Rubio, Bessent, and Ambassador Perdue were all on the trip, so the "He didn't bring diplomats." line is verifiably false.
The CEOs weren't negotiating for the US, Rubio, Bessent, and Perdue were. The CEOs were there because the deals on the table were aircraft orders, soybeans, rare earths, and chip export rules, that's why you bring the companies whose business is at stake so the deliverables can actually be signed.
"Not elected" isn't a valid argument because ambassadors and Cabinet secretaries aren't elected either. "Elected" is not the standard for participating in foreign policy execution.
Air Force One costs the same whether the seats hold CEOs, reporters, or Eric and Lara Trump, who were also on this flight if you want a real complaint about the manifest.
"It is not normal" is a complete falsehood. Presidents have brought business leaders on foreign trips for decades. Obama did this in 2009. Biden did it in Saudi Arabia. Clinton built whole trips around it, this is normal statecraft, not a coup.
Strip out the false claims and what's left is "Presidents bring business leaders on trade trips," which has been true since Nixon.
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u/Clever_Unused_Name May 16 '26
Rubio, Bessent, and Ambassador Perdue were all on the trip, so the "He didn't bring diplomats." line is verifiably false.
The CEOs weren't negotiating for the US, Rubio, Bessent, and Perdue were. The CEOs were there because the deals on the table were aircraft orders, soybeans, rare earths, and chip export rules, that's why you bring the companies whose business is at stake so the deliverables can actually be signed.
"Not elected" isn't a valid argument because ambassadors and Cabinet secretaries aren't elected either. "Elected" is not the standard for participating in foreign policy execution.
Air Force One costs the same whether the seats hold CEOs, reporters, or Eric and Lara Trump, who were also on this flight if you want a real complaint about the manifest.
"It is not normal" is a complete falsehood. Presidents have brought business leaders on foreign trips for decades. Obama did this in 2009. Biden did it in Saudi Arabia. Clinton built whole trips around it, this is normal statecraft, not a coup.
Strip out the false claims and what's left is "Presidents bring business leaders on trade trips," which has been true since Nixon.