He said China would like to see Trump lose an election because "they've never been challenged like this.".
"It'll come out, yeah, I can't tell you now, but it came — it didn't come out of nowhere, that I can tell you.
Now they've actually admitted that they're going after farmers, I mean, I think most of you can cover that.".
When pressed for details during the news conference, Trump called attention to the escalating trade tension between the two countries.
"From what I hear, if you look at Mr. Pillsbury, the leading authority on China ... he was saying that China has total respect for Donald Trump and for Donald Trump's very, very large brain.
He said, Donald Trump, they don't know what to do," Trump said.
"It's refreshing to see this level of respect for the United States, I haven't seen it in 40 years. »