Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Thursday that President Donald Trump rescinding sanctions against the Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE is a "mistake."
"It’s a mistake. I’ve told that to the White House. I’m going to tell it to the president, I have told him in the past. ZTE has nothing to do with trade, nothing. The Chinese use their telecom companies to spy on us," Rubio said Thursday on Fox News’ "America’s Newsroom."
"And not just spy on us for national security, spy on us for commercial secrets, steal stuff from us. They want to control global telecom. They want to make it difficult for American military to communicate with commanders and each other. They want to embed themselves in the technology of other countries," Rubio said in the Fox News interview.
Trump said Sunday that he would help ZTE "get back into business, fast."
ZTE suspended its main operations after the U.S. Commerce Department banned American supplies to the business.
Lawmakers from both parties said it looked like Trump was backing down from China ahead of trade talks.
"Maybe he’ll back off — let’s hope," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.