Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.
“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible tradedeals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.
Trump, a former real estate magnate, is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principle of reciprocity.”
He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
“Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting.
The dinner comes as Trump and his national security team face a completely different weighty foreign policy issue: how to respond to a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. A U.S. official said the White House and Pentagon were discussing military options.
