Trump says China, Ukraine should probe the Bidens
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted Ukraine and China to investigate political rival and former US Vice President Joe Biden and his son, openly advocating an action that triggered a Democratic impeachment inquiry in Congress.
Trump’s earlier efforts to have Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy launch an investigation into Biden and his son Hunter were cataloged in a July 25 telephone call released by the White House, and a whistleblower complaint that alleged Trump withheld US aid to pressure Kiev’s leader to comply. “I would recommend that they start an investigation into the Bidens,” Trump said in response to a question on what he wanted Zelenskiy to do.
As he left the White House for a visit to Florida, Trump also said he believed China should launch a probe of the Bidens, alluding to unproven allegations he and his lawyer have made about Hunter Biden’s business dealings in China.
“And by the way, likewise, China should start an investigation into the Bidens. Because what happened in China is just about as bad as what happened with Ukraine.” Trump said he hadn’t directly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to investigate the Bidens, but added it’s “certainly something we could start thinking about.”
N KOREA TALKS ON DESPITE MISSILE TEST
Trump brushed off North Korea’s test of a sea-launched ballistic missile, saying that planned nuclear talks with Pyongyang will go ahead regardless.
“They want to talk and we’ll be talking to them,” Trump told reporters in his first public reaction to North Korea’s claim to have entered a “new phase” with the test of a submarinelaunched missile. “We’ll see,” Trump added, when asked if the test had gone too far for him.
The test was by far the most significant since Pyongyang first began a dialogue with Washington in 2018.