In an interview with Fox Business on Thursday, President Trump continued to rail at China about the coronavirus outbreak, saying the ink had not dried on his trade deal with President Xi and “the plague came over,” adding that the US-Chinese relationship “doesn’t feel the same to me.”
Elaborating on his previous claims of a good relationship with Xi, Trump now says he doesn’t even want to speak with him, and suggested “there are many things we could do. We could do things. We could cut off the whole relationship.”
Trump has long had problems with major US trading partners, viewing trade as unfair. He took that position again today, saying that if he cut all Chinese ties the US would “save $500 billion.”
Cutting China ties is impractical, as evidenced by the harm done to US businesses by Trump’s trade war. Though Trump continues with the narrative that cutting trade is beneficial, it clearly hasn’t been, and it is likely an empty threat.
