Not Wanted on Voyage...Where are the women?
Seventeen of the United States’ most influential business leaders and executives are accompanying President Trump on his two-day visit to Beijing — but only two are women: Jane Fraser the chief executive of Citi, and Dina Powell McCormick, the president of Meta.
The delegation of U.S. officials tells a similar story. Among the Trump advisers pictured greeting China’s leader, Xi Jinping, on the red-carpeted steps of the Great Hall of the People are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and a group of others, almost exclusively men.
The women on Mr. Trump’s team in Beijinghold communications or protocol roles, or are family members. They include Monica Crowley, an ambassador and the White House’s chief of protocol; Anna Kelly, a White House spokeswoman; Natalie Harp, a close presidential aide; Margo Martin, a communications adviser; and Lara Trump, a daughter-in-law of the president.
The first lady, Melania Trump, who accompanied Mr. Trump to China in 2017, during his first presidential term, is not on this trip. Brett Ratner, who directed “Melania,” an Amazon documentary on the first lady, is part of the delegation. Mr. Ratner has faced allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from multiple women, which he has denied.
The other 15 business leaders joining Mr. Trump in China, all men, include Tim Cook of Apple, Elon Musk of Tesla and Jensen Huang of the chip giant Nvidia. When Mr. Trump traveled to Beijing in 2017, he brought along 29 executives of U.S. companies — most of whom were men.
In photos of Beijing’s delegation greeting Mr. Trump, few women are seen in Mr. Xi’s entourage. China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, and Mr. Xi’s right-hand man, Cai Qi, are among the Chinese officials. There are no women on China’s 24-member Politburo, the policymaking body.
(NYT)