EXCLUSIVE: Anti-Trump Mainstream Media ‘Expert’ Is Hiding Her Ties To A Pro-China Influence Group

She was also Obama’s former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative.

Originally published on Natalie Winters September 4, 2026

CNN and NPR present Cutler as an independent authority attacking Trump’s tariff agenda without mentioning the adviser designation found in Chinese records.

Legacy media outlets are repeatedly turning to former Obama-era trade official Wendy Cutler to attack President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.

In a July 2026 CNN interview, Cutler said Trump’s tariffs were “absolutely not” good for the American economy. Weeks later, NPR introduced her as a “global trade expert” before she declared Trump’s tariff campaign bad for both the U.S. and global economies.

Both outlets emphasized her nearly three decades inside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and her current Asia Society position. Neither mentioned that a prominent Beijing influence group repeatedly identified Cutler as one of its international advisers—including one Chinese-language announcement labeling the role “confirmed.”

Interesting.

That previously unreported designation is documented in records published by the Center for China and Globalization, or CCG.

I found Cutler identified as a “CCG international adviser” in four separate records: CCG’s 2019 annual report, a 2019 Chinese-language announcement, a September 2020 adviser roster and an official 2021 publication.

The most explicit record placed Cutler’s photograph directly above the Chinese words: “Former U.S. Deputy Trade Representative, CCG International Adviser (confirmed).”

This was not simply her name appearing on an unexplained list. CCG says Cutler hosted a Washington breakfast for its delegation, participated in its Capitol Hill trade roundtable, joined seminars in Beijing and contributed to a CCG-edited book. A 2022 CCG article described its “long-term friendly exchange” with her.

The contact also continued long after the original adviser listings. An April 2026 CCG account says founder Wang Huiyao and Secretary-General Mabel Lu Miao met Cutler during their visit to the Asia Society Policy Institute.

The designation was also missing when Cutler advised Congress on Asian trade policy.

Cutler testified before the Senate Finance Committee in June 2021—during the documented period in which CCG was calling her an adviser. Her Senate materials listed her government career and Asia Society role, but not CCG.

Seven months later, Cutler signed a required Truth in Testimony disclosure form for a House Foreign Affairs hearing on digital economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

The form asked whether she was a fiduciary—explicitly including an “advisor”—of any organization with an interest in the hearing’s subject.

Cutler answered: “No.”

The document warned that knowingly providing materially false information or concealing material information from Congress is a federal crime. Cutler’s April 2022 testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission also omitted CCG.

The identity of the organization is what makes the omission important. The U.S.-China Commission has called CCG a “United Front-affiliated Beijing think tank.”

The United Front is the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign-influence apparatus. It cultivates politicians, business leaders, academics and community organizations outside China to promote Beijing’s positions, weaken opposition and shape policy without the message appearing to come directly from the Chinese government.

Federal investigations show how the apparatus operates. One criminal affidavit says a covert Chinese agent was instructed to submit reports about an elected American politician to the “United Front.” He later pleaded guilty and received four years in prison. A separate 2025 indictment described the United Front Work Department as cultivating foreign elites, including by “gathering human intelligence.”

If CCG’s repeated “confirmed” adviser designation was accurate, why did Cutler answer “No”—and why have Congress, CNN and NPR never told their audiences about it?

If it was false, why did CCG repeatedly use her name, document years of collaboration and continue meeting with her in 2026?

Either Cutler failed to disclose a significant Beijing relationship, or a CCP-linked influence group falsely claimed a former senior American official as its adviser for years. Congress and the media organizations elevating her as an authority on Trump’s China policy should determine which one is true.