Footage from Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign has been circulating on social media, showing him speaking admiringly about Xi and his power over the one-party state that is frequently criticized over human rights abuses.
“He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist,” Trump said at one event.
“They want me to say he’s just of average intelligence, OK,” he continued. “But the look, the whole thing — he stands in front of a million soldiers, they walk by, and they want me to say bad things. I can’t say bad things.”
During the Beijing summit, Trump struck a similarly warm tone in his face-to-face remarks, telling Xi: “You are a great leader.”
“It’s an honor to be with you,” he added. “It’s an honor to be your friend, and the relationship between China and the USA is going to be better than ever before.”
On social media, critics called out his previous fawning over Xi:
