WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Trump gave the speech partly in response to criticism from other Republican, as well as Democratic presidential candidates and to outline his policy agenda for a possible presidential term.
“The problem with free trade is you need smart people on our side. We need smart people. And when you don’t have smart people, free trade is not a good thing because it’s killing us.”
In his speech, Trump argued it is almost impossible for the United States to do business with China because of the country conducting currency manipulation and having excessively high taxes.
“They manipulate their currency better than any country in the history of the world. And if you want to do business with China, it’s almost impossible. Because, believe me, they tax you. We don’t tax because we have people that are stupid.”
China has repeatedly denied reports it has manipulated its currency for economic benefit.
Trump noted that despite his public criticism of China, the Chinese love him privately, because of his continued investments and partnerships with businesses there.
He illustrated the point by saying he just signed a lease with the world’s largest bank that happens to be Chinese, and consistently sells apartments to Chinese customers valued at least nine billion dollars.
Based on a new Washington Post-ABC News poll, Trump leads the Republican presidential candidates and has almost twice the support than former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.
