CNN’s John Berman struggled to make sense of Donald Trump Friday as the president rambled into a wide-ranging news conference aboard Air Force One.
Trump held a press gaggle upon departure from a state visit in China, and reporters peppered him with questions about his talks with Xi Jinping on Iran, Taiwan and other major topics.
“[He] made something of an announcement there that I think underscores what’s happened over the last few days, and this was on arms sales to Taiwan,” Berman said. “There is a proposal before him for $14 billion worth of new arms sales to Taiwan. After meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, President Trump says he has made no commitment on this. He would not commit to those $14 billion in sales that Congress very much wants to see, the State Department very much called for.”
“The president would not commit to it,” Berman added, “and he acknowledged it was discussed with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which goes against a 1982 agreement between the United States and Taiwan, and by the way, thank God for David Sanger of the New York Times on board that flight, pressing the president on several fronts. But Taiwan, just one of the many issues discussed on board.”
“CNN News Central” co-host Kate Bolduan then turned the conversation to trade and tariffs.
“The president continues to push that that there are big deals and big commitments that have been made,” Bolduan said. “The one that has been announced is that that China is going to be buying 200 Boeing jets. Question has been also, he says, billions and billions of dollars of soybeans they’re going to buy. But the president has not said what that commitment is. Soybean futures fell on the news of the lack of detail on it, and the president also saying that was asked if they were able to extend the truce on the trade war with China. The president said we didn’t discuss tariffs, it wasn’t brought up.”
China has not formally responded to any of Trump’s claims, noted co-host Sara Sidner, and she flagged one of the president’s claims about the talks.
“He talked about Xi telling him that America is the hottest country in the world, saying that, you know, the country was doing really poorly under Biden and that it was miraculous, a virtual miracle, as the president put it,” Sidner said. “He said that Xi said Trump has done and, I mean, none of us have seen any of reporting from there. That indicates that that is what Xi said, at least publicly, and I think he said he said it publicly.”
“I will note,” Berman interjected, “it doesn’t sound like the kind of language that Xi Jinping of China uses. ‘America is the hottest country in the world,’ but we’ll see if there is a response from China on that.”
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