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President Donald Trump warned the U.K. Thursday against strengthening ties with China, hours after Prime Minister Keir Starmer met President Xi Jinping in Beijing to reset relations after a long period of strain.
Trump’s remarks came as Starmer and Xi had called for a renewed “strategic partnership,” highlighting the pressures facing them amid global instability.
Speaking to Fox News while traveling to Florida for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary, Trump was asked about the U.K. “getting into business with China.”
“Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that,” Trump said. “And it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China.”
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President Donald Trump warned the U.K. it is “very dangerous” to deepen business ties with China after Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Xi Jinping in Beijing. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)
Trump added that China was not the solution for Western economies despite his personal relationship with Xi. “I know China very well. I know President Xi is a friend of mine, and I know him very well, but that’s a big hurdle to get over,” he said, before joking that Beijing might ban Canada from playing ice hockey.
“That’s not good. Canada’s not going to like that,” he added.
Trump had previously criticized Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney after Carney’s visit to China and warned then that “China will eat Canada alive.”
Trump’s latest comments followed an 80-minute meeting in Beijing between Starmer and Xi in which the leaders sought to thaw relations after several years of diplomatic chill.
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U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via Reuters)
The Associated Press reported that neither leader mentioned Trump directly in…
