Trump Today: President suggests ‘different structure’ needed for China trade deal

President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday the U.S. will probably need a “different structure” for a deal with China on trade, as he blasted the FBI’s reported use of an informant to contact campaign aides and repeated his charge that some gang members are “animals.”

NEW TWIST FOR CHINA TALKS

A day after saying he was displeased with the progress of U.S.-China trade talks, Trump said on Twitter that a deal was “moving along nicely,” but signaled he will attach new conditions. “In the end we will probably have to use a different structure in that this will be too hard to get done and to verify results after completion.” Trump’s comments from Tuesday continued to weigh on markets Wednesday.

The administration has suspended its threat to impose tariffs on Chinese goods as talks continue, but Trump has said the U.S. wants to “go quickly” on a deal. Trump reportedly wants a $200 billion cut in the bilateral trade deficit but China has refused specific dollar amounts. Last year, the U.S. ran a $375 billion deficit in goods with China, but enjoyed a services surplus of $38.5 billion.

Opinion: Deal or no deal, the bilateral trade deficit with China is a phony issue.

Market Snapshot: Stock market falls after Trump raises trade doubts.

TRUMP DECRIES ‘SPYGATE’

In a fresh series of tweets, Trump repeated his criticism of federal investigators using a spy inside his campaign. He said what he dubbed “SPYGATE” “could be one of the biggest political scandals in history!” The tweetstorm marked Trump’s latest comments related to reports the FBI used a confidential source in its investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The New York Times reported last week that FBI agents sent an informant to talk with two campaign advisers after they got evidence the pair had suspicious contacts linked to Russia during the campaign.

Trump also ripped James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, who said Tuesday on ABC’s “The View” that the FBI wasn’t spying but trying to determine if Russians were “trying to gain access.” Trump said, “No, James Clapper, I am not happy. Spying on a campaign would be illegal, and a scandal to boot!”

UNACCOMPANIED MINORS ‘NOT INNOCENT’

In Long Island, N.Y., Trump highlighted MS-13 gang-related deaths at a roundtable on immigration and doubled down on his description of members of that gang. “I called them animals the other day and I was met with rebuke,” Trump said. “These are animals and we have to be very, very tough.”

Discussing the gang, he said some members had entered the U.S. as unaccompanied minors. “They look so innocent. They’re not innocent,” he said.

Trump also said on Twitter he’ll soon sign the bank deregulation bill passed by Congress, as well as legislation giving patients with life-threatening conditions the right to try unproven drugs. Trump separately promised “big news” regarding American autoworkers, but didn’t elaborate.

Read: House approves bank deregulation legislation.

Also see: House OKs bill giving terminal patients ‘right to try’ experimental drugs.