President Trump on Thursday said China is “far more honorable” as a negotiating partner than Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with whom he’s currently stalemated in negotiations over funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
“We have a lot of great things happening. The economy is incredible. We’re negotiating and having tremendous success with China, and I find China, frankly, in many ways, to be far more honorable than Cryin’ Chuck and Nancy. I really do,” Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for a trip to Texas to visit the border.
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“I think that China is actually much easier to deal with than the opposition party,” he continued about the congressional Democratic leaders, Schumer of New York and Pelosi of California.
The U.S. has been engaged in a series of trade negotiations with China, with the most recent round of talks wrapping up in Beijing on Wednesday.
Trump’s comment about the two Democratic leaders comes after a meeting at the White House on Wednesday over the ongoing partial government shutdown ended with a stalemate.
Trump declared the talks a “total waste of time” after Democrats said they wouldn’t support funding for a border wall.
The president has asked Congress to include $5.7 billion in legislation to reopen the government, parts of which have remained shut down since funding for a slew of federal agencies lapsed Dec. 22.
Democrats, meanwhile, rebuffed Trump’s request and accused the president of slamming the table and raising his voice before walking out on them.
Schumer said Trump’s behavior was “somewhat unbecoming of a presidency.”
Trump and Republican leaders also in attendance refuted Democrats’ characterizations of the president’s conduct.
