White House: Trump intends to tweet in China even though Twitter is banned

President Trump has every intention of tweeting while he's in China, "so long as he can access his Twitter account," a senior administration official said Wednesday.

"The president will tweet whenever he wants," the official told reporters aboard Air Force One, as Trump headed to Beijing for the third leg of his 11-day trip across Asia. "That's his way of communicating directly with the American people."

Twitter and other Western social media platforms are blocked in China, where the government maintains an iron grip on Internet access. Asked if Trump would be able to sidestep the ban, the official said that the U.S. likely had the gear aboard Air Force One to do so.

"I'm sure we've got the gear aboard this airplane to allow that to happen," the official said. "But it is noteworthy that none of the major Western platforms for social media are even allowed to operate in China."

White House: Trump intends to tweet in China even though Twitter is banned© Provided by The Hill White House: Trump intends to tweet in China even though Twitter is banned
Even as he travels across Asia, Trump has still used Twitter to provide updates on his meetings with world leaders and chime in on news back in the U.S.

In a tweet shortly after Democrat Ralph Northam was declared the winner of Virginia's gubernatorial election Tuesday night, for example, the president took to the social media site to place blame on Republican Ed Gillespie for his defeat.

And before that, Trump tweeted his condolences to the victims of a mass shooting at a Texas church.