Report: Elaine Chao Held Roles At CCP Agency While In Bush, Trump Cabinets
The scope of China’s influence on the former U.S. cabinet official and her family is clear and has been for a long time.The scope of China’s influence on the former U.S. cabinet official and her family is clear and has been for a long time.Elaine Chao held Chinese Communist Party positions during her time in Cabinet, report claims
A new bombshell report has revealed shocking new details about Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao.
Chao, 73, who married Sen. McConnell in 1993, may have closer ties to the Chinese Communist Party than previously believed.
'Such a suggestion disregards her nearly five decades of faithful service to the United States and is both unfounded and deeply insulting, hurtful, and racist.'
On Tuesday, the Daily Caller News Foundation published an exclusive report on Chao's alleged ties to the CCP, citing Chinese government and state media reports translated by the DCNF.
Elaine Chao, whose Chinese name is reportedly Zhao Xiaolan, has worked in high-level positions in the United States government under two Republican administrations, most notably serving as President George W. Bush's secretary of labor and the Department of Transportation secretary during President Trump's first term in office.
However, the DCNF claims Chao has also received at least four Chinese government positions since 2008, including within an influence and intelligence agency called the United Front Work Department.
The extent to which she ever worked in these alleged roles is unclear. The DCNF claimed that the Chinese government and state media reports "describe Chao’s appointments in various ways, with some stating she had been 'hired' or had 'accepted an appointment letter,' while others simply note that she was then among those 'holding' a given title."
According to a report published by the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, the UFWD is used to "gain access to advanced foreign technology" and is "one of the CCP's ways of building and wielding political power at home and abroad."
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The DCNF, citing Chinese government and state media reports, also reported that Chao's late sister, Angela Chao, and her father, James S.C. Chao, the founder of a large shipping firm called Foremost Group, also received positions in the Chinese government and UFWD positions.
During the late 1980s, Elaine Chao served as the chair and commissioner of the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission, whose mission statement is to "ensure a competitive and reliable international ocean transportation supply system that supports the U.S. economy and protects the public from unfair and deceptive practices."
A spokesman for Chao and Foremost Group, Patrick O'Connor, denied these reports concerning Chao, her father, and her sister.
“She has never held a position with a foreign government or acted on behalf of one. We are not aware she has met with representatives from UFWD entities,” O’Connor said after being sent what the Caller claimed were "Chinese government and state media photos published between 2010 and 2026 showing Chao meeting with officials from the CCP and/or UFWD."
“Such a suggestion disregards her nearly five decades of faithful service to the United States and is both unfounded and deeply insulting, hurtful and racist.”
The DCNF pressed the spokesperson on how it is "racist" to investigate Chao's alleged ties to the Chinese government.
“No one seems to care when most American business or political leaders hold meetings in China, so it’s suspicious when the Daily Caller makes insinuations about a former two-time cabinet secretary of Asian descent, especially based on photos, some of which are decades old,” O’Connor responded. “The secretary is a proud American who has devoted most of her professional life to serving the American people. To question her patriotism is a double standard, at best — racist, at worst.”
Chao was born in Taiwan and obtained U.S. citizenship at the age of 19.
The DCNF revealed that in February 2005, during her time as President George W. Bush's secretary of labor, Chao reportedly sent a handwritten reply and signed photo to the Jiading District Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese after receiving a Christmas card from the organization. These returned overseas Chinese organizations are guided by the UFWD.
Questions about Elaine Chao have resurfaced after her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, had a health scare in June 2026. Questions have continued to swirl regarding his health and whereabouts, as he is expected to return to the Senate any day.
Blaze News reached out to McConnell's office but did not immediately receive a response. McConnell's office declined a request for comment from the DCNF.
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Trump thanks McConnell after senator indicates he'll support him
Having cleared the field of primary challengers, former President Donald Trump is poised to become the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has indicated that he will support Trump for president.
"It is abundantly clear that former President Trump has earned the requisite support of Republican voters to be our nominee for President of the United States," McConnell said in a statement, according to the Washington Post. "It should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support.
"During his presidency, we worked together to accomplish great things for the American people including tax reform that supercharged our economy and a generational change of our federal judiciary — most importantly, the Supreme Court. I look forward to the opportunity of switching from playing defense against the terrible policies the Biden administration has pursued to a sustained offense geared towards making a real difference in improving the lives of the American people," McConnell reportedly said in the statement.
Trump thanked McConnell in a post on Truth Social, writing, "Thank you, Mitch. I look forward to working with you and a Republican Senate MAJORITY to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, who served as transportation secretary during most of Trump's White House tenure, resigned from that post on the heels of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In a letter to colleagues that she shared on social media, Chao wrote, "Yesterday, our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed. As I'm sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."
Following the Jan. 6 riot, McConnell claimed that Trump was "practically and morally responsible for provoking the events" that took place on January 6.
In a statement, Trump called McConnell "a dour, sullen, and unsmiling political hack."
In a September 2022 Truth Social post, Trump referred to Chao as McConnell's "China loving wife, Coco Chow." In a January 2023 post, Trump called Chao McConnell's "China flagrant boss, Coco Chow."
McConnell recently announced that his current term as Senate GOP leader will be his last in the leadership slot. That means that if Trump wins election later this year, there will be a different Senate GOP leader in place when he begins his second term in the White House.
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Chao responds to Trump's repeated 'Coco Chow' attacks
Trump-era transportation secretary Elaine Chao has issued a statement addressing the repeated attacks of former President Donald Trump, who has been calling her "Coco Chow."
"When I was young, some people deliberately misspelled or mispronounced my name. Asian Americans have worked hard to change that experience for the next generation," Chao said in a statement, according to Politico. "He doesn't seem to understand that, which says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans."
Chao, who is the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), served as transportation secretary during most of Trump's White House tenure but resigned on the heels of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
In a message to colleagues announcing her resignation, Chao wrote, "Our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed. As I'm sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."
\u201cIt has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the U.S. Department of Transportation.\u201d— Sec. Elaine Chao (@Sec. Elaine Chao) 1610044561
In posts on Truth Social, Trump has referred to Chao as McConnell's "domineering, China loving BOSS, I mean wife, Coco Chow" and as the senator's "China flagrant boss, Coco Chow."
"Does Coco Chow have anything to do with Joe Biden’s Classified Documents being sent and stored in Chinatown?" Trump asked in another post. "Her husband, the Old Broken Crow, is VERY close to Biden, the Democrats, and, of course, China. He gives them all whatever they want!"
Politico reported that Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said via a statement that Trump's criticism focuses on Chao's family's possible financial conflicts, but not on the issue of race.
"People should stop feigning outrage and engaging in controversies that exist only in their heads," Cheung said, according to the outlet. "What’s actually concerning is her family's deeply troubling ties to Communist China, which has undermined American economic and national security."
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Trump Is Right. Mitch McConnell And Elaine Chao Spent Decades Getting ‘Rich On China’
For years, the McConnell and Chao families have cultivated a relationship that enriches the couple and grants status to the Chaos' shipping company.Today's top stories
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