During an interview aired on Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” President Donald Trump said that China’s Xi Jinping “probably” can influence Iran “but, look, he’s not coming in with guns, he’s not coming in with rifles, they’re not coming in shooting.” And Xi “hasn’t done anything hostile.”
Trump said that China’s support of Iran came up in the talks, and “when you say support, they’re not fighting a war with us or anything. He said he’s not going to give them military equipment. That’s a big statement. … But, at the same time, he said they buy a lot of their oil there, and they’d like to keep doing that. He’d like to see Hormuz Strait opened. … He didn’t like the fact that they’re charging tolls. I don’t know if they are or not. I don’t know who would pay them. Where do they put the money? Their country’s decimated. They’re charging tolls, where’s the money gone?”
Host Sean Hannity then asked, “Do you think President Xi and China have the ability to influence the Iranians, considering they are one of their biggest customers?”
Trump answered, “Yeah, probably, but, look, he’s not coming in with guns, he’s not coming in with rifles, they’re not coming in shooting. Somebody said, he’s been very good. They get a lot of their oil, 40% of their oil from that location. So, what has happened, and one thing I think that we’re going to make a deal on, he’s — they’ve agreed they want to buy oil from the United States.”
Later, Trump said, “I don’t think China wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon either. I said, they’re stone-cold crazy, you don’t need them having a nuclear weapon either.”
Hannity then asked, “What did he say?”
Trump answered, “Well, he’s not going to respond too much, he’s a pretty cool guy. He’s not going to say, oh gee, that’s a good point. … I don’t think he wants them to have — no, he would like to see it end. But he’s been good about it, hasn’t done anything hostile.”
Later, Trump said that Xi said he’d like to see a deal made and said he’d like to be a help.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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