Cont’d
“…
Mr. Gigot asks how Mr. Trump would persuade Xi Jinping to stand down from a blockade of Taiwan.
“Oh, very easy,” the former president says. “I had a very strong relationship with him. He was actually a really good, I don’t want to say friend—I don’t want to act foolish, ‘he was my friend’—but I got along with him great. He stayed at Mar-a-Lago with me, so we got to know each other great. He’s a very fierce person.”
That visit coincided with the April 2017 U.S. bombing of Syria, where China reportedly had a military presence. Mr. Trump says he decided to tell Mr. Xi about the bombing over dessert: “I said, ‘President, we’ve just shot 58 missiles into Syria to an airport that’s housing a lot of new planes. Your people are not at risk, but they’re on their way right now.’
He hears it and he goes, ‘Repeat.’ . . . I said, ‘You speak English, don’t you?’ ” Until then, the two men had communicated only with the aid of an interpreter.
“I repeated it, and he understood it. He sat like this, he’s a good poker player. First it looked like he was furious, right? I repeated it again. ‘Oh, OK.’ Then we got back to—he was pretty cool. But he’s a fierce guy.”
Mr. Trump returns to Mr. Gigot’s question: “I would say: If you go into Taiwan, I’m sorry to do this, I’m going to tax you”—meaning impose tariffs—“at 150% to 200%.” He might even shut down trade altogether.
Mr. Gigot: “Would you use military force against a blockade on Taiwan?”
Mr. Trump: “I wouldn’t have to, because he respects me and he knows I’m f— crazy.” ..,”
