Trump says 'China will own our country' if Biden elected

President Trump on Sunday predicted dire consequences on the global stage if Joe Biden is elected in November, signaling he intends to make China a key fall campaign issue against his Democratic rival.

"If Biden is elected, China will own our country," the president said during an interview with Fox News host Steve Hilton.

Trump said he is open to decoupling the U.S. economy from Beijing in the future if relations between the two superpowers don't improve, but "I don't want to set the world on fire right now."

"There has been no country that has ripped us off more than China," Trump said.

The two sides have witnessed worsening relations since Trump signed a trade deal with China earlier this year, starting with the coronavirus spread from Wuhan and continuing with several espionage and influence cases unfolding in America and tensions in the South China Sea.

"We lose billions, hundreds of billions of dollars. We get nothing from China. Yes, we get some goods that we could produce ourselves," the president said.