Big In China: Six-year-old Arabella Kushner has become a star in the People’s Republic because of her love of singing in Mandarin. Image by YouTube

By Nathan Guttman November 8, 2017

Six-year-old Arabella Kushner is big in China—and her grandfather, President Trump, is showing her off in diplomatic meetings.

Last year, shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Ivanka Trump posted a video of her daughter singing a song in Mandarin.

The video became an instant hit in China. On Wednesday, President Trump sought to break the ice with his host, Chinese President Xi Jinping, by pulling out a tablet and showing Xi a new video of Arabella, now already 6 years old, performing once again in Mandarin.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Chinese state media reported that Arabella recited classic Chinese literature and sang a song. The song speaks of the Chinese countryside: “The quiet lake is studded with lotus flowers. Golden carps are so big and fat.”

In another part, Arabella sang: “My good mom comes home after work. You must be tired after a full day’s work, please sit down and rest.”

President Xi reportedly gave the young Trump scion an A+ grade for her Mandarin performance.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount