The US Passport Just Fell Out of the Top 10 — And It's Trump's Own Doing

Trump's back in the White House, and he's doing what he does best: swinging the tariff stick around like a weapon, bullying anyone in his path, and making enemies left and right. The world's had enough. And now we're seeing the consequences play out in real time — America's once-dominant soft power is crumbling. 

Case in point is the latest global passport rankings. The US passport has dropped clean out of the top 10, landing at the 12th place. That's a 12-spot plunge from where it sat a decade ago when it held the number one position. You can call it what you want, but "freefall" seems about right.

The reason: more and more countries are pulling visa-free access for American passport holders. Meanwhile, as the West stumbles, the East rises. China's passport ranking keeps climbing. Hong Kong's SAR passport also moved up one spot from last year. A friend who works in immigration told me we can expect even more countries to grant visa-free access to SAR passports soon. The rankings could climb higher still — closing the gap with the US and UK.

The US passport has crashed to the12th place in the latest global rankings. Those glory days at number one? Long gone. This is what declining soft power looks like.

When Number One Becomes Number Twelve

Every year, London-based immigration consultancy Henley & Partners releases its "Global Passport Index," ranking passports by their "power" — essentially, how many countries you can enter visa-free. 

According to the latest ranking just published, the US passport sits at the 12th place, officially out of the top 10. Sure, countries move up and down all the time. But America's drop is particularly striking. Ten years ago, it held the top spot. For years, it stayed near the top. Who would've thought it'd ever sink below the 10th place?

Experts point to a major factor: in recent years, the US government has tightened its immigration policies, and the number of countries offering reciprocal visa agreements hasn't increased — it's decreased. Right now, US passport holders have visa-free access to 180 destinations. That's 13 fewer than Singapore, which holds the first place.

Trump's recent tariff wars have burned bridges everywhere. He's alienated nation after nation, and the result is predictable: countries that once offered visa-free access to Americans are quietly pulling back. Take Brazil, for example. Fed up with Trump's relentless bullying, Brazil revoked its visa-free arrangement in April this year. It's clear as day — the US passport's declining ranking is directly tied to Trump's behavior.

China, by contrast, has been busy signing visa-free agreements with more countries — across Europe, the Middle East, and South America. China's passport now ranks 64th, up from 94th a decade ago. The correlation with rising national power couldn't be clearer.

A Shift in Global Soft Power

Christian Kaelin, chairman of Henley & Partners and creator of this passport ranking system, put it perfectly: "The declining strength of the US passport over the past decade is more than just a reshuffle in rankings — it signals a fundamental shift in global mobility and soft power dynamics. Nations that embrace openness and cooperation are surging ahead, while those resting on past privilege are being left behind." He didn't name names. But everyone knows exactly who he's talking about.

The UK passport hasn't fared much better. Its latest ranking? Eighth place, down from sixth. It once held the top spot back in 2015, but those glory days are over. The decline started a few years ago. Since Brexit, the UK passport's convenience within Europe has taken a hit — it's not what it used to be.

Hong Kong's SAR passport, on the other hand, performed well in this ranking. It moved up one level from last year to 18th place — just 6 positions behind the US. 

Hong Kong's Passport on the Rise

A friend who knows immigration affairs well told me Hong Kong's passport ranking has been quite solid in recent years, with minimal fluctuation. Whether it can climb higher depends on China's diplomatic development and whether the Hong Kong government can secure visa-free treatment from more countries. 

Recently, Hong Kong has been aggressively developing economic and trade ties with Belt and Road countries, including those in the Middle East and Central Asia. There's a strong chance these countries will grant visa-free access to SAR passports. If that happens, Hong Kong's passport ranking could climb even higher.

Hong Kong's SAR passport climbed another spot to the18th place — and with more Belt and Road nations granting visa-free access, it's only going higher. Catching up to America? Not as far-fetched as it sounds.

So the idea of Hong Kong's SAR passport catching up to the US in rankings? Not so far-fetched after all. Trump, blinded by his own arrogance, keeps making blunder after blunder, undermining America's soft power bit by bit. And that's creating an opening — for China and Hong Kong SAR to accelerate and catch up.

What Say You?

What Say You?

