8:42 AM PDT · May 15, 2026
Image Credits:Alex Wong / Getty Images
Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai
US orders travelers on Air Force One to throw away gifts, pins, and burner phones after China trip
President Trump and a delegation of U.S. officials left Beijing on Friday after two days of high-level talks with the Chinese government, led by President Xi Jinping.
Before boarding Air Force One, White House staffers and reporters had to surrender various items collected during the trip, including staff burner phones, credential badges, and lapel pins issued by China. Those traveling on Air Force One threw those objects in a bin at the bottom of the plane’s stairs, according to a journalist in the White House press pool.
“Nothing from China allowed on the plane,” Emily Goodin, the White House correspondent for the New York Post, wrote in a post on X.
Photos from the trip show several people in the U.S. government delegation, including Trump, White House communications director Steven Cheung, Apple chief executive Tim Cook, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Secret Service agents, all sporting pins on their coat lapels.
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Were you on the Air Force One trip to China for the summit? Do you have more information about the order to throw away items? From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email.
Goodin did not explain why officials and reporters had to throw away those items, though presumably for security reasons. While the summit appeared cordial, China remains a key adversary of the United States, given its advanced intelligence and espionage capabilities. The U.S. and its allies have long accused China of spying and carrying out cyberattacks.
It’s not farfetched to believe some of the gifted items could be bugged, as governments have done before. It’s also reasonable to assume the burner phones were likely targeted during the trip. Burner phones are designed to be new and dedicated devices that can be used where attacks can be assumed, and later thrown out.
Spokespeople for The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Topics
China, cybersecurity, Donald Trump, espionage, OPSEC, Security, U.S. government, White House
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