China, in his words · Before politics · № 2

On China

Said the Chinese 'are looking to do damage to us economically' and are 'building up a military'

“But the fact is that the Chinese are looking to do damage to us economically. They're also building up a military.”
Said
, Interview with CNN's Piers Morgan
Subject
economic and military rise
Threat
Economic and military
Topic
Foreign policy
Era
Before politics

What the record showed

In the same interview Trump said of the Chinese, 'I don't think they're friends. I think they're enemies,' and proposed a 25 percent tax on all Chinese products. The Pentagon's 2020 report to Congress, released Sept. 1, 2020, in his fourth year in office, stated that China had 'the largest navy in the world, with an overall battle force of approximately 350 ships and submarines.' Average U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods stood at 19.3 percent in February 2020, and China bought 58 percent of the U.S. exports it had committed to purchase under the Phase One agreement signed on Jan. 15, 2020.

Sources

  1. Piers Morgan: One-on-One with Donald Trump; New York Congressman Resigns Over Internet Photo (transcript, aired February 9, 2011) CNN Transcripts, Feb 9, 2011
  2. Pentagon Assessment: China Now Has World's Largest Navy Seapower Magazine, Sep 1, 2020
  3. US-China Trade War Tariffs: An Up-to-Date Chart Peterson Institute for International Economics, Nov 14, 2025
  4. China bought none of the extra $200 billion of US exports in Trump's trade deal Peterson Institute for International Economics, Feb 8, 2022