Trump says China ‘impressed’ by Iran war, hints at Beijing resuming US oil imports

“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.”

Trump later said Beijing had “an insatiable appetite for energy, and we have unlimited energy.”

The closed-door meeting appeared to have included a fair bit of discussion around Iran, with Trump arguing that the U.S. action in the region was in Beijing’s interest as well.

“I told him today, I said, ‘You know, we’re helping you’ because I don’t think … China wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon either. I said, ‘These guys are crazy, you don’t need them having a nuclear weapon,'” Trump said.

When pressed on how Xi responded, Trump said he played coy.

“Well, he’s not going to respond too much. He’s a pretty cool guy. He’s not going to say, ‘Oh, gee, that’s a good point!’ I mean, what is he gonna say, ‘What a wonderful point!'” Trump joked.