Donald Trump's 'Buddha statues' trending on China's e-commerce site, selling for Rs 44000

Even though former US President Donald shared a convoluting relationship with China up to his closing days in the White House, his statue posing as Buddha is trending on China’s online shopping platform with the slogan “make your company great again!" The white statue with Trump’s face lowered and both hands resting on the lap, according to a Global Times report is labelled by the seller on Taobao as “Trump, who knows Buddhism better than anyone.” 

The item is priced ranging from 999 yuan or ₹11,122 ($153) to 3,999 yuan or ₹44,777 ($616) depending upon its size. The smaller version measures nearly 1.6 metres while the taller models are 4.6 metres of Trump signifying meditation and contemplation. The statue of former United States President has been carved out by a Chinese entrepreneur reportedly based in Xiamen. 

Buddha statue of Trump 
Image credits: Sina Weibo

The reason behind Trump Buddha statue

The Global Times quoted the seller explaining the idea of the Trump Buddha statue as it reminded him of Trump’s slogan of “Make American Great Again” and that former US President mostly claimed that he knew things better than anyone. Hence, the Chinese seller adapted the idea into something ‘auspicious’ for the Chinese companies: “make your company great again."

The seller also revealed to the media outlet that most people bought it just “for fun” and informed that even though they have only made 100 such statues, dozens of pieces have already been sold. An unnamed Shanghai buyer was also quoted by the media outlet saying that he bought the Trump Buddha statue to put on his desk “as a decoration”. 

The buyer noted that former US President, whose leadership of four years pushed US-China relations to a new low, “can also be regarded as a representative of an era and extreme egoism.” The Shanghai buyer said that even though Trump’s era has passed and now US President Joe Biden rules the country, he wanted to purchase the Trump Buddha statue to remind himself “Don’t be too Trump.”