Diplomacy

Trump is set to travel to Pennsylvania stops focused on countering China

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign event at Wilmington

Donald Trump is back on the campaign trail and expected to travel to the swing state of Pennsylvania to speak about his plans to counter the U.S. reliance on China with a group led by a loyalist who served as his top intelligence official.

The former president and Republican presidential nominee is attending today [Macau Time) event in a rural area outside of Pittsburgh hosted by the Protecting America Initiative, which is led by Richard Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, and former New York congressman Lee Zeldin.

Trump has embraced tariffs as he tries to appeal to working-class voters who oppose free-trade deals and the outsourcing of factories and jobs. The event on Monday focuses on proposals to increase America’s food supply and to protect U.S. farmers.

The National Agricultural Law Center estimates 24 states ban or limit foreigners without residency and foreign businesses or governments from owning private farmland. The issue emerged after a Chinese billionaire bought more than 130,000 acres near a U.S. Air Force base in Texas and another Chinese company sought to build a corn plant near an Air Force base in North Dakota.

Later today, Trump is expected to rally voters at 7 p.m. Eastern in Indiana, Pennsylvania, a town east of Pittsburgh, where he is hoping conservative, white working-class voters help him pull ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent. Harris is also visiting Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

On Sunday, Trump shared that he doesn’t “think” he’d run again for president in 2028 if he loses the 2024 election. The comment was noteworthy both because Trump seemed to rule out a fourth bid for the White House and because he rarely admits the possibility he could legitimately lose an election. Trump flirted with running for president for years before his successful 2016 bid and has often played up his deliberations to stay in the headlines. ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, PITTSBURGH, MDT/AP

Categories China