China, in his words · 2024 campaign · № 92
Says China uses U.S. trade dollars to buy American assets and build its military
“We foolishly send China hundreds of billions of dollars and China uses those dollars to buy up our real estate, our factories, and our wealth-creating industries. And they also use all that money to build up their military and they're doing it rapidly.”
- Said
- , Agenda47 campaign video on trade deficits
- Subject
- trade deficit and military
- Threat
- Economic and military
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- 2024 campaign
What the record showed
He had used a similar line at 2022 rallies, saying in Warren, Michigan, on Oct. 1, 2022, that the country was allowing China to use "the trillions of dollars it has taken from us, to build a military to rival our own." The U.S. goods trade deficit with China was $382.3 billion in 2022 and $202.7 billion in 2025, according to Census Bureau data. On Dec. 8, 2025, he said Nvidia would be allowed to ship its H200 artificial intelligence chips to approved customers in China on the condition that the U.S. government receives a 25% cut.