Trump: I asked Xi Jinping not to give Iran weapons

Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in a letter not to give Iran weapons, and Xi responded that China was not supplying Tehran, the US president told Fox Business Network in an interview that aired on Wednesday.

Trump, in the interview taped on Tuesday, did not say when the letters were exchanged. Last week, he threatened countries with an immediate 50 per cent tariff if they supplied Iran with weapons.

"I wrote him a letter asking him not to do that, and he wrote me a letter saying that, essentially, he's not doing that," Trump told FBN's "Mornings with Maria" program. He also said he did not expect shifts in the global oil market over the war on Iran and changes in Venezuela to impact the dynamics of his planned meeting with Xi next month. "He's somebody that needs oil. We don't," Trump said.

In a subsequent social media post, Trump also wrote that he was "permanently opening" the Strait of Hormuz and China was very happy about it.

"I am doing it for them, also - And the world," Trump wrote, adding: "President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks."