Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is working on a new documentary targeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, even as the U.S. and China continue negotiations of a new trade agreement after completion of a phase one deal.
The new film Bannon is producing, “Emperor: Rise of Xi,” is funded through millions of dollars in contributions, according to the most recent 990 tax return from his nonprofit group Citizens of the American Republic.
“This film will be a devastating takedown of the ‘myth of Chairman Xi’ including the Wall Street and corporatist faction that props up the regime,” Bannon said in a recent interview with CNBC.
Anonymous sources familiar with the goings on in Bannon’s camp told CNBC the 90-minute feature will focus on modern Chinese history through the eyes of Xi and his father, Xi Zhongxun, who died in 2002. Xi’s father headed the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda department before his death.
“Citizens of the American Republic provided initial funding for the production of documentaries, Trump at War and Rise of Xi, to educate the American citizenry about economic nationalism and American first foreign policy, and other issues that were front and center across the nation in 2018,” the tax filing reads.
It sounds like a fairly robust project with 50 cast members and a production team that has gathered more than 30 hours of footage. The film is slated to release on Labor Day, and the team is also working on another five-hour documentary scheduled to come out at some point next year.
This isn’t Bannon’s first foray into film, either. Before working for President Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign and then in the White House, Bannon produced other conservative pieces like “Clinton Cash,” which was a deep dive into the Clinton Foundation and its alleged shady dealings.
Bannon has praised Xi in the past, mirroring Trump’s own opinions of the Chinese leader. In a 2017 interview with the South China Morning Post, Bannon said “Xi is very impressive.”
“He really understands what’s in the best interests of his people,” Bannon said. “He is very smart, very tough but fair. He is direct and to the point – just like President Trump. That is why they like each other so much.”
There had been an apparent falling out between Bannon and Trump, with the president saying his former adviser “lost his mind” after Bannon was quoted repeatedly in Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury,” a piece that is critical of Trump and his White House staff. But Trump and Bannon still align on many issues, and the president seems to have let go of that grudge a bit.
“Nice to see that one of my best pupils is still a giant Trump fan,” Trump said in a 2019 tweet. “Steve joined me after I won the primaries, but I loved working with him!”
Nice to see that one of my best pupils is still a giant Trump fan. Steve joined me after I won the primaries, but I loved working with him! pic.twitter.com/jRpmdrGYTB
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2019
Bannon has praised Xi, but he is not a fan of Beijing’s trade tactics. He praised Trump’s strategies after the U.S. and China signed “phase one” of a trade agreement, part of the overarching trade war that has now gone on for over 19 months.
Trump “stood up for the tariffs and he broke the Chinese Communist Party,” Bannon said after the deal was announced.