Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping was invited to visit President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. While the visit appeared to go well, it wasn't until Xi left that tension between both sides was made clear.

China on Trump

During the entire 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump would often go back to a select few talking points that he knew would resonate with his supporters and many potential voters. From immigration reform and taking out radical Islamic terrorism, Trump knew what buzz words would work on the campaign trail.

One issue that the former host of "The Apprentice" would often resort to was his criticism of China, especially when it revolved around the economy and trade deals. Trump would often accuse China of currency manipulation, while vowing to push back against current trade agreements between the two countries. As President Xi arrived at Mar-a-Lago, it came just days after Trump decided to launch an attack on a Syrian airbase in retaliation to Bashar al-Assad's chemical attack on innocent civilians in his country. As reported by the New York Times on April 8, the China's state-run news agency is not pleased with how Trump reacted to the Syrian attack.

According to the New York Times, the Chinese publication backed by the government, Xinhua, waited until Xi Jinping left Mar-a-Lago before they published their article critical of Donald Trump.

Xinhua described the billionaire real estate mogul as a "weakened politician who needed to flex his muscles." Not stopping there, the publication then accused Trump of launching the missile attack in a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from the ongoing Russian scandal and attempt to prove that he's not "pro-Russian." Russia is a strong ally to Syria, and many believe Trump only attacked Assad's airbase to prove he is not in cahoots with the Kremlin.

Prior to the release of the Xinhua article, Donald Trump took to his Twitter account to praise the encounter between himself and Xi Jinping, calling it a "great honor" to have met the Chinese leader.

Trump went on to say that he hoped a "friendship was born," but noted that "only time will tell on trade."

Moving forward

While it's clear that China is not happy with how Donald Trump reacted to the chemical attack in Syria, they aren't the only ones who have decided to push back. Over the weekend, even some of Trump's strongest supporters lashed out at the president across various social media platforms. With his approval rating already down in the mid 30s, Trump will have to do some serious reshuffle of his administration to bump those numbers back up.
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