‘President Xi just had a bad moment’: Trump says US wants to ‘help’ China, not ‘hurt’ it

US President Donald Trump on Sunday (Oct 12) said that the United States does not want to “hurt” China but “help”. He made the remarks days after slapping an additional 100 per cent tariffs on Beijing on Friday (Oct 10). Trump cited China’s sweeping export controls reason behind the move, calling Beijing’s decisions unprecedented and global in impact. The tariffs are expected to take effect starting on November 1.

“Don’t worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn’t want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!! President DJT,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Trump’s remarks come after US Vice President JD Vance warned of escalating tensions with China, urging Beijing to “choose the path of reason” as the trade war between the two countries continues.

“We’re going to find out a lot in the weeks to come about whether China wants to start a trade war with us or whether they actually want to be reasonable,” Vance told Fox News on Sunday.

Before announcing sweeping tariffs on China, Trump accused Beijing of “sinister and hostile” moves, warning that he could respond with a “massive increase of tariffs” on Chinese goods entering the US.

“Some very strange things are happening in China! They are becoming very hostile, and sending letters to Countries throughout the world, that they want to impose export controls on each and every element of production having to do with Rare Earths, and virtually anything else they can think of, even if it’s not manufactured in China,” Trump had said.

“Nobody has ever seen anything like this but, essentially, it would ‘clog’ the markets, and make life difficult for virtually every country in the world, especially for China,” he added.