Trump's staff throw away burner phones & everything given to them by China before leaving Beijing

Staff and press from the White House who travelled alongside U.S. President Donald Trump have thrown everything given to them by China, ahead of their departure from Beijing.

Items thrown in a bin just before departure

The items were thrown in a bin at the foot of the staircase leading up to Air Force One.

According to The Hill, this included press credentials and delegation pins.

They also had to dispose of burner phones to prevent any possibility of spying, The Independent reported.

A Fox News host said sources had told her:

"I have sources that were on the plane too, and they had to leave their American phones, turn them off, they did not take them into China – or if they did, they left them on the planes, they turned them off. They didn’t use them."

She added, "All the Americans were using burner phones, and they had to destroy them and leave them in China. They don’t want anything that belongs to the Chinese left on that plane because they could be bugged, there could be spies."

Tensions behind-the-scenes between the American and Chinese press and security

The Hill further reported that despite the friendliness between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on camera, there was tension between the American and Chinese press and security.

During Trump's meeting with Xi at the Temple of Heaven, Chinese officials refused to let a Secret Service agent accompanying the American journalists enter because the agent was carrying a firearm.

This led to a 30-minute-long argument as the Americans refused to proceed without the agent. It was only resolved when another agent who had been cleared came to show them inside, The Independent reported.

A White House staffer was also knocked down and trampled upon by Chinese reporters who were rushing into the venue, leaving the staffer bruised and shaken but not seriously injured.

Another incident occurred at the end of the meeting when it was time to leave, with Chinese officials preventing the White House press pool from joining Trump's presidential motorcade.

This resulted in another argument, which ended with a White House staffer telling the Chinese that the Trump administration would not treat them this way.