Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley encouraged President Donald Trump to put more pressure on China to stop supporting Iran.
Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled for next month, about six weeks after it was originally set for March 31 through April 2. The meeting will be held after U.S. intelligence reportedly indicated China is looking to send shipments of weapons to Iran as the Middle Eastern country’s conflict with the U.S. continues.
Haley said she questions whether this meeting should continue as scheduled and thinks Trump shouldn’t have changed his national security strategy to make China the “our No. 1 national threat.” She also said Trump has opened access to “powerful” artificial intelligence chips to China, and Trump has “doubled” the number of Chinese students that can be in the U.S.
“You look at the labs that have been found in the United States, two bio labs by Chinese nationals that had things like HIV and Ebola,” Haley said on CNN’s State of the Union. “All of these things, combined with the fact that China has now built up their nuclear warheads to almost a thousand warheads that they‘ll have in a few years, we can‘t take our eye off of China.”
“There‘s a reason they‘re helping Iran. Trump needs to go to China and say, ‘We‘re not going to let you have any oil out of the strait. We‘re not going to allow any of this to happen if you don‘t go forward and stop what you‘re doing to help the Iranians,’ and I don‘t think he should meet with them until they agree to do that,” Haley said.
CNN Anchor Dana Bash asked Haley if she is suggesting to cancel the meeting, to which Haley said Trump needs to go after China “much more aggressively” if the country continues helping Iran.
Trump said he is going to enact a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, warning that any Iranian who fires at the U.S. or at peaceful vessels “will be BLOWN TO HELL!” as the strait is demined on Sunday. Haley described this blockade as “a game of chicken,” and said Iran is “hoping” Trump will cave first.
Bash also asked Haley if Vice President JD Vance should be the Republican Party’s 2028 presidential nominee, citing the high-profile role he was given to negotiate a deal with Iran. Haley said it’s “too soon to tell” if Vance should be the nominee, and a lot can change within a year on who should run for president.
A STRAIT STILL CLOSED, A CEASEFIRE ALREADY BROKEN
When asked if Haley would be among these potential nominees, she replied, “I will not.” Haley previously ran for president in the 2024 election cycle before suspending her campaign in March of that year.
Vance suggested Iran wasn’t willing to budge on its nuclear program, specifically a pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons production in the future. He also said he and the other U.S. negotiators are heading home after over 15 hours of discussions in Islamabad.