Tommy ChristopherMay 15th, 2026, 9:08 am

President Donald Trump dropped a series of stunning dodges when he was grilled on whether he believes China’s President Xi Jinping is a “dictator.”

The president has just wrapped up a high-stakes trip to Beijing, China, where he was feted by and conferred with Xi amid a blanket of pageantry and secrecy.

Trump emerged in the press cabin aboard Air Force One on the trip home to answer questions for nearly half an hour.

When AFP White House Correspondent Danny Kemp asked Trump if Xi is a “dictator,” Trump immediately launched into an attack on former President Joe Biden.

When Kemp pressed, Trump took another shot at sidestepping a direct response:

AFP CORRESPONDENT DANNY KEMP: President Xi, a couple of years ago, when President Biden met him in San Francisco, he was asked if he thought President Xi was a dictator. Do you think President Xi is a dictator?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wuh– I think that President Biden was an incompetent president. He gave us the Iran nuclear deal, which allowed Iran to have a nuclear weapon within a matter of years from the time they said, I terminated it.

If I didn’t terminate that, Iran would have a new weapon that they would have used it within probably two years ago, three years ago. If I didn’t go in with the B-2 bombers nine months ago, Iran would have a nuclear weapon and nobody would be able to talk to them.

By the way, they would’ve used it already.

AFP CORRESPONDENT DANNY KEMP: But do you think President Xi is a dictator or not?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t think about it.

He’s the ruler, he’s the president of China.

I don’t think about it.

You deal with what you have. I respect him. He’s very smart. He loves his country. I respect them. Whether he’s a dictator, that’s for you to figure out.

Watch above via CNN.

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