-
Let me ask you about adversaries,
-
because among Trump
-
supporters is a view:
-
Because Trump is so crude,
-
so obnoxious, so overbearing,
-
so insulting,
-
he must impress the Chinese
-
no end. That,
-
that kind of—
-
they must look at him and say:
-
Here is one rough, tough guy who
-
we better not fool around with.
-
And, you know,
-
Obama was so polite, and
-
George W. Bush was so affable.
-
We didn't,
-
we don't respect them, but
-
we can respect this guy.
-
And the world,
-
the world now
-
fears Donald—fears
-
to cross Donald Trump.
-
What is your assessment
-
of what the adversaries think?
-
Well, China's laughing, okay?
-
China is—
-
plays a long game.
-
They understand that in
-
a trade war
-
with the United States,
-
in many ways,
-
they have the upper hand. Why?
-
In large part
-
because they're not a democracy.
-
And they can withstand
-
economic pain, blame it—
-
blame it on the United States,
-
and their people will eat it.
-
That's not going to work here
-
in the United States.
-
And plus,
-
China is looking at the
-
damage that we are doing to
-
economies around Asia
-
and seeing an opportunity
-
for them to fill a vacuum
-
in the bilateral
-
trade relationship
-
that we've left.
-
Moreover,
-
China
-
played Trump's game with him,
-
and he said,
-
Trump said, you know,
-
we're going to tariff
-
you this amount,
-
and China said, okay,
-
I'll call you and raise you.
-
And they went back and forth
-
until it got to a crazy
-
level.
-
But the Chinese are
-
not backing down.
-
And the Chinese,
-
moreover, are saying,
-
beyond the trade room:
-
We've got a whole bunch
-
of non-trade things
-
we can do
-
to make your life miserable,
-
Donald Trump.
-
And that's
-
when they went after rare earths
-
and a whole bunch of of other,
-
important
-
products, commodities,
-
that we depend on, that
-
China only can provide.