American President Donald Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that these two leaders are very strong and intelligent, who cannot be ‘played’ with.
Trump made this statement on a news program on Sunday night. During the interview, when he was asked who is more difficult to deal with out of Putin and Xi Jinping, Trump said that neither of them is easy to deal with, both are very strong leaders.
Regarding this, Trump further said, ‘Both are very tough. Both are intelligent. They are very strong leaders. These are people who cannot be ‘played’ with. They should be taken very seriously. These are not people who say – Wow, what a beautiful day, the sun is shining, what a nice weather… No, these are serious, strong and smart leaders.’
Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for the Ukraine war and claimed, ‘This war would never have happened during my term. I was given to run a country where Putin thinks he is winning. This war would never have happened during my term. Putin himself said so. This war happened because Joe Biden was president.’
Trump claimed, ‘There was no tension like this in my first term. Nothing happened for four years. Nobody even thought that something like this could happen.’ Referring to his military policies, he said, ‘I strengthened our military in my first term. We make the best weapons in the world. Those weapons were used in the war that started under Biden.’
Talking about his old relationship with Xi Jinping, Trump said, ‘Our relationship has always been good. He is a strong person, a very influential leader.’
However, he admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic has strained the relationship between the two countries, but our relationship is still as good as it can be. Both countries respect each other equally. This relationship is important because both countries are powerful.’
During the interview, Trump also talked about starting a trade war by imposing tariffs on countries of the world. He said, ‘This attitude was strategic and temporary. Yes, there was a little trouble because I was collecting a lot of money from China and everything was going well but then China retaliated. Their strength is rare earth metals, which they have been accumulating for 25-30 years.’
Last week, Trump announced a 10% reduction in tariffs on Chinese goods, from 57% to 47%. He called it a “gesture of goodwill” and said the decision was taken after his positive talks with Xi Jinping in South Korea.
