Tipsheet

These Democrats Have Quite the Take on Trade Deal With China

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 12, 2025 5:00 PM

As Townhall has been covering, there's been trade negotiations going on between the United States and China. Rather than celebrate any kind of progress, though, Democrats in Congress are predictably going after President Donald Trump and his administration. There's not only Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), which is to be expected, but Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has had a rather noteworthy take as well.

In a quoted repost from the White House about the trade deal announcement, Schumer lambasted the update, claiming "it looks like China once again got the better of Trump." His post also went for a narrative we've heard from the minority leader and plenty of other Democrats, as he claimed that this is "Another example of Trump chaos. He has one policy one day, one the next." As he concluded, "Who knows what it’ll be tomorrow." Perhaps tomorrow could bring even better news for the administration, stock market, and the country, but Schumer doesn't seem open to such a possibility.

With the post having gone up on Monday morning, Schumer's been ratioed with approximately 4,000 replies compared to about 1,400 likes. Many have chimed in to remind him that the United States seems to be doing pretty all right with such a deal, and that at the very least, this is not a matter of how "China once against got the better of Trump."

Schumer has been prone to obsessively associating the second Trump term with "chaos," as have many in his party. Especially if these trade deals work out, that narrative is not going to cut it. Further, the Democratic Party's numbers have been particularly pitiful, with polls consistently showing record lows. As Schumer was forced to speak to, he himself has a 17 percent approval rating, per a CNN poll. 

As eplies and quoted reposts have pointed out, the negotiations certainly put us in a better position than we were in under previous administrations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared how this was especially the case under the Biden-Harris administration. It's thus likely the situation would hardly be better if former Vice President Kamala Harris were the one elected last November. 

Recommended

David Hogg Is Now in Serious Trouble at the DNC Matt Vespa
Watch Trump Body Slam This ABC News Reporter When Asked About the Qatar-747 Story Matt Vespa

While Schumer was ratioed for his quoted repost, Swalwell was trending on X for a quoted repost of himself. Sam J. at our sister site of Twitchy covered some of the best responses to the congressman actually taking credit for the trade deal.

Not only did Swalwell's response begin with an 'I told you so,' tone, and in all caps, but he also took credit, including through town hall events. "Just like I TOLD YOU. Trump caves on China. Thank you! YOU went to the town halls and town squares. WE did this," Swawell's post from Monday morning claimed. On April 27, the congressman offered quite the claim. "Trump will cave on tariffs.  If we push with everything we’ve got, we can make that coward cave. It’s coming," he predicted. 

Many of the replies and quoted reposts to both of Swalwell's posts have reminded him that he's one to talk on anything to do with China, given his connections to Fang Fang, a Chinese spy. In January 2023, at the start of the 118th Congress, then Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) even had Swalwell blocked from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, over concerns with an FBI briefing about the congressman's connection to Fang Fang.