Pool/Thomas Peter via Associated Press
- President Donald Trump on Wednesday spelled it out loud and clear for anyone still confused about the trade war: Hurting China's economy is more important to him than helping the US's economy.
- Trump has explicitly said numerous times that he wants to punish China more than he wants to avoid a recession.
- It's time to take the not-so-subtle hint: The US is confronting China in a way that will cause economic suffering. Trump's administration says it's worth it.
- A look at China's domestic and foreign activities — especially the threat it poses to the US — explains why Trump would risk tanking the economy, and potentially losing in 2020, to take on Beijing.
"Let me tell you, if I wanted to do nothing with China, my stock market, our stock market would be 10,000 points higher than it is right now," Trump told reporters at the White House. "But somebody had to do this. To me, this is much more important than the economy … It was out of control. They were out of control."See the rest of the story at Business Insider.
