Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Saturday, Oct 04, 2025

Antony Blinken, Biden's State Department pick, says Donald Trump "got it right" on China

Antony Blinken, Biden's State Department pick, says Donald Trump "got it right" on China

Blinken said "no party has a monopoly on good ideas," and he embraced Trump's tough stance in dealing with China.
President-elect Joe Biden's secretary of state nominee welcomed bipartisan foreign policy ideas and said President Donald Trump was largely right in taking a hard stance toward China during his tenure in the White House.

The incoming president's pick to lead the U.S. State Department, former Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken, told Senate confirmation hearing members that "no party has a monopoly on good ideas." Blinken reiterated his opposition to "the way Trump went about" implementing his foreign policy, but he supported the president's peace efforts in Israel and the Balkans. In regards to China, which current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused of committing "genocide" on Tuesday, Blinken said he supports Trump's approach of leveraging U.S. strength.

"I think there are a number of things, from where I sat, that the Trump administration did beyond our borders that I would applaud," Blinken told Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson, pushing back against partisan remarks about his previous boss, former President Barack Obama.

"I also believe President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China. I disagree very much with the way he went about it in a number of ways, but the basic principle was the right one and I think that's very helpful to our foreign policy," Blinken said. "I have issues with the way he carried it out, in many ways."

Johnson agreed, saying Trump "opened everybody's eyes in terms of China's malign intent."

Senate confirmation hearings for several Biden Cabinet roles—including director of national intelligence, treasury secretary and homeland security secretary—are taking place alongside Blinken's on Tuesday. He reiterated that "ceding ground" to China in the international marketplace allows them to write the rules and undermines America's position of strength. Blinken criticized Trump for what he views as a severing of ties with some of the U.S.'s strongest allies—a united front needed to compete or work with China in the future.

"There is no doubt [China] poses the most significant challenge of any nation state to the United States in terms of our interests and the interests of the American people," Blinken said Tuesday. "We have to start by approaching China from a position of strength, not weakness. The good news is our ability to do that is largely within our control—a position of strength is when we are working with and not denigrating our allies. That is a source of strength for us when dealing with China."

Pompeo on Tuesday made the U.S. the first country to declare China's treatment of the Muslim Uighur people "genocide." The announcement was dismissed by Beijing as a parting shot from the Trump administration, but Pompeo accused China of "crimes against humanity."

When asked if he agrees with Pompeo's "genocide" accusation against China, Blinken said "that would be my judgment as well."

Blinken summarized his approach to China by describing three possible avenues of action: "There are rising adversarial aspects to the relationship, certainly competitive ones and still some cooperative ones when it is in our mutual interest." He praised the Trump administration's role in the Abraham Accords and "normalization with Israel" in the Middle East. He also approved Trump's time spent trying to "move Kosovo forward" in disputes with Serbia over the past four years.

Newsweek reached out to the State Department as well as the Biden transition team for additional remarks Tuesday afternoon.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×