US President Donald Trump said he believed China's handling of the Corona virus was evidence that Beijing was "ready to do everything in its power" to be defeated in his bid to win the presidency for a second term in November's elections.
In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office the day before yesterday, Trump spoke in a sharp tone about China, and said that he was studying various options regarding the consequences that he should bear due to the virus.
"I can do a lot," he added. Trump, who many accuse of not moving fast enough to prepare the United States to cope with the spread of the virus, said he believed China should have played a more prominent role in introducing the world to the Corona virus more quickly.
Trump was asked if he was considering resorting to imposing duties on China, but he did not want to go into details. "There are many things I can do," he said. We are studying what happened. ”
"China is ready to do everything in its power to lose this race," he said. He added that he believed that Beijing wanted to win his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in order to ease the pressure imposed on him by China on trade and other issues.
"They always use public relations in an effort to make it seem like they are an innocent party," he said of Chinese officials.
He added that the trade agreement he concluded with Chinese President Xi Jinping, aimed at reducing the chronic US trade deficit with China, had been "severely disrupted" by the economic repercussions of the virus.
Trump said he was satisfied with the way a large number of state governors are working under the influence of the virus, but he said some need to improve their performance, but he did not mention specific names.
For its part, China said yesterday that it has no interest in interfering in the US presidential elections.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on a daily briefing that the elections are an internal matter for the United States and that Beijing hopes the Americans will not try to drag China into it.
China: We have no interest in interfering with the US presidential elections.