China, in his words · First term · № 52
Told a rally "We rebuilt China" with $500 billion a year in trade losses
“We lost, over the years, $500 billion. We'd go $250, $300, $400, $500, $525 billion. We rebuilt China. How stupid are we? No, how stupid are we?”
- Said
- , Rally in Wheeling, West Virginia
- Subject
- trade deficit
- Threat
- Economic threat
- Topic
- Trade & tariffs
- Era
- First term
What the record showed
Immediately before the line, Trump told the crowd, "I have great respect for President Xi and I have great respect for China. But they have not treated us well." Census Bureau figures show the annual U.S. goods deficit with China has never reached $500 billion; it peaked at $418.2 billion in 2018. Trump used the "We rebuilt China" line on other occasions, including a Cabinet meeting on August 16, 2018, and his re-election announcement on June 18, 2019, where he added that China "took us for suckers."