Trump, China and the Universe...

Trump: 'We can't continue to allow China to rape our country'

By Nick Gass

Donald Trump ratcheted up his language toward China on Sunday, remarking at one point in a rally that the country is committing "rape" against the United States when it comes to the trade imbalance between the two nations.

"Don't forget. We're like the piggybank that's being robbed. We have the cards. We have a lot of power with China," Trump told an audience in Fort Wayne, Indiana. "When China doesn't want to fix the problem in North Korea, we say, 'Sorry, folks, you gotta fix the problem.' Because we can't continue to allow China to rape our country. And that's what they're doing. It's the greatest theft in the history of the world."

But even though China, in Trump's words, is committing "rape" against the U.S., he isn't mad at the Chinese. On the contrary, he said, he is angry with U.S. leaders for allowing it to do so.

"What China has done — and I like China — I've made a lot of money with China," Trump said. "The Bank of America building in San Francisco, a building in New York, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, one of the biggest floor plates in the whole city of New York. I do great with China, I sell them condos, I have the largest bank in the world from China, the largest in the world by far. They're a tenant of mine in a building I own in Manhattan."

"I mean, China's great. No problem. I'm not angry with China," he continued. "And I'm not angry at Japan. And I'm not angry at Mexico. I'm not angry at anybody. I'm angry at our leaders, because they are grossly incompetent and they shouldn't have ever been elected to do this job. Terrible."

Railing against trade deals has long been a staple of Trump's stump speech, though he tends to emphasize the topic more often in blue-collar areas that have been hit hard by foreign competition.

Trump has often spoken about in particular about Carrier, the appliance manufacturer that recently announced it would lay off some 1,400 workers in Indianapolis as it moved operations to Mexico.

In February, a secretly filmed video showing employees shouting obscenities at a manager as he announces the layoffs went viral.

"Carrier will not leave Indiana if I'm president," Trump has said.