Amidst renewed trade frictions with China, US President Donald Trump on Sunday (local time) claimed that he will not let the Asian country become the top superpower while in office.
Both the countries have been locked in a trade dispute since last year. They have held regular negotiations in a bid to find a solution to the trade feud, which recently hit a roadblock just as a trade deal was in its last stages. The United States has since accused China of backing out of the deal at the last moment.
"Our economy has been fantastic. Because they were catching us, they were going to be bigger than us. If Hillary Clinton became president, China would have been a much bigger economy than us by the end of her term. And now it's not even going to be close," Trump told Fox News.
Trump also stated that China is "obviously not doing well" like the US. "We're taking in billions of dollars. China is obviously not doing well like us," he said.
He further said that he was "very happy" with the Washington-Beijing trade spat, adding that even though China wants to become the world's top superpower, it's "not going to happen with me," according to Sputnik.
The United States recently increased tariffs on Chinese goods amounting to over 200 billion US dollars even as the two sides were amid negotiations. In retaliation, China said that it would be increasing duties on USD 60 billion worth US imports from June 1.
"China felt they were being beaten so badly in the recent negotiation that they may as well wait around for the next (US) election," Trump added.