Trump Acknowledges U.S. Cyber Operations Against China: 'We Spy Like Hell on Them, Too'

President Donald Trump said Friday that the United States conducts extensive cyber and intelligence operations against Xi Jinping's government, offering unusually direct remarks about espionage between the world's two largest powers following a two-day summit in Beijing.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One after leaving China, Trump said he raised allegations of Chinese cyberattacks targeting U.S. infrastructure during private discussions with Xi, while also acknowledging similar American operations against Beijing.

"I did, and he talked about the attacks that we did in China," Trump said when asked whether cyberattacks had been discussed. "You know, what they do, we do too."

He added: "We spy like hell on them, too," and said he warned Xi that Washington possesses cyber capabilities China may not fully know about. "I told him, 'We do a lot of stuff to you that you don't know about,'" Trump said.

Trump's comments came amid a broader escalation in cybersecurity tensions that continued even as White House officials had reportedly instructed agencies to avoid unnecessary confrontations with Beijing ahead of the summit, according to The New York Times.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration sanctioned Chinese firms accused of helping Iran target U.S. positions in the Middle East by providing satellite imagery and targeting data. Federal prosecutors also charged a California mayor with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government days before the summit began.

The administration has also intensified accusations that Chinese actors are stealing American artificial intelligence technology. In April, White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios accused China of conducting "industrial-scale campaigns" to exploit U.S. AI systems through model distillation techniques designed to replicate advanced American models.

At the same time, U.S. cybersecurity agencies recently warned that Chinese state-backed hackers continue targeting critical infrastructure and vulnerable networks. The FBI also reportedly discovered suspected Chinese hackers inside an internal database linked to domestic surveillance orders, a breach U.S. officials described as particularly alarming because of Beijing's past cyber intrusions into bureau systems.

Despite the mounting disputes, the Beijing summit was marked publicly by conciliatory rhetoric and ceremonial displays, as the BBC explains. Trump described the meetings as "very successful" and claimed China had agreed to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft, though Beijing has not publicly confirmed the deal.

Xi, meanwhile, warned Trump that Taiwan remained the "most important issue" in bilateral relations and cautioned that mishandling it could lead to "conflict" between the two countries.