China's alleged role in Iranian attack on US troops
President Trump responded casually on September 14 to a Wall Street Journal report alleging Chinese entities supplied Iran with high-resolution satellite imagery of a US base in Jordan before Tehran's July 17 missile strike there killed three American troops. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said 'they basically do what we do,' adding that China 'spies on us' just as 'we spy on them.' US officials described the imagery as the clearest evidence yet that Chinese support for Iran during the war has had deadly consequences for American forces, though they did not identify the specific entities involved or accuse Beijing of direct involvement. Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had 'behaved reasonably well' and gave no indication he planned to raise the issue when Xi visits Washington on September 24 for a bilateral summit.
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15 September 2026
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