President Donald Trump revealed to a reporter that the United States engages in controversial actions against China, leaving her at a loss for words.
At the age of 79, he sat down with Maria Bartiromo of Fox News on Friday, January 27, to discuss significant political topics, including ‘Operation Midnight Hammer,’ his relationship with Elon Musk, and the ongoing tensions with China.
The exclusive interview aired on Sunday Morning Futures on Fox News. During the discussion, the veteran journalist questioned the Republican leader about whether America can rely on President Xi Jinping and his communist government.
This inquiry was in light of the trade war between the two nations. The tariff disputes resulted in China imposing a 125 percent levy on US goods, to which Trump responded with a 145 percent tax on Chinese imports.
The exchange continued for a month until both countries reached a compromise, reducing tariffs to only 10 percent for American goods entering China and a 30 percent tariff on Chinese imports to the US for 90 days.
Bartiromo expressed doubts about whether China would adhere to the agreement, referencing numerous reports of China allegedly ‘hacking into our telecom system’ and accusations of ‘stealing intellectual property’ from the US, as well as supplying fentanyl to the country, as Trump claimed in an executive order.
“How do you negotiate with obviously a bad actor and trust them on economics?” Bartiromo asked.
“You don’t think we do that to them? We do. We do a lot of things,” President Trump responded, leaving Bartiromo momentarily speechless.
She followed up by questioning if this is truly how international business operates, to which Trump replied: “That’s the way the world works. It’s a nasty world.”
The day before the interview, the Trump administration declared that it had signed a trade agreement with China.
“We just signed with China the other day,” Trump informed Bloomberg TV late on Thursday. Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed it was ‘signed and sealed’ two days prior.
The deal primarily focuses on the countries’ mutual need for each other’s materials.
China controls nearly the entire global supply of samarium, a rare earth element used in military applications such as fighter jets and missiles.
Back in April, China restricted exports of samarium and other rare minerals, permitting exports only with a license from the Ministry of Commerce.
In exchange for these minerals, China hopes that the US will relax restrictions limiting American computer chip companies on what they can sell to Chinese businesses.
These restrictions, initially introduced by former President Joe Biden and later tightened under the Trump administration, aim to curb China’s ambitions in developing artificial intelligence for both military and commercial purposes.
“Part of the agreement was tariffs coming down and rare earth magnets starting to flow back to the US,” stated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Fox News on Friday.
“They formed the core of a lot of our industrial base. They were not flowing as fast as previously agreed.”