President Donald Trump claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping was “impressed” by the U.S.’s performance in its war with Iran and that it may soon resume imports of oil from the United States.Speaking with Fox News’s Sean Hannity after his meeting with the Chinese leader, Trump expressed his belief that a good relationship with the other superpower was a good thing and that positive relationships with “very powerful” countries are desirable. He then suggested the view was mutual vis-a-vis China and that Beijing gained further respect for the U.S. during the war with Iran.After boasting of successes in Venezuela and Iran, Trump said he and Xi spoke about the matter at their meeting.
“We talked about it today, it’s very interesting, but they’re impressed. We have a great military, we have the greatest military we’ve ever had,” Trump said.
China was one of the countries that stood to lose the most from the war in Iran, given its close economic relationship with the pariah state. Trump suggested they were striking a deal to solve that matter, with the U.S. substituting Iran’s role in providing energy exports.
“[Xi’s] been very good. They get a lot of their oil, 40% of their oil from [Iran]. So, what has happened, and one thing I think that we’re going to make a deal on, is they’ve agreed they want to buy oil from the United States. They’re going to go to Texas, we’re going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas, and to Louisiana, and to Alaska,” the president said, describing it as a “big thing.”
