Just five days after attributing the “largest compromise of election data in history” to China, President Donald Trump downplayed the actions of Beijing, stating that the United States was engaging in similar activities.
On Tuesday, Trump vaguely mentioned that discussions on the issue would take place with Chinese representatives. However, he did not indicate any forthcoming penalties and suggested that the alleged incident was a thing of the past.
“It happened a long time ago. I think China might be a bit different now than it was back then,” he stated, despite having claimed in a primetime address the previous week that China had unlawfully accessed 220 million US voter files since 2020, describing it as an “unprecedented election security nightmare.”
Trump then asserted that the supposed violation was comparable to actions taken by the US against China.
“They do things, and we do things to them,” he remarked. “To be honest, we also engage in activities against them. It’s not a one-sided affair.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on Wednesday that he did not engage in conversations regarding election interference with his Chinese counterpart during an ASEAN conference held in the Philippines.
“We discussed the upcoming visit in September. The main focus was to lay the groundwork for a successful visit. I believe President Xi will have a very positive experience when he arrives in Washington,” Rubio stated.
“These are the two most influential nations globally, especially in terms of economics, and we need to maintain a relationship, even though there are significant differences,” he added, noting that there are also areas for “potential collaboration.”
Rubio later clarified that the president’s recent address alleging Chinese interference in US elections was “a declassification of documents from our intelligence agencies. That’s the information he released.”
Following Trump’s address, a White House representative indicated that preparations were proceeding smoothly for President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the US scheduled for September.
When inquired if Trump was contemplating any actions against China, such as sanctions, the White House did not provide a response.
This report has been updated with further details.
USdaily’s Lauren Chadwick contributed to this report.
