Jimmy Lai’s Daughter Sees New Hope After Trump Raises His Case With Xi

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he discussed releasing political prisoners, including Jimmy Lai, with Chinese President Xi Jinping and expressed hope the conversations will lead to Lai’s release.

During an Oval Office meeting, The Daily Signal’s Elizabeth Mitchell asked the president whether he had discussed “the release of political prisoners such as American Min Zin and Jimmy Lai.”

“I did with President Xi,” Trump said. “I did.”

“We talked, ⁠and I think we had some very, very important discussions,” the president added. “Hopefully, ⁠fruitful discussions.”

BIG NEWS: @POTUS tells @DailySignal he had “hopefully fruitfully” discussions with Xi about political prisoners in China, including American Min Zin and Jimmy Lai.

“We talked, and I think we had some very, very important discussions. Hopefully, fruitful discussions.” pic.twitter.com/3hCoTNgXgI

— Elizabeth Troutman Mitchell (@TheElizMitchell) September 30, 2026

Lai, a Hong Kong newspaper publisher, outspoken critic of Beijing, and devout Catholic, remains imprisoned in Hong Kong. His family has spent years advocating for his release. His daughter, Claire Lai, has stayed out of China for fear of reprisal.

Claire learned this year that she has cancer and recently began treatment in the United Kingdom. She told The Daily Wire that the hardest part of her experience thus far has been hearing about “dad crying whenever he talks about it” after he learned of her diagnosis in prison.

Trump’s confirmation that he again raised her father’s case with Xi has given her renewed hope. She believes that her father will be freed during Trump’s second term.

Claire thanked Trump for raising the case again.

“He and his administration have again shown their continued commitment to securing my father’s freedom,” she told The Daily Wire. “This gives me a great deal of confidence that it is under President Trump’s leadership that my father will be freed and [I] look forward to the day we see him again.”

“My father is a man who believed in the rights we were promised and defended them when it was perfectly legal to do so,” she added. “He wishes only now to spend his twilight years serving Our Lord with his family. As he said in the letter I shared first with The Daily Wire, he reminded me that ‘we must be thankful to God and serve Him together faithfully.'”

Trump also raised Lai’s case with Xi during his spring visit to China. He also sought the release of Pastor Ezra Jin, who was subsequently freed.

As he departed China, Trump told reporters that Lai’s case was “a tougher one.”

During Xi’s visit to the White House last week, The Daily Wire repeatedly asked Trump and Xi about Lai’s fate as the two world leaders approached reporters. Neither responded to those questions.

More from this network:
Domains for Sale · GOTPeople.org · TheDSAPlatform · The Truth About Socialism

Donate to GOTPeople.org