WEF 2020: Trump says phase two of trade deal with China to start soon

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday hailed trade relations with China, saying negotiations with Beijing on phase two of the trade deal will start shortly. Last week, the world's two biggest economies signed the long-awaited phase one agreement, marking a truce after nearly two years of tensions.

"Our relationship with China has probably never been better. We went through a rough patch," Trump said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"My relationship with Chinese president Xi Jinping is extraordinary. He's for China, I'm for the US but other than that we love each other," he added.

On Brexit, President Trump said he hopes to agree on a "tremendous" trade deal with the UK, adding that Prime Minister Boris Johnson also wants the same. He also praised Boris Johnson, calling him "a wonderful new prime minister" who "wants very much to make a deal".

On climate change, Trump said he was a "big believer in the environment" and added that the US would be joining the One Trillion Trees initiative. The US plans to plant 1 trillion trees sequestering over 200 gigatons of carbon in ten years.

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Taking a jibe at Greta Thunberg and other climate protesters, Trump said, "This is not a time for pessimism ...this is a time for optimism ... but to embrace tomorrow we must reject the many prophets of doom."

With an eye on November's election, Trump praised his government's achievements, saying that his administration had doubled child tax credit for 40 million American families. He also said that America has some of the lowest taxes in the world.

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"Tremendous wealth is pouring into areas that for 100 years saw nothing. There is no better place on earth than the United States," he said.

He said that since he last addressed Davos, two years ago, the US had enjoyed the "great American comeback" that he had predicted. "Today I am proud to declare that the United States is in the midst of an economic boom the like of which has never been seen before."

He also criticised the US central bank, saying that the economic boom has happened "despite" the US Federal Reserve, which "raised rates too fast and cut them too slowly".

By Chitranjan Kumar