Trump says he was joking about 'chosen one' comments on China trade
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on the U.S.-China trade war.
“Somebody had to do it. I am the chosen one.”
They were the words from President Trump about the escalating trade war with China that sparked outrage from commentators across news media outlets this week.
But on Saturday, while tweeting from the G-7 Summit in France, Trump claimed that the joke’s on them.
“When I looked up to the sky and jokingly said ‘I am the chosen one,’ at a press conference two days ago, referring to taking on Trade with China, little did I realize that the media would claim that I had a ‘Messiah complex,'” he said in the tweet.
“They knew I was kidding, being sarcastic, and just having fun. I was smiling as I looked up and around. The MANY reporters with me were smiling also. They knew the TRUTH...And yet when I saw the reporting, CNN, MSNBC and other Fake News outlets covered it as serious news & me thinking of myself as the Messiah. No more trust!" he added.
The president was reiterating his point from a late Friday departure for the summit.
His comments were made after explaining how other American presidents didn’t tackle China’s behavior when negotiating trade deals with Beijing.
“President Clinton, President Bush and President Obama and others should have done this long before me. My life would be much easier, although I enjoy doing it. But my life would be much easier if I just said, ‘Let China continue to rip off the United States,’” he said Wednesday.
“But I can’t do that.”
Tump’s comments on the trade war with China come one day after he announced he’d raise tariffs on Chinese goods.