US President Donald Trump lashed out at the World Bank on Friday, blaming the international financial institution for lending money to China.
"Why is the World Bank loaning money to China? Can this be possible? China has plenty of money, and if they don't, they create it. STOP!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
The president was reiterating a position long held by his administration, including David Malpass when he was a Treasury Department official prior to his election as the current head of the World Bank.
Trump's message on the World Bank was also echoed by his treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who told a House of Representatives committee on Thursday that the United States "has objected" to the institution's multi-year programme of loans and projects in China.
That programme was nonetheless adopted on Thursday. It plans to reduce its lending to China.
The programme "reflects the evolution of our relationship with China," Martin Raiser, World Bank Country Director for China, said on Thursday. "Our engagement will be increasingly selective."