President Donald Trump again signaled Tuesday skepticism that China was ready for a trade deal, suggesting they were waiting for him to lose the 2020 election.
“They should probably wait out our Election to see if we get one of the Democrat stiffs like Sleepy Joe,” he wrote on Twitter. “Then they could make a GREAT deal, like in past 30 years, and continue to ripoff the USA, even bigger and better than ever before.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are currently in China for more trade talks, but Trump did not appear optimistic about any success.
“That is the problem with China, they just don’t come through,” he wrote, noting that they had failed to keep their agreement to purchase agricultural products from the United States.
Trump warned that if he won re-election, China would face a much tougher deal.
“The problem with them waiting, however, is that if & when I win, the deal that they get will be much tougher than what we are negotiating now…or no deal at all,” he wrote.
Trump noted China’s economy was suffering as a result of the trade battle, while the U.S. economy was thriving.
“We have all the cards, our past leaders never got it!” he wrote.
The president also commented on the trade talks on Friday, speaking to reporters at the White House.
“I don’t think personally China would sign a deal if I had a two percent chance of losing the election, I think China would probably say, ‘Let’s wait,’” Trump said, paraphrasing the mindset of leaders like Chinese President Xi Jinping.”‘Let’s wait, maybe Trump will lose and we can deal with another dope and another stiff like the people that allowed these deals to happen.”