When President Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, his delegation included a trio of top cabinet officials, more than a dozen corporate executives — and his middle son, Eric Trump.
While he is not a member of his father’s administration — nor the head of a corporate behemoth with business in China — Eric Trump does lead the Trump family business. And the company, known as the Trump Organization, has flirted with Chinese business deals over the years, raising the question of whether his presence could blur the lines between government business and private enterprise.
The Trump Organization has said Eric Trump is traveling to China only to support his father, and there is no indication he will pursue business while there.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organization said that “Eric is deeply proud of his father and the accomplishments of this term, and is attending in a personal capacity as a supportive son. He does not have business ventures in China nor plans on doing business in China. He will not be participating in private meetings, but will instead stand alongside the President to mark this historic occasion.”
Eric Trump did not respond to a request for comment. In the past, he has indicated that the Trump Organization would eschew deals in China while his father was serving as president.
Still, in a public financial disclosure last year, Mr. Trump reported owning dozens of trademarks in China. The trademarks cover potential hotels, bars and spas, among other services that he could theoretically develop down the road.
Before Mr. Trump was elected in 2016, his company explored a wide variety of deals in China, including for hotels and other real estate ventures, none of which materialized. During his first presidential term, the company vowed to pull back from doing deals in China and other countries.
In his second term, after loosening its self-imposed ethics restrictions, the Trump Organization has announced a spree of foreign deals, including in the Middle East and, most recently, in Tbilisi, Georgia.
(The Trump Organization has said it continues to forego deals directly with foreign governments.)
The Trumps’ trip to China, even if it does not involve deal making, evoked parallels to Hunter Biden’s decision to join his father, then Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., on a trip to China in 2013. Mr. Trump has previously accused the Bidens of corruption related to that trip as well as Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China.
On his own trip to China this week, Mr. Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He also invited a cross-section of boldfaced corporate names, including the chief executives of big banks as well as Elon Musk of Tesla and Tim Cook of Apple.
Eric Trump, 42, was joined by his wife, Lara Trump, a Fox News host and former co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Ben Protess is an investigative reporter at The Times, covering President Trump.
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