WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States President Donald Trump said in a tweet Saturday that China wants to reach a trade agreement with the United States “so badly” and that the country also might be rooting for a Democrat to win the 2020 election.
“China wants to make a deal so badly. Thousands of companies are leaving because of the tariffs, they must stem the flow,” he tweeted, adding, “At the same time China may be hoping for a Democrat to win so they could continue the great ripoff of America, & the theft of hundreds of billions of $’s!”, The Hill reported.
His tweet came a day after he stressed that the US was “talking to China” but is not ready to strike a trade deal.
“We are talking to China. We are not ready to make a deal, but we’ll see what happens,” he told reporters, noting, “They want to make a deal. I’m not ready to make a deal.”
Negotiations between the countries are expected to begin again in September, but tensions have escalated in recent days. The Trump administration has imposed a 25 percent tariff on a separate $250 billion in Chinese products and the president has recently threatened a 10 percent tariff on a separate $300 billion in Chinese products.
So, how smart is it to antagonize and make such accusations against a superpower like China, given the fact that the Democrats have already antagonized and accused another superpower – Russia? The United States of America has long been divided between the two political parties and their struggle has shaped not just the recent history of America, but also that of the entire world.
Russia’s alleged “meddling” was never proven, but the Democrats and the mainstream media which their benefactors largely control refuse to drop the allegations, mostly because it gives them leverage against Trumps’s decision-making, as well as the possibility to recycle the trope against him in the upcoming 2020 election.
However, Trump decided to return fire and he chose a somewhat logical, but potentially dangerous argument. It implies China’s alleged support for the Democrats and in effect also implies possible future accusations of “Russia-style meddling” on part of China. This is quite dangerous because both of these superpowers wield enormous power (Russia militarily and China economically). Democrats already declared Russia their enemy No. 1, so how good is it for the Republicans to do the same with regards to China?