Trump dismisses concern about China's Xi challenging U.S. military might

Donald Trump said China doesn’t pose a military threat to America and dismissed the notion that a massive military parade taking place in Beijing was a concern to the U.S.

When asked if President Xi Jinping’s parade on Wednesday — which will count Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un among its attendees — posed a challenge to U.S. power, the Republican replied: “No, I don’t see that at all.”

“I have a very good relationship with President Xi, as you know,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office hours before the event in Beijing was scheduled to start. “But China needs us much more than we need them.”

Separately, Trump expressed confidence that Beijing would not aim its defense assets at the U.S. in the future.

“We have the strongest military in the world, by far,” Trump said in a radio interview with Scott Jennings, a conservative commentator. “They would never use their military on us — believe me, that would be the worst thing they could ever do.”

China is set to unveil new hypersonic weapons and combat drones on Chang’an Avenue at the parade marking 80 years since Japan’s defeat in World War II. The highly choreographed spectacle will be attended by dozens of heads of state and government, including those from Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Belarus, Iran, Serbia and Slovakia.

Many leaders had just attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit hosted by Xi, which he used to bolster ties with Putin and other leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.