President Donald Trump stated that China "spies on us" and that the United States reciprocates the action. His remarks followed a report by The Wall Street Journal indicating that Chinese entities supplied Iran with satellite imagery before a missile attack on July 17 that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. troops.
Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, was asked about the report linking Chinese entities to the strike on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. He said, "They basically do what we do." When questioned about whether he intended to raise the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping during an upcoming visit to the U.S., Trump described Xi as having "behaved reasonably well" and stated that "we behave reasonably well."
"You know what they say? That China spies on us. I say you're right, and we spy on them, too," Trump commented.
U.S. officials cited in the report indicated that the imagery provided the clearest evidence to date of Chinese entities supporting Iran in a manner that had deadly consequences for American forces. However, the officials did not identify the specific Chinese entities involved nor directly accuse Beijing of complicity in the attack.
Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Washington on September 24 for a summit with Trump. The White House had not immediately responded to a request for comment from Fox News Digital at the time of the report.