that appears to be actively censored in Chinese media and online platforms.

The statement surfaced in a CNN report based on an audio recording from a 2024 campaign fundraiser. In the clip, Trump recalls telling both Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would respond with overwhelming force if they launched military invasions during his presidency.

“If you go into Taiwan, I’m gonna bomb the s*** out of Beijing,” Trump is heard saying in the audio, drawing a direct parallel to a similar threat he claimed to have made to Putin about Ukraine.

According to Newsweek and social media analysts, while Trump’s threats toward Russia circulated widely on Chinese platforms like Weibo—amassing over 24 million views within hours—his Beijing comments were either omitted or scrubbed entirely from posts and state coverage. Major state-linked outlets, including Beijing News and Guancha, edited the audio clip to end before Trump's China remarks.

This fits a long-standing pattern of Chinese internet censorship, particularly around topics sensitive to national sovereignty and foreign criticism of Chinese leadership.

The geopolitical backdrop is significant. Trump’s comment comes just weeks after his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, warned of a potentially “imminent” Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Meanwhile, Taiwan has launched its largest annual military drills with U.S.-supplied equipment like HIMARS rocket systems, highlighting ongoing tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

Official responses have varied. A Kremlin spokesperson denied Trump’s claim of a similar conversation with Putin, while a White House spokesperson emphasized that “Russia never dared invade Ukraine under Trump’s watch.” Trump himself has stated he still maintains good relations with Xi and has accepted an invitation for a future meeting in China—his first since 2019.

Whether Trump's alleged statement was a serious deterrent strategy or campaign bravado, it has already raised international eyebrows—and potentially widened the rift in U.S.-China relations. The silence in China’s official media landscape suggests Beijing is treating the remark as too politically sensitive to acknowledge publicly.