Getty Images President Donald Trump on Friday said he didn’t need a trade deal with China before the 2020 elections, as he rejected a partial agreement and said “we have to do it right.”
Trump also announced the U.S. imposed sanctions on Iran’s central bank and denied having had an improper call with a foreign leader that’s central to a whistleblower complaint.
CHINA DEAL
Speaking at a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Trump said he was looking for a “complete” trade deal with China and that it didn’t have to come before the presidential election.
“We have to do it right,” Trump said, on the second day that lower-level U.S. and Chinese officials were meeting in Washington. Trump had suggested last week he would consider an interim agreement.
U.S. stocks DJIA, -0.59% COMP, -0.80% SPX, -0.49% initially moved higher Friday but turned negative after a report that the Chinese delegation had canceled plans to visit farms in Montana as a part of its negotiations with the U.S.
See: Stocks end lower after trade concerns rattle markets.
Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro told Fox Business Network that “the big show is when Liu He, the chief negotiator for China, sits down with [U.S. Trade Representative] Bob Lighthizer sometime in the next couple weeks.”
IRAN SANCTIONS
In the Oval Office alongside Morrison, Trump called the Iran sanctions the highest ever imposed on a country. Trump had promised earlier in the week to impose new Iran sanctions in retaliation for Tehran’s alleged role in strikes on Saudi Arabian oil facilities. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the sanctions cut off the last remaining source of funds for Iran.
A U.S. Treasury statement said Iran’s sovereign-wealth fund is also being sanctioned. The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets of the bank and fund, and prohibit Americans from dealing with either entity.
The U.S. already has numerous sanctions on Iran, having reimposed penalties that had been lifted as part of the Iranian nuclear deal. In May 2018 the Treasury sanctioned the then-governor of the central bank, but the sanctions didn’t extend to the bank itself.
‘DICEY’ CONVERSATION, DENIED
On Twitter, Trump said Democrats and the media think he may have had a “dicey” conversation with a foreign leader.
“There was nothing said wrong, it was pitch perfect!,” he said.
Trump’s comments follow reports that the whistleblower complaint by an intelligence official centers on Ukraine. The Washington Post reported the complaint involved communications with a foreign leader and a “promise” that Trump made. It was so alarming that a U.S. intelligence official who had worked at the White House went to the inspector general of the intelligence community, the Post said, citing two former U.S. officials.
Asked in the Oval Office if he discussed former Vice President Joe Biden in the conversation, Trump replied “it doesn’t matter what I discussed,” and said “someone ought to look into Joe Biden.”
Now see: Trump repeatedly pressed Ukrainian president to investigate Biden’s son.
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