Former President Donald Trump, who is running for another term in the White House, says he believes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is directing a surge in Chinese nationals coming to the United States.
An interview exchange on “Sunday Morning Futures” showed Trump responding to Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, who asked him if he believes the CCP is directing the flow of people from China to the U.S., which she noted has increased of late.
“I believe so,” Trump replied. “And I believe we’re going to have a terrorist attack. 100%.”
Trump on illegal immigration and whether he believes Chinese nationals are being directed by the CCP to go to America:
"I believe so, and I believe we're going to have a terrorist attack. 100%." pic.twitter.com/Pcb3eLOhtl
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 4, 2024
Trump went on to assert that he “had no terrorist attacks” during his first term in office, which spanned from January 2017 to January 2021, and he touted having “all sorts of bans on people from certain countries.”
More than 24,000 Chinese citizens were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in the past year, a number higher than the combined data on apprehensions from the ten previous years, according to a New York Times report in November. The news outlet noted the migrants are part of an “exodus” of people seeking to escape China’s harsh COVID restrictions and the authoritarian government led by Xi Jinping.
Texas officials have disseminated figures showing cartels charging individuals from China $35,000 to $50,000 a person to be smuggled into the United States.
As many as 10.5 million illegal immigrants were living in the United States in 2021, according to a report in November by the Pew Research Center, which observed the figure to be a “modest” increase over the population in 2019 and “nearly identical” to the number in 2017.
Bartiromo asked Trump what he would do in a second term to grapple with what she estimated to be eight to ten million illegal immigrants in the U.S. “right now” on President Joe Biden’s watch.
“Well, you’re going to have to deport a lot of them,” Trump said. “It’s not sustainable.”
Trump on illegal immigration: "It's not just South America. It's from Africa, from Asia, from all over the world … From China there were 28,000 people in the last few months. 28,000! That's—what's he doing, building an army?" pic.twitter.com/l2SZLs8jWb
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 4, 2024
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Positing that 28,000 people from China have come to the United States “in the last few months,” Trump suggested there may be a national security threat, pondering whether an “army” is being put together. “And they were mostly men, almost all men from the age of 18 to 25,” he added. “So what’s that all about?”
Despite concerns about immigration, Trump insisted that he wants to get along with China in a second term. He declined to comment on whether he would try to stop China from trying to take over Taiwan, saying it would “jeopardize my negotiating ability” with Beijing.
Trump on whether he believes China will try to interfere in the Presidential election:
"I think they will, and they won't be interfering on my behalf." pic.twitter.com/W0ugnC2GWQ
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) February 4, 2024
Trump also said he thinks Beijing will try to meddle in the 2024 election. “And they won’t be interfering on my behalf,” he added.