Former Trump adviser KT McFarland: “Trump is playing four-dimensional chess with this Iran war”
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From the March 19, 2026, edition of Fox Business' Mornings with Maria
MARIA BARTIROMO (ANCHOR): What's your take on the China angle here? The president obviously postponed his trip, told Beijing that he'll do it in five or six weeks. It was supposed to begin at the end of this month. I keep scratching my head. I mean, how do you go to China in the middle of a war with Iran when we know that China has been supporting Iran, okay? Let's be clear here: China has been supporting Iran. First of all, they buy 90% of their oil exports and they've also supported them in other ways during this conflict. So obviously, the president made the right decision not to go. But even in five or six weeks, I'm still wondering what we're doing here with communist China, as it undermines the United States at every turn, KT.
KT MCFARLAND (GUEST): You know, Donald Trump is playing four-dimensional chess with this Iran war.
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
MCFARLAND: Obviously, the first part is to stop the Iranian nuclear threat, but it's also about China.
BARTIROMO: Yeah.
MCFARLAND: It's about cutting off the Chinese energy supply. China has needed cheap Iranian, and Venezuelan, and Russian oil to manufacture — for their manufacturing revolution. They need it again for the information age that we're now entering. President Trump now, because of drill, baby, drill, the United States is energy dominant because of our now control over the Venezuelan oil; we've got that. And it's terrific if we can make sure that China doesn't have what it needs to beat us in the information age.