Did Chinese officials say that President Donald Trump had been calling them regularly in order to "beg for a trade deal", but they had been putting him on hold and playing speeches by former President Barack Obama? No, that's not true: That rumor originated with an account that posts "comedy and satire." The Halfway Post regularly publishes content that others mistake for authentic news.
The claim was presented as true in an April 30, 2025, post on Instagram (archived here). The text embedded in the video component of the post read:
BREAKING: Top Chinese officials say Trump has been calling them a dozen times every day to beg for a trade deal, and they put him on hold while playing audio of Obama speeches until he hangs up.
This is what it looked like at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot)
That rumor originated with The Halfway Post, an account which, on X, describes its content as "half true comedy and satire". The Halfway Post first published the joke in a post on X earlier on April 30, 2025:
(Source: X screenshot)
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For previous Lead Stories fact checks relating to Halfway Post content, click here.
