Did Xi Jinping deliberately make Trump sit on a smaller chair during his visit to China? Fact Check
Claim: Video purportedly shows how Xi Jinping made Trump sit on a smaller sofa to make him look shorter
Conclusion: The claim is false. A side by side analysis of both the chairs prove that they were of the same height.Trump was seen sitting forward while Xi Jinping was sitting leaning to the back, which makes levels of cushion look different.
Rating: False 
Several social media users have claimed that China’s President Xi Jinping made US President Donald Trump sit on a smaller chair. Verified X user ‘erbmjha’ shared such a claim with the caption : “Xi Jinping sat on a tall chair while Trump was given a shorter chair with a soft seat so he sinks & appears smaller than Xi Jinping. China humiliated Trump in front of the world. Just look at his face” Attached to the post is a 23 second video of the leaders seated in armchairs. View the post below –
Xi Jinping sat on a tall chair while Trump was given a shorter chair with a soft seat so he sinks & appears smaller than Xi Jinping.
China humiliated Trump in front of the world. Just look at his face 😂 pic.twitter.com/uQkZwTB80i
— BALA (@erbmjha) May 17, 2026
Other users have shared similar posts that can be seen here and here
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate this claim and found it to be false. A comparison of the seating setup indicates that both chairs were positioned at an equal height, however sitting posture was different making it uneven.
Details:
A CNBC report notes that Donald Trump met Xi Jinping in Beijing for a closely watched two-day summit aimed at strengthening a “fragile trade truce” between the United States and China. The report said the visit “went a long way toward strengthening” bilateral ties with discussions covering trade, Taiwan, Iran, AI oversight and business deals. CNBC also reported that Trump claimed China agreed to buy US oil and that Xi invited further talks under a framework of “strategic stability.”
We first conducted a reverse image search on various keyframes of the video to learn about the chair’s original height. The search took us to a Youtube video uploaded on May 16, 2026 by WSBT-TV, titled : “Full Trump, Xi bilateral meeting in China.” DigitEYE India analyzed the video and observed that the armchairs are identical in dimensions and structure. Sitting posture was different making it to look uneven. View a side by side comparison below –
During Donald Trump‘s May 2026 state visit to China, the bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping took place first, followed by the state banquet. DigitEYE India could not find the moment when Trump ordered the cushion to be removed in this meeting.
However during the state banquet dinner, one can clearly see in the below video (at 1.06 timestamp) the Chinese staff member positioning the chair where a cushion was placed on Trump’s seat. Trump appeared to indicate that he did not want it, which the staff member quickly removed the cushion before he sat down.
(Courtesy:The White House)
(Courtesy: Hindustan times)
Despite searches into why Trump made the request, no official explanation has been released by the White House.
Below few photos of Trump with other world leaders during discussions, with forward-leaning posture, which could be his usual style.
(Source: White house gallery)
Claims of custom-made shorter chairs or CCP scheming against Trump by making him look shorter is unsubstantial and looks distorted interpretation.
There is no evidence to prove this and it is highly unlikely that China insulted Trump on his state visit.
Thus, the claim is false.
