Five days after blaming China for “the largest compromise of election data in history,” President Donald Trump shrugged off Beijing’s actions and mentioned the United States was doing the identical factor.
Trump mentioned vaguely on Tuesday that the US would talk about the matter with Chinese officers. But he previewed no punishment and claimed the alleged breach was within the rearview mirror.
“It took place a long time ago. I think China is maybe a little bit different today than it was then,” he mentioned, regardless of his accusation final week throughout a primetime speech that China had illicitly acquired 220 million US voter information beginning in 2020 and that the “data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare.”
Trump on Tuesday then mentioned the alleged infringement was no completely different from US actions in opposition to China.
“They do things and we do things to them,” he mentioned. “I’ll be honest, we do things to them too. It’s not a one-way street.”
A day after Trump’s speech, a White House official mentioned planning was continuing apace for President Xi Jinping’s state go to to the United States in September.
The White House didn’t reply when requested whether or not Trump was contemplating any repercussions for China, together with sanctions.