Trump Reportedly Going to Make Some Moves on China to Allegedly ‘Sabo’ Biden

Donald Trump has lost the 2020 US presidential election, but he’s not bothered about leaving gracefully.

Despite the fact that several news outlets have already called the race, Trump has refused to concede defeat.

Sorry, let me correct myself: Trump has refused to concede defeat for more than two hours. 

On Sunday (15 Nov), Trump admitted that his opponent Joe Biden had indeed won the race, but only because the election was “rigged”.

He won because the Election was Rigged. NO VOTE WATCHERS OR OBSERVERS allowed, vote tabulated by a Radical Left privately owned company, Dominion, with a bad reputation & bum equipment that couldn’t even qualify for Texas (which I won by a lot!), the Fake & Silent Media, & more! https://t.co/Exb3C1mAPg

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020

Two hours later, he took it back, saying he conceded “nothing”.

He only won in the eyes of the FAKE NEWS MEDIA. I concede NOTHING! We have a long way to go. This was a RIGGED ELECTION!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 15, 2020

Clearly, Trump is going to make Biden’s journey to the White House an incredibly bumpy one, which could include souring relationships with a superpower.

Trump Reportedly Going to Make Some ‘Hard-line’ Moves on China 

Trump is planning to enact some hard-line policies against China in the last 10 weeks of his presidential term, according to an Axios report.

Though the report didn’t name anyone, Axios claimed it spoke to “senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the plans”.

According to the report, Trump plans to impose sanctions or restrict trade with more Chinese companies, government entities, and officials.

The Trump administration will claim that it’s a response to China’s alleged human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, or their threat to U.S. national security.

This last-minute crackdown on China has already begun, as Trump signed an executive order last Thursday (12 Nov) barring American investments in 31 Chinese businesses believed to have ties to the Chinese military.

Administration officials are reportedly planning to expand that list, according to Bloomberg. 

But why is Trump doing this?

Reversing Policies Would Be “Political Suicide”

In the remaining weeks of his term, Trump should be helping Biden ease into the presidential seat, but he’s placing several thorns on it instead.

In an interview with Axios, National Security Council spokesperson John Ullyot said that reversing Trump’s latest policies against China would be political suicide.

“Unless Beijing reverses course and becomes a responsible player on the global stage, future U.S. presidents will find it politically suicidal to reverse President Trump’s historic actions,” he said.

Hasty Orders Could Mean Trump Has Accepted Defeat

As CNN pointed out, Trump and his team were previously hesitant to take some of these hardline moves against China because they were worried about the China trade deal falling apart.

But the fact that they are reportedly planning to hastily enact some of these policies shows that they believe their time in the White House is coming to an end.

And, in their eyes, who cares how these policies affect the next president?

Dealing with China will be difficult for Biden, whose advisers say he will work with allies to oppose some of Beijing’s moves, such as their gradual dimming of democracy in Hong Kong.

So, Trump may indeed leave the White House like he’s supposed to, but Biden may end up inheriting a mess as a result of Trump’s lack of graciousness.

Featured Image: Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock.com