President Donald Trump has had a… contentious relationship with China during his political career. He accused them of being currency manipulators during his campaign, and later changed his mind once he was provided with facts. He claimed that global warming was made up by the Chinese in order to hurt the interests of the United States. However, after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in April, Trump seemed to warm up to Chinese interests. His attitude seems to be shifting back, as Trump tipped his hand in foreign policy, once again, over Twitter.
In between blasting the Senate yesterday for their failure to move forward with repealing the Affordable Care Act, Trump proved his petulance once again by taking swipes at President Xi. Most likely in response to news that North Korea had a successful missile launch, Trump got angry thumbs and sent out these gems:
I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
…they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2017
Once again, Trump decided that massive, international issues are “easily” solvable. Trump also used a lovely choice of words talking about “foolish past leaders” who allowed China to make money off of manufacturing and trade, yet he neglected to bring up how many of his own family businesses’ products are made overseas in, you guessed it, China. Whatever happened to all of Trump’s talk during “Made in America” week? You know, that time when he got to play in the big truck again?
Trump has repeatedly made the United States look foolish on the international stage by using social media to send out emotional, uneducated, and poorly thought out messages. Whether he is trying to ban transgender soldiers or shape foreign policy, his angry Twitter rants need to stop. I’m sure President Xi is terribly upset about how “disappointed” Trump is in him. Watch a BBC News report on Trump’s latest China comments below:
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons – D. Miles Cullen / Public Domain.
