The pandemic “hit” the “terrible relationship” of the American President with his Chinese counterpart

The US President Donald Trump said today that his relationship with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has deteriorated in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and its been long time speaking to him.

“I had a very good relationship with him,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Sports Radio, where he referred, among other things, to the “first phase” of the trade deal between the two countries last year. “I had a terrible relationship with President Xi. I like him, but I don’t feel the same now.”

As Donald Trump explained, his feelings changed because of COVID-19.

“I definitely feel different. “I had a very, very good relationship and I haven’t spoken to him in a long time.”

Trump, who is seeking re-election in the November 3 presidential election, has put the issue of China at the center of his 2016 presidential campaign while bragging about the friendly relations with Xi during much of his first term.

Today, however, he said the effects of the pandemic are worse than the dispute between the two countries over trade. “This is a thousand times (bigger) than the trade agreement, what happened with all this death and… The world that had to shut down every operation. It’s a shame,” he stressed in his interview with Fox.