President Trump showered Chinese President Xi Jinping with praise during a 2019 trade negotiation meeting, calling him “the greatest Chinese leader in three hundred years,” according to former national security adviser John Bolton’s book.
The remarks allegedly came during the 2019 G-20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, when members of the Trump administration met with the Chinese president and trade negotiators. After Trump agreed to no new tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for prioritizing discussions around potentially increasing the purchase of U.S. agricultural products, Bolton wrote that Trump “exulted” praise on Xi.
“You’re the greatest Chinese leader in three hundred years!” Trump exclaimed, according to a leaked copy of The Room Where It Happened obtained by the Washington Examiner. Bolton said Trump later amended his statement to “the greatest leader in Chinese history.”
Despite Trump’s kind words for the Chinese leader, Bolton said he quickly soured on the negotiations altogether.
“You shouldn’t have gone there. It makes us look weak,” he allegedly told U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
During those same negotiations, Trump allegedly asked the Chinese president to assist in his reelection efforts.
“He then, stunningly, turned the conversation to the coming U.S. presidential election, alluding to China’s economic capability to affect the ongoing campaigns, pleading with Xi to ensure he’d win,” Bolton wrote in his unreleased book. “He stressed the importance of farmers, and increased Chinese purchases of soybeans and wheat in the electoral outcome. I would print Trump’s exact words but the government’s prepublication review process has decided otherwise.”
Lighthizer forcefully denied that conversation ever took place.
“Absolutely untrue, never happened. I was there; I have no recollection of that ever happening. I don’t believe it’s true. I don’t believe it ever happened,” he said Wednesday at a Senate Finance Committee hearing.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Bolton on Tuesday, asking a judge to stop its release, set for June 23, because it contains classified material.
