President Donald Trump was clearly surprised Monday — and asked “why?” — when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he had asked China’s trade delegation to cancel a scheduled farm tour in the United States.
“That was actually at our request they delayed that,” Mnuchin said during a meeting at the United Nations with Trump, other administration officials, and Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
“They’re going to reschedule that at a different time, the timing didn’t work,” Mnuchin said of the Chinese visit, which was cut short last Friday before the planned visit with U.S. farmers after the trade delegation concluded trade talks in Washington.
The stock market had plunged on the news of that canncellation,Trump then asked Mnuchin, why was that our request,just out of curiosity?
The president asked that question with a chuckle that seemed to indicate displeasure — or unease — more than humor. Mnuchin started to answer, “We didn’t want confusion around the trade,Trump quickly cut in, “Yeah, but I want them to buy farm products.”
