Donald Trump says China owes the world $60 trillion in reparations due to the damage caused by the Covid pandemic.
The ex-US President lashed out at the communist state, arguing their “incompetence” led to the virus being freed from a lab in Wuhan.
Economies worldwide were left in disarray as a result of crippling Covid measures imposed by governments worldwide, with many countries still paying the price.
Trump believes China has a significant role to play in the worldwide economic recovery, and says he is the man to make Xi Jinping play a part.
Donald Trump says Xi Jinping should pay up for Covid
Stuart Mitchell / GB News / Reuters
Speaking to Nigel Farage in a world exclusive GB News interview, the former US President admitted China would “never pay” the amount he feels they owe.
He said: “The number is $50-60 trillion dollars. They could never pay that, nobody can.
“You could have ten Chinas and they could never pay it, but they should do something. What they did to the world is unacceptable.
“And when I say dollars, I'm not even talking about the lives which are far more important. Millions and millions and millions of people dead and probably a mistake.”
Political tensions between the US and China have grown in recent years, evidenced by Joe Biden’s meeting with the president of the Philippines on Monday in a show of defiance against what they say is growing harassment by China.
Despite the backdrop of strained relations, Trump is confident that he would be able to make China pay towards what he feels they owe.
“I know how to make them pay”, he said. “You have to deal with them in a certain way.
“As an example, I took in hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes and tariffs from China. They weren't thrilled but we got along very well.
“I got along very well until Covid came and I got along great with President Xi.”
The virus was first recorded in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and Trump believes a lab in the area was its breeding ground, a theory that has been widely disputed.
The ex-US president says the virus was not leaked deliberately, but claims China had a role to play in covering up how it was set free.
“It came out of Wuhan”, he asserted. “I said that right from the beginning, from day one I said that.
Nigel Farage spoke to Donald Trump in a world exclusive GB News interview
Stuart Mitchell / GB News
“And I had reasons to say it, that it came out of Wuhan.”
Questioned whether the perceived leak was done “on purpose”, Trump said: “I think I think it was incompetence.
“They blew it and they're suffering. But they tried to hide it.”
As well as claiming he would be able to bring Xi Jinping to the table, Trump maintains that he garnered positive relations with estranged political leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un during his time in office.
The 76-year-old argues that many escalating conflicts around the world would have been averted had he remained US president, including the war in Ukraine.
He told GB News: “I got along great with President Putin. Putin never would have gotten into Ukraine if it weren't for the incompetence of this administration, this current administration.
“Putin was not going in, it was never mentioned and I knew him very well. I got along well with him, Xi as well and Kim Jong Un, I got along with him well.
“If Obama were president for a little bit longer, you would have had a nuclear war with North Korea in my opinion.
“I think in his opinion, too. He thought it was the most dangerous thing. I got along with Kim Jong Un.”