President Donald Trump will accuse China of "economic aggression" on Monday when he is set to unveil his national security strategy, The Hill reported Saturday.
The hard line follows a softer approach the president assumed after taking office and meeting with China's President Xi Jinping last April at his Mar-a-Lago resort. While a candidate, Trump often railed against what he called unfair trading practices in which he said China engaged.
But, after growing tired of China's failure to address trade imbalances, Trump will shift from past presidents in his national security strategy placing a greater focus on trade and economic issues, the Financial Times reported Friday.
"The national security strategy is likely to define China as a competitor in every realm. Not just a competitor but a threat, and, therefore, in the view of many in this administration, an adversary," a source told Financial Times.
"This is not something that they just cooked up. Mar-a-Lago interrupted the campaign rhetoric, and Xi Jinping took a little gamble and came here and embraced Trump. Trump said, 'Fine. Do something on North Korea and on trade.' But that didn't work out so well," the source added.
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