US President Donald Trump has accused China of mishandling the coronavirus pandemic to affect America and the world is to allow him to lose his re-election bid in November this year.
Trump said the trade deal he signed with China aimed to reduce US trade deficits with China, might have compelled the country to support his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, to win the race to ease the pressure on US-China trade relations and other issues.
“China will do anything they can to have me lose this race,” Trump said in an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office.
“They’re constantly using public relations to try to make it like they’re innocent parties.”
Trump said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for Beijing over the virus. He added: “I can do a lot.”
Asked whether he was considering tariffs, Trump said: “There are many things I can do. We’re looking for what happened.”
The billionaire businessman said he did not expect the upcoming November election to be a referendum on his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“I don’t believe the polls,” Trump said. “I believe the people of this country are smart. And I don’t think that they will put a man in who’s incompetent.”
“And I don’t mean incompetent because of a condition that he’s got now. I mean he’s incompetent for 30 years. Everything he ever did was bad. His foreign policy was a disaster,” Trump said.