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

C.Y. Leung just dropped receipts on Facebook. Next Digital's cash cow wasn't journalism—it was advertising. And the man squeezing those corporate wallets was Mark Simon, Jimmy Lai's American fixer, who sent letters to Hong Kong's biggest property developers that read like protection racket scripts. Pay up or face hostile coverage. Classic triad tactics, dressed in business English.
  
This isn't speculation. In July 2014, leaked documents from a "Next Digital shareholder" exposed the playbook. Among them: Mark Simon's threatening correspondence with a major corporation's chief executive. The message was blunt—advertise with us or watch your friendly coverage vanish. This is how Lai bankrolled his operation.
 
Mark Simon wore multiple hats beside Jimmy Lai. Former U.S. military intelligence officer. Next Digital's advertising director. The man who built Lai's financial pipeline and then distributed the cash to opposition figures and radical groups. His role was never just about selling ad space.

Jimmy Lai’s fixer Mark Simon used ad “sales” letters like a protection racket—buy space in Apple Daily or get hammered in the coverage.

  
The Shakedown Letters
The leaked documents from July 2014 pulled back the curtain. Media reports at the time confirmed that Mark Simon, during his tenure as advertising director, sent threatening letters to a major conglomerate's top executive. The approach: carrot and stick, heavy on the stick.
  
In the letter, Simon claimed he wanted to repair relations. Then came the threat: refuse to advertise with Next Digital and the "friendly relationship" ends. Translation: attack pieces resume. He followed up with another letter demanding a face-to-face meeting, warning that future cooperation between Next Digital and the conglomerate would become "difficult" without compliance.
  
The leaked documents contained no reply from the conglomerate, so we don't know their response. What we do know: major corporations kept advertising in Apple Daily during that period. The shakedown likely worked.
  
Bankrolling the Opposition
Mark Simon didn't just collect money for Boss Lai—he distributed it to pan-democrats and radical groups. The leaked documents revealed the operation's scope, particularly around the 2014 Occupy Central movement, when funding flowed freely.
 
Two months before Occupy Central formally launched, Jimmy Lai and Mark Simon exchanged emails discussing a "June special project." Lai funneled HK$9.5 million through Simon to the Democratic Party, Civic Party, and others—seed money to push Occupy Central forward.
 
The pair also provided approximately HK$3.5 million for the "June 22 Civil Referendum"—publicity and promotion for a stunt that mobilized citizens to select proposals for "universal suffrage for Chief Executive." This built momentum for Occupy Central. The operation was led by Benny Tai and Robert Chung, but Lai was the financier pulling strings from behind. The leaked emails even caught Lai mocking the "Occupy Trio" as scholars with ideas but no strategy, saying he had no choice but to help them—meaning he wanted control.

Big-brand ad money kept Apple Daily flush with cash, letting Lai pour funds into pan-democrats and radical groups on a grand scale.

 
The Money Pipeline
From 2013 to 2020, Mark Simon controlled Jimmy Lai's cash spigot. Court testimony revealed that Lai opened nine accounts over those seven years, transferring HK$118 million to Simon. Of that sum, HK$93 million went to pan-democratic parties and political figures.
  
The timeline matters. From September to December 2019—right after the anti-extradition bill unrest erupted—Simon distributed funds ranging from HK$8 million to HK$1 million to the Civic Party, Democratic Party, Labour Party, League of Social Democrats, Au Nok-hin, and Lee Yu-hin. Pouring fuel on the fire while Hong Kong burned.
 
Who Is Mark Simon Really?
Simon fled to the United States, so his true identity remains murky. But the evidence points to something beyond a simple business relationship. One detail stands out: Simon's access to White House National Security Council meetings. He knew the latest deployments, including actions following the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act signing and even Trump's thinking, which he then reported back to Boss Lai.
  
Political observers who've tracked Simon speculate he may have operated with dual identities from the start—both Lai's right-hand man, helping establish direct channels to Washington, and a covert operative planted by the Americans to pull the strings of this particular puppet.
 
Given Mark Simon's shadowy role, Western politicians and media portraying Jimmy Lai as a simple "freedom of the press warrior" tells you everything about their credibility. It's a lie told with a straight face.
 
Lai Ting-yiu