Donald Trump would never publicly admit this, but the Tweeter in Chief is extremely insecure that the United States may be falling behind other countries — he’s so bothered by it, in fact, that he had to vent to a former president about it.
Former President Jimmy Carter has recently exposed a conversation he had with Trump over the weekend about China. Carter stated that Trump had called him on Saturday, and whined about how Beijing had outpaced other countries, including the United States.
Speaking to a congregation at Maranatha Baptist Church in Georgia, Carter said Trump was worried that “China is getting ahead of us.” Carter stated that Trump was stressing over the growing economic strength of China — a big deal considering how much Trump loves boasting about America’s economy. Referencing that China has been said by economists to perhaps become the world’s strongest economy by 2030, Carter said he did not “really fear that time, but it bothers President Trump and I don’t know why. I’m not criticizing him this morning.”
Carter also stated that China’s growth could be chalked up to its decision not to get involved in war:
Since 1979, do you know how many times China has been at war with anybody? None. And we have stayed at war.”
Carter also said that the United States has “wasted, I think, $3 trillion” on military spending. This could be seen as a dig at Trump, considering the president wants to put even more money into the military. Carter said:
It’s more than you can imagine. China has not wasted a single penny on war, and that’s why they’re ahead of us. In almost every way.
And I think the difference is if you take $3 trillion and put it in American infrastructure you’d probably have $2 trillion leftover. We’d have high-speed railroad. We’d have bridges that aren’t collapsing, we’d have roads that are maintained properly. Our education system would be as good as that of, say, South Korea or Hong Kong.”
Before ending his speech, Carter said:
I wasn’t comparing my country adversely to China. I was just pointing that out because I happened to get a phone call last night.”
This highlights Trump’s obsession with power and war, even when it gets in the way of America’s progress. The president is insecure that another country has more resources and growth than the U.S., yet he continues to promote spending and policies that only take the country farther away from catching up as our rivals surpass us.
Featured image via screen capture
