Trump calls for China tariffs as he preaches to the converted on ‘History Tour’

US tariffs on Chinese goods should be increased ‘very substantially’ as reparation payments, according to the former president.

Former US president Donald Trump: ‘You take a look at what came out of that Wuhan lab and something happened there and China has to pay for it’. Picture: AFP

US tariffs on Chinese goods should be increased “very substantially” as reparation payments for the chaos unleashed by Covid-19, according to Donald Trump.

The former president made the demand on the fourth and final night of a speaking tour. Appearing on a Dallas stage with Bill O’Reilly, a former Fox presenter fired after allegations of sexual misconduct, he also claimed that the pandemic was initiated to prevent him winning the 2020 election.

Mr Trump’s “History Tour” was a chance for him to reprise familiar complaints: about President Joe Biden, and the election being “rigged”, and the storming of the US Capitol which was “not an insurrection” but caused by far-left agents provocateurs. It was also an opportunity to lay out his priorities should he end his interminable prevarication and announce that he will stand for president again in 2024.

“We had this thing running so well until the election was rigged and now I don’t think our country has ever been at a lower point,” he said.

Asked if he believed in climate change, Mr Trump told his audience in oil-rich Texas that “the ocean will raise over the next 200 years one-hundredth of one inch. They’re trying to take away our prosperity. We are sitting on liquid gold and we’re not being allowed to use it.”

Trump’s ‘History Tour’ was a chance for him to reprise familiar complaints, such as about President Biden, and the election being ‘rigged’. Picture: AFP

He pivoted to China, saying that the world’s biggest problem was not global warming but the spread of deadly weapons. “And that includes biological weapons because you take a look at what came out of that Wuhan lab and something happened there and China has to pay for it … a lot of people say they did it on purpose, some people even said they did it to try to get me out of office because the Democrats used Covid to cheat in the election.”

China, he said, owed “at least $US60 trillion” to the world in reparations “and they know we’re going to have to do something like increasing very substantially the tariffs, because we have to wean ourselves off of China”.

A large section of seating in the upper level of the American Airlines Centre in Dallas was curtained off, just as it was at other venues on the tour in Florida and Texas, the two largest Republican states. Several hundred seats were empty each night, suggesting that the $US100 starting price for tickets was a stretch even for Mr Trump’s loyal support base.

O’Reilly claimed that 35,000 tickets had been sold over the four nights, bringing in at least $US7m.

The crowd in the indoor Dallas arena was almost entirely unmasked, in defiance of the venue’s rules, and Mr Trump had to quieten boos when he revealed that he had received a booster jab.

“Look, we did something that was historic, we saved tens of millions of lives when we, together, all of us, we got the vaccine done … take credit for it, it’s great what we’ve done,” he said to tepid applause.

There was a much more enthusiastic response when he added: “If you don’t want to take it, you shouldn’t be forced to, no mandates.”

Turning to his squabble with NATO, Mr Trump claimed that he had used “business language” to tell leaders of the military alliance that they were “delinquent” on their defence payments, reiterating that he told them the US would not come to their assistance in the event of a defence crisis unless they spent more – which they then did.

One of those in the audience, Debbie Mazzocchi, 65, said she had travelled 1200 miles from North Carolina and paid $US106 for her ticket. She rejected any suggestion that empty seats meant Mr Trump was losing support. “How many people do you think Biden would draw?” she demanded.

Trump says China owes ‘at least $US60 trillion’ to the world in reparations for Covid-19. Picture: AFP

Asked why she thought Mr Trump had staged the speaking tour, she replied: “Because he loves his country. He’s not doing it to fill his pockets, he’s already a billionaire. He’s doing it for the American people.”

Uthukrishna Gurusany, 43, an India-born US citizen wearing a Make America Great Again cap, said he had paid $US217 for his ticket. “I came because I don’t like illegal immigration,” he said. “Me, I went through all the process and I don’t want anyone to come illegally. Trump is stopping all the illegal immigrants, that’s what I like about him.”

– Lawyers for Trump have begun a legal effort to block an investigation by Letitia James, the New York attorney-general, into his business practices. She is hoping to force the former president to give evidence under oath behind closed doors on January 7.

The Times