Featured Trump says he held off on China sanctions because of trade deal: report

[beijingwalker]

Trump says he held off on China sanctions because of trade deal
Published: June 21, 2020 at 7:24 p.m. ET

Mike Murphy

President Donald Trump said he did not sanction China for building mass-detention camps for Uighurs and other ethnic minorities because doing so would have jeopardized the trade deal signed in January, Axios reported Sunday.

In an interview held Friday, Axios reported Trump said: "Well, we were in the middle of a major trade deal," when asked why the Treasury Department sanctions had not been enacted. "I put tariffs on China, which are far worse than any sanction you can think of," he told Axios. Last Wednesday, Trump signed a bill targeting Chinese officials for human-rights abuses over the camps. Congress approved the bill in May, but Trump signed it the same day that John Bolton's upcoming book claimed Trump gave Chinese President Xi Jinping the green light to build the camps.

Bolton also claimed Trump sought reelection help from China, which Trump denied to Axios. "What's good for the country is also good for an election," he told Axios. "But I don't go around saying, 'Oh, help me with my election.' Why would I say that?"

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/t...tions-because-of-trade-deal-report-2020-06-21

 

[Joe Shearer]

Trump says he held off on China sanctions because of trade deal
Published: June 21, 2020 at 7:24 p.m. ET

Mike Murphy

President Donald Trump said he did not sanction China for building mass-detention camps for Uighurs and other ethnic minorities because doing so would have jeopardized the trade deal signed in January, Axios reported Sunday.

In an interview held Friday, Axios reported Trump said: "Well, we were in the middle of a major trade deal," when asked why the Treasury Department sanctions had not been enacted. "I put tariffs on China, which are far worse than any sanction you can think of," he told Axios. Last Wednesday, Trump signed a bill targeting Chinese officials for human-rights abuses over the camps. Congress approved the bill in May, but Trump signed it the same day that John Bolton's upcoming book claimed Trump gave Chinese President Xi Jinping the green light to build the camps.

Bolton also claimed Trump sought reelection help from China, which Trump denied to Axios. "What's good for the country is also good for an election," he told Axios. "But I don't go around saying, 'Oh, help me with my election.' Why would I say that?"

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/t...tions-because-of-trade-deal-report-2020-06-21

Trump's statements are not worth the spit that would land on a printed version once any rational person reads it.