China, in his words · 2016 campaign · № 22
Wrote that China is 'our enemy' and had destroyed entire U.S. industries
“There are people who wish I wouldn't refer to China as our enemy. But that's exactly what they are. They have destroyed entire industries by utilizing low-wage workers, cost us tens of thousands of jobs, spied on our businesses, stolen our technology, and have manipulated and devalued their currency, which makes importing our goods more expensive - and sometimes, impossible.”
- Said
- , Book: Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again
- Subject
- China as enemy
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What the record showed
Asked about the label on ABC's Good Morning America on November 3, 2015, he called China 'an economic enemy.' In Beijing in November 2017 he said, 'I don't blame China,' and blamed past U.S. administrations for the trade deficit. In April 2025, during a tariff escalation, he told reporters 'I don't blame China at all' and said of Xi Jinping, 'I like him. He likes me.' During Xi's state visit to Washington in September 2026 he described a 'truly great friendship,' Al Jazeera reported.