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By Anna Commander
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President Donald Trump said that Chinese President Xi Jinping "likes the idea" of potentially buying U.S. oil, in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Thursday night.
"I told him I'd love to see you buy oil from Texas, and Louisiana, from the United States, Alaska, we've got so much of it, and he said he likes the idea, he'd like to talk about that," Trump said. He added, "I think it'll happen."
"They're doing it right now; they're sending Chinese ships up to buy oil," Trump also told Hannity.
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The remarks come as Americans are feeling the pain at the pump as oil prices have consistently risen amid the war in Iran.
The president was also asked about China's support of Iran in the conversation with Hannity, saying it was discussed.
"When you say support, they're not fighting a war with us or anything," Trump responded. "He said he's not going to give military equipment, that's a big statement, he said that today."
Trump also told Hannity that Xi said he would like to see the Strait of Hormuz open and added that China buys a lot of oil there and would like to continue.
U.S. negotiations over Iran and reopening the strait continue.
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Columbia University professor Robert Y. Shapiro told Newsweek via email on Thursday night that, "This in theory could make China less dependent on Iran for oil and more on the US, which is good for the US and bad for Iran, so a win for the President. But it depends on the amounts of oil, and until this turns into something concrete, this is all talk... "
Trump also told Hannity, "Oil went up very little compared to what most people, even including me, I thought it would go up more but that was OK for a short period of time. Because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, they're crazy," Trump said in part.
The AAA national average cost for gasoline per gallon stood at $4.534 on Thursday, up from $4.511 a day earlier and down from $4.558 a week ago, the data shows.
White House Spokesman Kush Desai previously told Newsweek via email on Thursday that, "While the President has been clear about short term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, the Administration remains focused on implementing the proven Trump agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance to keep America on a solid economic trajectory. Once the Iranian terror threat is neutralized and traffic in the Strait of Hormuz normalizes, Americans will again see gas prices plummet, real wages grow, inflation cool, and trillions in investments pour in.”
Trump's Requests to Xi
Trump said that both China and the U.S. delivered several requests to each other.
"The requests were a lot, and our requests were a lot, we requested for a lot. We have Visa, which is not allowed to trade, and they were there, it's a big company, and other companies are allowed to trade ... and I said, 'what about using Visa in China?' For some reason, they were blackballed," the president said.
He also said that the conversation lasted a few hours and progress was achieved.
"Better than last time, you know last time we signed like 36 deals, this time it's much bigger than that. Talked about soybeans for our farmers. They're going to do a lot of soybeans for our farmers. They're gonna be buying a lot of our farm product, which is great," Trump added.
Xi also seemingly agreed to order 200 jets from Boeing, the U.S. president said.
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