China, in his words · First term · № 75
Said he postponed trade talks because he did not want to talk to China
“I postponed talks with China. You know why? I don't want to deal with them now. I don't want to deal with them now. With what they did to this country and to the world, I don't want to talk to China right now. Okay?”
- Said
- , Exchange with reporters at a border wall briefing in Yuma, Arizona
- Subject
- trade talks
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- First term
What the record showed
Six days later, on August 24, 2020, the U.S. Trade Representative said Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had held a call with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on the Phase One agreement and that 'Both sides see progress and are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure the success of the agreement.' The Peterson Institute for International Economics later found China bought 58 percent of the U.S. exports it had committed to purchase over 2020-21. On October 30, 2025, after meeting Xi Jinping in Busan, Trump called him 'a great leader' and rated the meeting 'a 12' on a scale of 0 to 10.