Washington, Dec 4 || President Donald Trump cast China as a central factor in his administration's economic and national security strategy, arguing that tariffs, tightened technology rules, and new domestic manufacturing incentives had put the United States "in the hottest country anywhere in the world."
As he rolled back Biden-era auto-efficiency regulations at an Oval Office event, Trump on Wednesday (local time) repeatedly cited China in the context of trade, artificial intelligence, semiconductor controls and lawsuits targeting his tariff program.
Trump told lawmakers and industry leaders that the United States had moved ahead of Beijing in strategic technologies. "AI, we're leading China in AI. We're leading everybody in AI. We're leading everybody in everything," he said.
He linked that assertion to his broader claim that the United States was experiencing a wave of industrial investment. "We have the hottest country anywhere in the world. One year ago, we had a dead country, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world."