President Trump touted his relationship with China’s Xi Jinping and complemented the Chinese leader for his reelection and the fact that his name and dogma were now written into his party’s constitution.
‘It’s really virtually never happened in China,’ Trump told Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs in an interview that aired Wednesday night. ‘Now some people might call him the king of China. But he’s called president,’ the president added.
Dobbs, in a friendly interview, had asked the president about his relationship with Xi, noting how the ‘so-called intelligentsia of this country’s foreign policy establishment’ had indicated to Trump that he was wasting his time trying to court the Chinese leader.
Trump brought up the fact that the two leaders had spoken on the phone just minutes before, something the president had tweeted about earlier.
‘Spoke to President Xi of China to congratulate him on his extraordinary elevation. Also discussed NoKo & trade, two very important subjects!’ Trump tweeted after the call.
President Trump sat down Wednesday with Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs and talked about his relationship with newly reelected Chinese President Xi Jinping
President Trump (right) welcomed President Xi (left) to his Mar-a-Lago estate in West Palm Beach, Florida in April
President Trump (left) told Fox Business Network’s Lou Dobbs (right) that he had just spoken to Xi on the phone and marveled at his tightening grip on power saying some could call him the ‘king of China’ though he goes by president
Speaking to Dobbs he continued heaping on praise.
‘He’s a powerful man. I happen to think he’s a very good person,’ Trump said. ‘Now with that being said, he represents China, I represent the USA, so, you know, there’s going to always be conflict.’
‘But we have a very good relationship,’ Trump continued. ‘People say we have the best relationship of any president-president, because he’s called president also.’
There, the American president suggested with Xi’s newly defined power he could be considered a ‘king.’
‘But we have a very good relationship and that’s a positive thing,’ Trump said, adding that he’d like to have a good relationship with Russia too.
Trump’s phone conversation with Xi came as the leader was formally handed a second term in power and both his name and his dogma were written into the party constitution – putting him on par with the nation’s founder, communist revolutionary Mao Zedong.
The party meeting also saw Xi fuel speculation about how long he will remain in power by not anointing a possible successor to take over in five years’ time.
Donald Trump sent his best wishes to Xi Jinping over Twitter on Wednesday, congratulating him on his role atop China’s new leadership lineup
Trump will visit with Xi next month during a nearly two-week-long Asia trip
The 64-year-old Xi was formally handed a second term during the 19th Communist Party Congress, and jueled speculation about an indefinite term of office when he ignored tradition and didn’t name a successor
Trump and Xi will meet in China next month during the U.S. president’s first official visit to Asia.
Trump will also stop in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines during the Nov. 3-14 trip.
China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported that Xi expressed a desire to work with Trump to ‘jointly blueprint future development of China-US ties.’
Trump’s trip is more broadly expected to be dominated by concerns about North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear programs.
Successive White Houses have viewed Xi’s meteoric rise to become China’s most powerful leader since Deng Xiaoping with cautious optimism.
Xi also announced the members of his new ruling council Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
Delegates to the Communist Party Congress added Xi’s name and his policies to the party constitution, putting him on a par with Mao Zedong
They hope it will lead to more streamlined decision making and see benefits in having an interlocutor who can afford to take some risks domestically.
A senior White House official told the South Chine Morning Post that ‘the president has a very good working relationship with Xi Jinping. He wants to continue building on what the president terms a constructive and results-oriented relationship.’
‘The 19th Party Congress provides the opportunity for us to get some things done in the relationship to put us on a good footing deep into the future,’ the aide said