Donald Trump boasts China respects his 'very, very, large brain'

Nick Charity27 September 2018

Donald Trump today said that he is respected in China due to his "very, very large brain".

The US president said in a briefing to reporters that the Chinese supposedly respect his intellect.

Mr Trump's boast came after a speech to the UN General Assembly on his accomplishments.

He was criticised for saying in the speech that his administration has "accomplished more than any other administration in history".

During the press briefing, he addressed wide-ranging issues including trade, North Korea and mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanuagh.

President Donald Trump held a press conference yesterday after days of meetings at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Getty Images

He also doubled down on his accusations that China was meddling in the US congressional elections - following his earlier attacks that the country "floods the US with products, subsidised industries and steals intellectual property".

He declined to provide any evidence to back the claims but said China would like to see him lose an election because "they've never been challenged like this."

He said: "We have evidence. It'll come out, yeah, I can't tell you now, but it came — it didn't come out of nowhere, that I can tell you. Now they've actually admitted that they're going after farmers, I mean, I think most of you can cover that."

The US and China are locked in a trade war over tariffs after Mr Trump stuck a 10 per cent levy on $200bn of Chinese goods, set to rise again to 25 per cent.

Responding to question on relations with the country, he said: "From what I hear, if you look at Mr. Pillsbury, the leading authority on China ... he was saying that China has total respect for Donald Trump and for Donald Trump's very, very large.. a'brain. He said, 'Donald Trump, they don't know what to do'."

Michael Pillsbury is the director for Chinese strategy at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank. He had told Fox News in August that Beijing viewed Trump as a "superior" president, and "so smart" - whereas China typically "looks down on us as not being very bright."

Beijing called the President's actions "the greatest source of uncertainty and risk for the recovery of the global economy", as they also hiked up taxes on US imports.

Mr Trump also claimed at the press conference that world leaders "weren't laughing at me, they were laughing with me", after the UN delegates audibly laughed during his opening remarks.

"The fake news said people laughed at President Trump. They didn't laugh at me. People had a good time with me. We were doing it together. We had a good time. They respect what I've done."

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