U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday responded to criticism levelled at him after he complimented Chinese President Xi Jinping, despite his criticism of China during his election campaign.

“I don’t blame China, I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the U.S. on trade leading up to a point where the U.S. is losing $100's of billions. How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would've done same!” tweeted Trump.