During a Fox News interview aired on Sunday Morning Futures, former President Donald Trump left host Maria Bartiromo momentarily speechless after implying the U.S. engages in hacking against China.
The exchange began when Bartiromo listed several accusations against China — including cyber intrusions, intellectual property theft, fentanyl trafficking, and mishandling of COVID-19 — and asked how Trump could negotiate with such a “bad actor.”
Trump responded, “You don’t think we do that to them? We do. We do a lot of things.”
The blunt reply briefly caught Bartiromo off-guard. “That’s the way the world works?” she asked.
“That’s the way the world works. It’s a nasty world,” Trump replied.
Trump emphasized the U.S. trade deficit with China and said the country is “paying a lot of tariffs,” but added that he still maintains a “great relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping. He blamed Joe Biden for letting the trade deficit balloon, claiming it reached “a trillion dollars.”
“We had a deal where it was 145 percent tariffs,” Trump said, insisting that the U.S. actions brought China’s economy to a halt. Despite this, he maintained that relations remained strong.
When Bartiromo questioned whether Trump was truly using the leverage he had against China, he pushed back: “If I ever had to use it, I’d use it. But when there’s no reason to use it, that’s good too.”
Bartiromo then brought up the recent arrests of Chinese nationals allegedly trying to smuggle a dangerous pathogen into the U.S. “You don’t know where that came from,” Trump said, speculating whether it originated with the Chinese government or independent actors.
The conversation then turned to rare earth minerals and China’s alleged coercion of companies. Bartiromo asked if China would stop bullying firms for access to sensitive data. Trump said companies “shouldn’t put themselves in that position” and claimed China now depends more on American businesses than before.
“Many companies are relocating back to the U.S.,” he said, arguing China is treating them better now “because they need them under Trump — they didn’t under Biden because they were ripping us off.”
Trump’s comment about U.S. hacking echoed a 2017 Fox News interview in which he downplayed concerns over Russian President Vladimir Putin. When host Bill O’Reilly called Putin “a killer,” Trump famously replied, “There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country’s so innocent?”
