Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump emphasized a firm stance on China should he win a second term after the upcoming November elections. During his speech at the Republican National Convention, China featured prominently, mentioned up to 14 times, followed by Russia mentioned nine times, and Iran eight times.
Trump underscored his intent for a more robust foreign policy compared to his first term (2017-2020), stating, "The entire world, I tell you this, we want our hostages back, and they better be back before I assume office or you will be paying a big price. With our victory in November, the years of war, weakness, and chaos will be over."
Highlighting geopolitical concerns, Trump pointed out, "China is likewise circling Taiwan, and Russian warships and nuclear submarines are operating 60 miles off the coast in Cuba."
Looking ahead optimistically, he proclaimed, America, he said, is on the cusp of a new golden age. “But we will have the courage to seize it. We're going to take it. We're going to make it a current -- I mean, we're going to bring this into a golden age like never seen before. Remember this. China wants to do it. Japan wants to do it. All of these countries want to do it. We have to produce massive amounts of energy if we're going to produce the new -- if you look at some of the things that have been done and some of the things that we're going to do. But AI needs tremendous -- twice the electricity that's available now in our country,” he said.
Trump criticized the handling of the Bagram air base, asserting, "The Biden Administration gave up Bagram, one of the biggest bases anywhere in the world, the longest runways, the most powerful, hardened, thickened runways. We gave it up. And I liked it, not because of Afghanistan. I liked it because of China. It's one hour away from where China makes their nuclear weapons. And you know who has it now? China has it now."
Reflecting on his first term accomplishments, Trump recalled, "In my first term, the US had an economy, the likes of which nobody, no nation had ever seen. China, we were beating them at incredible levels, and they know it. We'll do it again, but we'll do it even better. I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing our border and finishing the wall, most of which I've already built."
Regarding international relations, Trump mentioned his approach towards Iran, stating, "In my first term, I told China and other countries that if they buy from Iran, the US will not let them do any business in this country. And we will put tariffs on every product you do send in of 100 per cent or more."
Trump also addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, referring to it as the "China Virus" and assured his Republican base, "I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created."
He criticized past administrations' foreign policies, saying, "Under President George Bush, Russia invaded Georgia. Under President Barack Obama, Russia took Crimea. Under the current administration, Russia is after all of Ukraine."
Highlighting military achievements, Trump boasted, "Under President Trump, Russia took nothing. We defeated 100 per cent of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, something that was said to take five years. 'Sir, it will take five years, sir.' We did it in a matter of a couple of months."
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