‘I Certainly Feel Differently’: Trump Addresses His Relationship With China’s President Xi
President Donald Trump once had glowing comments about Chinese President Xi Jinping. But as COVID-19 has spread around, his view of the Chinese leader has changed. On Tuesday, during an interview with Outkick’s founder…
President Donald Trump once had glowing comments about Chinese President Xi Jinping.
But as COVID-19 has spread around, his view of the Chinese leader has changed.
On Tuesday, during an interview with Outkick’s founder, Clay Travis, Trump was asked about his relationship with Xi.
He said, “I used to have a very good relationship with him.”
Trump continued to note the new U.S China trade deal signed earlier this year, “It was a great deal for us. China’s ripped off our country for 30 years. Nobody’s ever done anything like what they’ve done.”
“But I had a great relationship with President Xi,” Trump said, adding, “But I didn’t like what took place. This is not trade. This is a thousand times the trade deal, what happened with all of the death and all of the world — the world had to shut down. It’s a disgrace what happened.”
Trump continued to note that his view of Xi has changed drastically over the past few months as COVID-19 spread around the world, “I certainly feel differently … I had a very, very good relationship. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time.”
And he was clear about what caused him to view Xi differently, “But once the plague came in from China — I call it the plague — once the plague came in from China the relationship changed. No question about it. It would be hard to believe that it wouldn’t change.”