Donald Trump is no stranger to using his granddaughter Arabella’s skillful command of the Chinese language to his political advantage – and he couldn’t resist employing the same tactic while meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Wednesday.
President Trump, 71, proudly showed off a video of the six-year-old singing in Mandarin and reciting ancient Chinese poetry while meeting withXi and his wife Peng Liyuan, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
In the video, released on YouTube, Arabella, the daughter of first daughter Ivanka Trump and senior White House advisor Jared Kushner, can be seen wearing a traditional silk embroidered Chinese dress while addressing the country’s president and first lady as ‘Grandpa Xi’ and ‘Grandma Peng’, bowing in respect as she offers a greeting to the camera.
Clip: Donald Trump showed Xi Jinping footage of his granddaughter Arabella, six, singing in Mandarin and reciting ancient Chinese poetry, during his visit on Wednesday (pictured)
‘Hello, Grandpa Xi. Hello, Grandma Peng,’ she says in Mandarin to begin the video, which appears to have been filmed in the White House, with the young girl standing in front of the American Flag in a wood-paneled room.
Arabella, who has her hair pulled back from her face in a high bun, continues to show off her language skills in the online clip, which features English subtitles, saying in Mandarin: ‘Hello everyone, let me sing a song.’
In a clear and confident voice, she begins to sing what sounds like a traditional Chinese folk song about the country’s beautiful landscapes and lush natural sites.
‘Our fields, beautiful fields, the jade green river flows past sweeping rice fields; the sweeping rice fields are like a swinging ocean,’ she sings, while swaying slightly to the rhythm of her tune, and smiling at the camera.
Rubbing her eye slightly as she continues with her performance, Arabella finishes the song with the lyrics: ‘The quiet lake is studded with lotus flowers, golden carps are so big and fat; flocks of wild ducks are hiding in the reeds.’
Arabella then moves onto a poetry performance, reciting ancient Chinese poems with enthusiasm and energy, going as far as to make several hand gestures throughout in order to illustrate certain lines.
Reciting quickly, and barely pausing to take a breath in between, Arabella begins to reel off lines from the Three Character Classic, a historical Chinese text which is thought to have been written in the 13th century, and which was once used as part of a child’s education, up until the early 1800s.
The punchy three-character lines recited by Arabella focus on the first few verses of the text, which states one of the core Confucian beliefs that human nature is, above all else, good.
Ivanka’s daughter recites four lines, which roughly translate to: ‘Man on earth, good at bith, the same nature, varies on nurture.’
Arabella has been learning Mandarin for years, studying both with the Chinese nanny hired by her family, and also at her previous school in New York City.
Her younger brothers, Joseph and Theodore, are also learning Mandarin – and the family always ensures to celebrate Chinese New Year.
And it seems all those lessons have paid off; after watching videos of the little girl’s performances, Xi said Arabella deserved an ‘A+’, Xinhua reported.
The clip Trump showed Arabella reciting ancient Chinese poetry and verses from the Confucian text the ‘Three Character Classic’, according to the agency.
President Trump played it after meeting with the Chinese president and his wife at the Forbidden City ancient palace complex in Beijing, during a brief afternoon tea in the Hall of Embodied Treasures.
Arabella’s father, 36-year-old Jared, was present during Wednesday’s visit, however her mother Ivanka, also 36, remained at home in Washington, D.C. with their children, helping to push her father’s tax reform plan.
She was originally supposed to join the president on his tour around Asia, having made a solo trip to Japan last week in order to talk about female entrepreneurship, however she promptly returned to the US instead, while her father was joined by Melania, Jared, and his communications director, former Ivanka Trump employee, Hope Hicks, 29.
This isn’t the first time that President Trump’s granddaughter has played a bridging role in US-China diplomacy.
Previously: In April this year, Arabella sang in person in front of Xi when the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach
Performance: Ivanka has previously taken to social media to show off her daughter’s language skills. In February, the mother posted a video of Arabella singing for the Lunar New Year
Past: A year prior, Ivanka also shared footage of one of Arabella’s performance to mark the Lunar New Year. This time, the girl was wearing a dress inspired by traditional Chinese attire
Parent: Arabella’s father, 36-year-old Jared (left), was present during Wednesday’s visit. Her mother Ivanka, also 36, traveled to Japan last month ahead of the president’s trip
In April this year, Arabella sang in person in front of Xi when the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach.
On this occasion, too, the little girl recited verses from the ‘Three-character classics’, in addition to Tang dynasty poems.
A video of the moment shows Presidents Xi and Trump looking on while Arabella sings to the dignitary, her mother not far behind her.
Ivanka has previously taken to social media to show off her daughter’s language skills.
In February, the mother posted a video of Arabella singing for the Lunar New Year, with a dragon puppet in her hand.
A year prior, Ivanka also shared footage of one of Arabella’s performance to mark the Lunar New Year.
This time, the little girl was wearing a dress inspired by traditional Chinese attire, and performed songs and poems for her parents and brother Joseph, now four.
President Trump is in China for two days, and traveled there after stopping by Japan and South Korea.
During his 12-day tour, which marks his first official trip to Asia, the commander in chief will also visit Vietnam and the Philippines.
President Xi has given his US counterpart a lavish welcome to Beijing, having prepared an extravagant ‘state visit-plus’ for Trump. The mogul has softened his strongly anti-China election-era rhetoric since their first meeting at Mar-a-Lago in April.
Official visit: President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump toured the Forbidden City with Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan on Wednesday
Giving him the grand tour: President Xi has given his US counterpart a lavish welcome to Beijing, having prepared an extravagant ‘state visit-plus’ for Trump
Intricate: The two presidents and first ladies looked at an 18th century clock with a lifting tower as they toured the Conservation Scientific Laboratory of the Forbidden City in Beijing
Despite disagreements over trade and North Korea, the two leaders and their wives were all smiles as they ambled through the former imperial palace, first built in the 15th century.
Upon arrival earlier in the day, Trump was greeted by an honor guards and cheering children waving Chinese and American flags as he descended the steps of Air Force One.
Xi and his wife took President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump through the three main halls of the Forbidden City, where Ming and Qing dynasty emperors held ceremonial events such as enthronements and sacrifices.
At an on-site artefact conservation lab, Trump praised the repairs to a 300-year-old rosewood cabinet once used by an emperor, and marveled at the workmanship of an antique clock as ‘unbelievable’.
The couples sat down in the Hall of Character Cultivation for a performance described as a selection of highlights, which opened with a swarm of brightly costumed dancing children waving peacock feathers.
Trump laughed at the antics of acrobats, then was serenaded by Chinese opera singers in elaborate headdresses and heavy make-up.
In ‘A Tipsy Beauty’, the tale of an imperial consort, one performer threw confetti and flower petals while another brandished a brilliant yellow fan painted with cherry blossoms.
During bows, the children exclaimed ‘Welcome to China! I love you,’ before Trump posed for pictures with the cast, exclaiming, ‘Beautiful!’
‘We’re having a great time, thank you,’ he said as he brushed past members of the press.