China, in his words · Second term · № 116
Said the U.S. built China's military with money lost on trade
“For years, they were making $5-, $6-, $700 billion—$700 billion—and we'd be making nothing. It was a one-sided—honestly, it—we built their military. We built China's military with the money that we lost for so many years getting ripped off.”
- Said
- , Lunch with Republican senators, Rose Garden, White House
- Subject
- trade deficit and military
- Threat
- Economic and military
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- Second term
What the record showed
Census Bureau data show the U.S. goods deficit with China peaked at $418.2 billion in 2018, the same year total goods imports from China reached $538.5 billion; the deficit was $202.7 billion in 2025. Nine days after the remark Trump met Xi in Busan and rated the meeting "a 12" on a scale of 0 to 10. On May 20, 2026, days after his state visit to Beijing, he said of Xi, "he respects our military tremendously."