President Donald Trump said that he offered President Xi Jinping better trade terms with the U.S. in exchange for China’s cooperation in confronting North Korea.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said he was willing to accept a continued trade deficit with China and make “not as good a trade deal as I would normally be able to make” if Beijing agreed to confront its neighbor and ally over recent missile launches that violated U.N. resolutions.
Trump said he had changed his mind about how much influence China exerted over North Korea following Xi’s explanation of the two countries’ relationship. “After listening for 10 minutes,” Trump said, “I realized it’s not so easy.”
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Despite promises made on the campaign trail last year to label China a currency manipulator on his first day in office, Trump reversed his position, saying that China had stopped manipulating its currency and that there were more pressing issues, such as dealing with North Korea.
