Donald Trump denies quid pro quo with China on trade deal and inquiry into Joe Biden and son
- ‘No, it has nothing to do with it,’ he said when asked if he would be more likely to strike a deal if Beijing investigated the Bidens
- Democrats accused Trump of holding US economic and trade interests hostage for the sake of political gain going into next year’s election
The White House scrambled to play down concerns on Friday that willingness from China to investigate Joe Biden and his son would lead to progress in resolving the trade war.
Amid a rapidly escalating impeachment storm surrounding US President Donald Trump, his appeal to Beijing on Thursday to look into his political opponent infuriated Democrats, who accused Trump of holding US economic and trade interests hostage for the sake of political gain going into next year’s election.
Before his appeal to the Chinese government, Trump had said that “if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous – tremendous power.”
But speaking to reporters a day later outside the White House, Trump insisted that trade negotiations and the matter of the Bidens were entirely separate.
“No, it has nothing to do with it,” he said when asked whether he would be more likely to strike a deal with the Chinese if they investigated Biden.