Ryan Chen | |
|---|---|
| Chen Rui | |
| Born | 1982-83 Chongqing, China |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, Comedian, Director, Business Manager, Tour Guide |
| Years active | 2024-present |
| Known for | Chinese Trump |
Chen Rui (born c. 1982 [1] ), better known online as Ryan Chen, is a Chinese impressionist and social media celebrity. He became well-known in 2024 when his uploads of impersonating President Donald Trump for his friends on Chinese social media went viral. The "Chinese Trump" [2] sees himself as a cultural ambassador to China. The Western media outlets who have interviewed him include NBC News, CNN, and the New York Times .
Chen Rui was born around 1982 an only child in a modest working class family; his father worked on ships ferrying cargo on the Yangtze River and his mother in a government-run textile factory. [3] He learned English in high school and from watching pirated copies of American sitcoms like Two and a Half Men while attending university in Chengdu, the Sichuan province's capital. [3] In fall 2024, Chen lost a bet with a friend and posted a video of himself doing an impression of President Trump on Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok. [4]
In 2024, while a marketing manager in Chongqing, Chen started his uploads. [3] He forayed into vlogging — a series of short videos offering advice on how to lose weight: Chen gained weight after attempting a number of diet plans and only managed to attract a few hundred followers. He then tried producing videos teaching English as BrotherRyanEnglish, which were more successful but still not what he wanted. [3]
He was pleased, however, with the traffic he was getting to do impressions, and after Trump's re-election in November 2024, Chen expanded his impressionist takes (he can do former presidents Biden and Obama and Vice President JD Vance [3] ) and started to post on Instagram and other U.S. social media. [1] He has cited American impressionist Matt Friend as an influence. [3]
While billing himself the "Chinese Trump," [5] Chen stays away from political topics. He focuses on marketing his city, food, culture, travel within China with Trumpian accent and mannerisms. "I'm not interested in politics, actually" he told NBC's Janis Mackey Frayer. He told the New York Times, “I have to be careful” about touching upon American and Chinese political topics. According to Chen, “Chinese people don’t really care about politics” but are interested in Mr. Trump as entertainment. [3] Among the celebrities Chen has filmed himself with are Olympian Wang Guan [6] and American star content creator Darren Jason Watkins. [3]
Chen has never been to the U.S. [1] He employes an assistant to help him on his social media work and keeps his day job as the business manager at an architectural design company in Chongqing. [3]
Chen has millions of followers in China (1.3 million on Douyin as of late 2025 [4] ) and a following in the U.S.; [1] [7] the threat in early 2025 of a U.S. ban on TikTok, owned by ByteDance, triggered an rush of American users to Chinese platforms such as RedNote. A Chongquing plagiarist based in California, stole and reposted Chen's videos in TikTok. He offered Chen a revenue-sharing partnership to which Mr. Chen replied with a “cease and desist” order written by ChatGPT to look like it was written by lawyers. The fake account stopped posting his material. [3]
In addition to NBC News and the New York Times [1] Chen has received coverage from CNN. [4] The Times has called his impressions "pitch-perfect." [3]