It was a meeting of the leaders of the world’s two largest economies at a time of increased global instability. Two lines of men facing each other at a long table, and no women.
The image, shared across social media, represents the total patriarchal dominance that’s been normalised globally during the years of the Trump administration.
An economics professor at Harvard University, Gita Gopinath, shared the image on X, writing: “A painting of the end of meritocracy. A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table”.
Thursday’s bilateral meeting took place amid Trump’s official visit to China this week, where he has taken a raft of the United States’ most wealthy and powerful business executives with him. Among the 15 or so CEOs on the trip, just two are women (neither of them featured in the above image).
A painting of the end of meritocracy: A meeting of the two largest economies and not one woman at the table. pic.twitter.com/FM7lwQrRGT
— Gita Gopinath (@GitaGopinath) May 14, 2026
It’s been reported that at least three women have accompanied Trump on the trip, including his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and Meta President, Dina Powell McCormick.
During his presidency, Trump has continually excluded women from important meetings, whether it be when decisions are being made about women’s health, or during international diplomacy meetings. Just recently, Trump turned a celebration of a women’s sporting team into a photo opportunity that centred men and relegated women to the background.
While women have never featured heavily in bilateral meetings of world leaders, in times past, there has usually been at least a few women at these tables. For example, during the Obama era, then US national security advisor Susan Rice and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were regularly in attendance. For China’s part, former vice-president Liu Yandong would usually attend.
In a recap of the Bilateral Meeting, the White House released a statment saying the two delegations discussed issues like opening the Strait of Hormuz and agreeing that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.
During another meeting with business leaders, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser was the only woman pictured in the delegation.
In 2026, these images encapsulate just how far the Trump administration has gone to rollback not just women’s rights, but also the near total erasure of women from key moments where decisions are made.